Having a broken boiler in the depths of winter is bad enough, but having it happen at Christmas really is a festive nightmare.
Households are set to be filled with families enjoying cosy Christmas nights in, delicious dinners and festive parties, but none of this would be very pleasant without heating and hot water. With temperatures set to plummet and the holidays just around the corner, we need our central heating more than ever.
Consumer experts at Which? have compiled a list of advice on what to do if your boiler breaks down this Christmas.
Boiler manufacturers Vaillant and Viessmann believe the best way to avoid a cold festive night as a result of a boiler break down is to spot the warning signs when they first arise.
Darren McMahon, marketing director at Viessmann, said: ‘It’s often fairly obvious when your boiler has broken down because it either won’t be supplying heat to your radiators and taps or it won’t turn on at all. But sometimes, it’s not as easy to spot.’ Other signs your boiler is faulty include:
- Funny noises, including banging, tapping, clicking or knocking
- An unusually high gas bill
- A yellow or orange pilot light
- Pressure issues (either too high or too low)
- A leak in the pipes around the boiler.
If you notice any of these and your boiler is still working, it could be a sign that it’s about to break down. It’s better to act on any concerns before they become an emergency.
If your boiler is acting up and is displaying a fault code, that’s a helpful start. Most manufacturers these days have guides on their website to help you understand what different fault codes mean.
For example, the Viessmann fault code checker explains that an OC fault code on the Vitodens 100-W boiler means there’s insufficient power being supplied.
Even if there’s no fault code, manufacturers’ websites usually have guides on simple adjustments that can you can make if you know what’s gone wrong, so this should be your first port of call.
Remember that you should never attempt to make repairs that require a registered gas engineer.
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Electricity is essential for your boiler to work. Check if it has an electricity supply by looking at the digital or LCD display. Things that could cause a disruption to the power supply include a power cut, a tripped fuse in the main electrics box, a broken circuit board or even no credit in your account if you have a prepayment meter.
Someone may have turned off the boiler’s electrical supply manually by accident, so check the wall socket where it’s plugged in. Also check your fuse box and make sure that all fuses are active. It could be that your boiler does currently have power, but something like a power cut has disrupted its programming.
You can press reset on the boiler and leave it off for 10 minutes. Switch it on again and make sure that the date and time are correct, as well as your preferred programme – you may need to consult a user manual or manufacturer website to work through these steps.
If you’ve done all of these things, and the boiler still seems to be broken, you may need to contact a Gas Safe registered engineer to take a look. It could be that the issue is coming from a broken circuit board and this issue cannot be fixed by you.
Vaillant says one of the most common boiler issues to occur is a leak. Water leaks from your boiler can cause water damage to your home and ruin the electrical components in and around the boiler, causing it to malfunction.
You should always treat a boiler leak seriously. You shouldn’t remove the boiler casing yourself.
Condensate pipes are used to transport waste water out of your boiler system during the condensing process. If the pipe is external, this water can freeze when temperatures drop.
This can often force the boiler to shut down automatically as a precautionary measure. The safest way to unfreeze the pipe is to pour warm (not hot) water over it and wrap it in a towel or blanket.
If none of this works and you’re still about what to do, contact a heating engineer. Try the company that installed it or a Which?-vetted Trusted Trader. Call-out charges are likely to be a lot higher on Christmas Day, and you may need to phone around.
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