It can be a really exciting time if you’re in the process of buying a new house! Of course, it’s quite stressful as well, so there are a few things you should make sure you check to ensure you reduce the likelihood of ongoing stress!
First, before you complete on your new house, make sure you are in contact with the vendor to make arrangements to go and view your new home to make sure the heating and hot water are in working order.
Don’t just rely on the surveyor to do central heating checks, often they often do not carry out relevant checks and no appliance is guaranteed to be working when you move in! If you don’t carry out the relevant checks, you may run into future problems with your central heating system or have boiler problems.
If your new home has been left empty for a long period the you may find it is damp and cold, so familiarising yourself with the system before you move in is essential. Try and build a good relationship with the seller from the start. This will allow you to ask all the questions you need to, and they are more likely to hand the house over in a good condition.
One of the most important things to do is to find out where the stopcock for the water is. This means that at least if you run into a problem you can turn the water supply off. Because the last thing you need in this stressful time is a flooded house!
Now that you’re all settled in and you’ve had a nice relaxing cup of tea, it’s time to check that the heating and hot water work. First, you need to establish what type of system you have – combination (also known as a combi boiler) or conventional. If you have a combi boiler then as soon as you turn the hot water on the boiler should fire up.
If you’ve worked out that you have conventional boiler then you need to look for the hot water cylinder. It is most likely in an airing cupboard or any other storage area. Once you’ve located the boiler, turn it on by operating the room stat and selecting a higher temperature than is currently in the house.
If you have succeeded in supplying the house with heating and hot water, you’re doing well! If you’re struggling to get heating and hot water, don’t worry, there are a few things you can do. If you have a combi boiler then check that the pressure is above 1.5bar. If the boiler pressure is too low, it may simply need to repressurise.
If it is a conventional boiler then try and listen to see if the central heating pump is running. Check also the gas, water and electrical supply, sometimes in vacant houses they turn off the electrics at the switch board and water at the stopcock.
It’s also worth noting that boilers can go into lock out mode if they have not been used for a while due to inactive pumps, motorised valves or just initial failure. Don’t give up, but if you’re really struggling, please give us a call, we will be happy to help you!
