Everybody knows that their boiler is a vital piece of their home, and it works daily to keep you comfortable, but many people only ever look closely at their boiler when something is wrong. Instead of reacting when something goes wrong with your boiler, you should be proactive in keeping an eye on and maintaining your boiler, to avoid any extensive costs when something goes drastically wrong. BOXT provide boilers and are employee expert boiler repair specialists, so they are privy to the huge issues that can be caused when you do not maintain your boiler. Leaving small issues will lead to big issues that can increase your energy bills and end up costing you much more in repairs, so we are going to guide you through how to maintain and estend your boiler’s lifespan.
Regularly bleed your radiators
Bleeding your radiators is a fairly simple, and certainly helpful thing that you can do to improve your boiler performance and make it last longer. Bleeding your radiators is essentially releasing trapped air that causes your radiators to heat inefficiently and unevenly. When you have trapped air in your radiators and they are not heating correctly, it puts more pressure on your boiler, which of course, is not a positive thing.
By bleeding your radiators regularly, you are allowing your boiler to work more efficiently, thus leading to a longer life. You can find more details about how to bleed your radiator with the comprehensive guide.
Annual Boiler Service
Getting your boiler serviced regularly, ideally once a year, is one of the best ways to prolong the life of your system, as well as making sure that it is always working at it’s most efficient. It may seem like you are spending unnecessary money if there appears to be no problem with your boiler, however, servicing will nip any problems in the bud before they become too expensive. So, paying out for the service is worth it, as opposed to paying out for big repairs, or even a new boiler in serious circumstances.
The average price of a boiler service is thought to be around £80-£120, so we would wholly recommend that you get regular servicing, to keep your boiler in it’s best shape.
Use Inhibitor in your system
You may have never heard of Inhibitor, but it is a good way to maintain your boiler and prolong its life. Inhibitor is a chemical liquid that you can put in your central heating system to help break down sludge that’s built up from rust, dirt and dust. This sludge will stop water flowing through your system properly, thus making your heating system work less efficiently. Using Inhibitor to break down this sludge will keep your heating and boiler running more efficiently, saving you money on bills, and adding life to your boiler.
If you are unsure on how to use Inhibitor, we would recommend that you use an engineer or heating expert to help you out. It is not worth the risk of doing damage to your heating system, or yourself with chemicals, if you are not 100% sure you know what you are doing. Making sure this is done properly will save you stress and money in the long run.
Use your boiler in the summer
It may seem like a strange idea to use your boiler when you do not need to, however, this can be a great way to keep your boiler running smoothly and extend it’s lifespan. This is due to the fact that normally your boiler will sit dormant for months during summer, giving the parts a chance to rust or cease up. Keeping them all running will make sure that they are prepared to get back to work everyday when the cold months come. Using your boiler for a short amount of time once per month should do the trick and keep your heating system in good shape for winter.
Insulate pipes
This is one of the easiest things that you can do in order to prolong your boiler, as you can buy pipe lagging and install it yourself simply. Just take a look on Google and you will find many guides about how to insulate your pipes. The reason that you should do this is because in the winter, pipes are likely to freeze if you have very cold weather. When your pipes freeze over, it stops the water flow, which causes problems with the boiler and means that it can’t function properly – this is one of the most common callouts for boiler engineers during winter. So, by insulating your pipes, you are saving the hassle of bringing out an engineer when something goes wrong and you are keeping your boiler running well, therefore extending it’s life.
Now that you know about all these ways that you can help prolong your boiler’s life, you should be in a good position to keep it running well and saving yourself money. It is important to remember that if you are ever unsure about something with your heating system, it is always safer to call out a Gas Safe engineer and ensure that job is done properly.
