Why Your Gas Boiler May Not Be Working
It can be extremely frustrating when your boiler doesn’t work as it should, leaving your home without central heating. To prevent this from happening, especially now it’s the winter, we have put this blog together to run through the possible reasons your boiler might not be working to help you identify the problem quicker.
Check Your Thermostat
It’s important to remember that if a room is at a higher temperature than the thermostat is set to then the central heating simply won’t come on. It’s a good idea to double check the temperature and try increasing it, then give it a while and check again. 18-21 degrees is the ideal temperature for your home (obviously if it’s extremely hot or cold, you may want to adjust this!) Keep the doors of unused rooms closed and set the radiators to the lowest level. This will save you money and increase your household efficiency. It’s also worth remembering that your thermostat is not responsible for how quickly your house heats up – just because you turn your heating all the way up to the maximum this doesn’t mean your house will heat up any quicker!
Check Your Timer
Have you recently had a power cut? If so, this could explain why you’re not getting any central heating. The timer on the boiler may have simply reset itself. It’s a good idea to quickly read your instruction manual to find out how you can reset your timer to ensure you’re getting heat when you want it.
Could It Be Your Fusebox?
Similarly, if the power cut hasn’t affected the timer, it may have affected the fuse box. Is there a tripped switch in the fuse box? Check this and give it a flick back up. Please don’t ever force the switches. If they are reluctant to go back up, then this can indicate a different problem.
Are You On a Pre-pay Meter?
This may sound simple, but you’d be surprised to learn how often this is the cause of the problem. If you’re on a prepay meter, be sure to check there is enough credit on your meter!
Is There a Problem With the Gas Supply?
It’s a good idea to check any other gas appliances around the home. If they are also not working, it could be down to an issue with the gas supply to your whole property. In this case, you need to contact your gas supplier or the gas emergency service.
If none of these are shedding any light on the problem – it’s time to consider faults with the central heating system as oppose to the boiler. This could be as a result of boiler pressure, air in the radiators, frozen condensate pipes, low gas pressure, blockage in the burner or no pilot light on in the boiler. As Gas Safe registered engineers, if you need any help or need further advice, please do contact us and we will be more than happy to help!
