How to protect your boiler this winter

Remember last February when the Beast from the East met the Pest from the West?  Hopefully you weren’t affected too badly, but thousands of people had problems with their boilers shutting down because their condensate pipes were frozen.

The bad news is that the Beast is forecast to visit us again.  The good news is there are steps you can take to protect your boiler and keep yourself, and your dear ones, warm and cosy, even during the coldest weather.

• Bleed your radiators to make sure they don’t have cold spots. You will need them to be working efficiently if it gets very cold.  If you don’t know how to do it, there’s a handy step by step guide here.

• Make sure your condensate pipe is protected from frost. Pipe lagging is inexpensive, and if your boiler’s condensate pipe is on an external wall, in an unheated room, like a garage, or outside, make sure it is lagged so it doesn’t freeze and make the boiler switch off to protect itself. Or you could ask your Gas Safe registered heating engineer to move it or fit trace heating which would stop it freezing up. Find out how to prevent you condensate pipe freezing again here.

• Get your boiler serviced to make sure it is safe and in good working order, ready for the colder weather ahead.