Help Your Boiler to Help You This Winter

As the weather starts to get colder, most people start to think about setting up their central heating systems properly, and adjusting the thermostats so that the house is nice and warm when they get back from work.  What they really don’t need is to return to a cold house, courtesy of a broken down boiler, yet that’s exactly what happens to thousands every year.  If you don’t want to be one of those statistics, then the rest of this article will give you a couple of ways to avoid the problem and help you out if the worst happens.

The first thing to do is to keep your boiler used, even if only occasionally.  That’s not hard to do during the summer months anyway as you’ll still be needing hot water for washing, but you need to remember that the central heating system also needs to have water moved around it occasionally.  This keeps the pump working and will give you an early indication of any problems, such as a failing pump or leaking pipes that will land you in trouble at just the wrong time.

Secondly, boilers should be serviced every year and have it done during the summer because doing it at this time gives you two benefits.  The main one is that it prepares the boiler for winter when it will be working hard, and allows time for any faults to be detected and sorted out.  If new parts are required, you can probably manage without a boiler for a few days when the weather is warm, but you don’t want to be doing that when it’s cold and the chances are that you’ll have to wait longer than anyway, as parts could be in short supply and the engineers will be busy.  A second reason, but no less important especially if you are on a tight budget, is that you’ll often get discounts and promotions on services and repairs during the summer months.  Engineers aren’t as busy then and want to attract business, so they cut prices whereas in winter when everybody wants them, they can charge and get what they want.

However well you keep your boiler maintained, though, you may still be unfortunate enough to suffer a breakdown during a cold snap.  This is why it is a good idea for everybody regardless of how old their boiler is to have an insurance policy that covers boiler breakdowns, as these ensure a guaranteed and faster response and of course mean you aren’t left out of pocket.  It also removes some of the hassle and stress, as you only need to speak to the insurance company and they’ll then arrange for an engineer to visit, rather than you having to do all the chasing about.