Top Tips to Get Your Home Ready For Winter

Colder weather in winter means that we rely on our central heating and hot water systems more than ever. We spend more time indoors and as a result spend more money on keeping our homes warm and cosy. As more people are working from home, the reliance on a reliable central heating system to make home working comfortable becomes more important. As we get deeper into winter, here are our top tips to make sure your central heating system is working efficiently and reliably.

Our Top Tips For Winter

• Get your boiler serviced annually It is important in order to primarily check the safety aspects of a boiler but also to check it is running efficiently and therefore saving you money. Gas engineers are highly trained and during a service will be able to spot anything dangerous. The engineer will check things such as the ventilation, the flue, gas flow, ignition, and the controls and will clean parts that have a build-up of dirt. Gas engineers can also spot wear and tear on this service and catch issues before they become a problem that stops your boiler from working.

• Service your gas fire Gas fires are also an important part of your heating system that needs to be serviced annually. They can be even more dangerous than your boiler with respect to noxious gases.

• Check your radiators for cold spots Is a radiator not heating up evenly, particularly at the top? This can be a sign that a radiator has air in it and needs to be “bled”. This is an easy thing to do and you will need a radiator key and a rag to catch any drips of water that come out. It is worth just checking your radiators occasionally to see if any require to be bled to make them 100% efficient once again.

• Power Flushing If radiators need regular bleeding and you see black water in your rag, and the heating takes longer to become established in rooms, it may be that your system needs a power flush. The signs to spot are cold areas on the radiators, excessive noise and gurgling sounds coming from the radiators and pipes, heating a room takes longer, the boiler cutting out intermittently. Power flushing is a technique that can remove your system of gunk and get the water flowing through pipes efficiently once again. This doesn’t need to be done annually but it is a good idea to check your system for the signs outlined to see if it is worth having an engineer inspect the system.

• Review your heating on/off times Make sure that you aren’t wasting money by running the system when you aren’t in the house. Smart heating controls are a good addition to your heating system as they allow you to control your heating via your mobile phone and can save you money by only switching on the heating when required.

Scott Findlay is your local expert in plumbing and heating with hundreds of 5-star reviews. Call today if you need winter checks carried out on your heating system.