The recent colder weather is a definite reminder that winter is just around the corner. And with more of us spending more time at home due to the Covid-19 pandemic, it’s even more important that we make sure our boilers and central heating systems are working correctly.
Heating Industry Professional David Mooney, of Newcastle-based Gas Angel Heating, offers his five top tips on how you can make your home warm and comfortable in the run-up to winter.
The business provides a range of services to homeowners as well as landlords including boiler repairs, boiler servicing and new boiler installation, as well as a variety of boiler cover plans which they launched earlier this year.
Here are Dave’s top tips:
- Insulate pipes – This is a job you can do on your own fairly easily. Condensing boilers have condensate pipes that run outside so can freeze when the temperature drops. Most DIY stores have foam tubing for insulation in various sizes to fit pipes. If your pipes do freeze, fill a jug with warm water and pour on the pipe. Make sure it isn’t boiling water. Once you have done this, turn the boiler off and reset it.
- Check the boiler pressure – This is definitely one of our most common callouts that is easy to fix. Look for the pressure gauge on the front of the boiler. It should read between 1 and 1.5 on the green zone of the gauge. If it’s lower than 1, top up the pressure to get the boiler on. This is something we talk through with customers over the phone or you can look at our free guide on our website: https://www.gasangelheating.co.uk/fix/ which has step-by-step instructions.
- Annual boiler service – Have your boiler serviced every year by a qualified gas safe engineer to ensures the boiler is in working order. When the engineer is carrying out the service, he will look for any issues that need repairs. It’s great if you can arrange a service before the temperature drops so you don’t find yourself in a situation with a broken boiler when it’s freezing outside. At Gas Angel Heating, this is something we include in all our boiler cover plans. Your boiler will be serviced annually by a Gas Safe Registered heating engineer, meaning common issues likely to occur can be prevented.
- Check your radiators for cold spots – The majority of the time, cold spots are caused by trapped air. To fix this hold a radiator valve key to your radiator valve, with a cloth under to catch any drips and slowly turn anti-clockwise to let the air escape.
- Install a carbon monoxide alarm – As carbon monoxide is completely odourless and tasteless, it’s extremely difficult to detect. In fact, those that have suffered from carbon monoxide poisoning have reported similar symptoms to flu so when there is a leak, we don’t always recognise it. That’s why alarms are so important.
Gas Angel Heating is part of the NatWest Accelerator programme in Newcastle. The Accelerator programme is fully funded by NatWest and participants do not have to be a customer with the bank to take part in the initial six-month programme or give-up any equity in their business. An entirely digital proposition of the Accelerator was developed and launched following the Covid-19 outbreak earlier this year which includes workshops, mentoring and other resources which are provided through an online portal.
Gas Angel Heating is committed to tackling climate change and has partnered with the charity JUSTONETree. As part of this, they plant two-year-trees each year for each Gas Angel Cover plan customer. This helps remove their boiler CO2 from the atmosphere and reduces their household carbon footprint.
