Boiler Care: Keeping your Boiler in Great Shape
Your gas boiler is one of the most important appliances in your home. It is responsible for keeping you warm and for heating your water. Gas central heating is one of the marvels of modern living, allowing you the luxury of heat and hot water at the flick of a switch.
However, gas boilers can be dangerous if not properly maintained. Carbon monoxide gas is virtually impossible to detect without a carbon monoxide alarm, and can make you and your family very ill.
A trained professional should carry out boiler maintenance, and you should never try to repair or service your boiler without proper training. A gas boiler in the hands of somebody who doesn’t know what they’re doing can be lethal. However, it is down to you to ensure proper boiler care throughout the lifespan of your boiler, keeping it safe to use and running economically.
Regular servicing
The most important part of proper boiler care is making sure your boiler is serviced regularly. A boiler service checks and tests the important components, ensures your boilers’ safety, alerts you to any faults and often gives you a ‘heads up’ about any parts which look as though they may be on their last legs. Annual servicing is recommended, and by law landlords must have all gas appliances in their lets serviced and safety checked once each year. If you have an older boiler, it is even more important to make sure that you keep up with a regular servicing schedule.
Regular use
It’s no coincidence that the majority of boiler breakdowns happen just as winter sets in. You may see this as a case of Murphy’s Law, but this isn’t usually the case – for most, anyway! Gas boilers are used a great deal less in the winter and this can cause boiler parts to seize up and cause a breakdown. To make sure your boiler doesn’t pack up when you need heating and hot water the most, be sure to switch it on at regular intervals throughout the summertime.
Prompt repairs
If you suspect your boiler has a fault somewhere, don’t wait to see what happens. Having the fault repaired promptly could not only prevent a breakdown and more complicated, expensive repairs later on, but could protect your family from the dangers of carbon monoxide poisoning. Carbon monoxide can kill, and that’s reason enough to ensure that any possible fault is investigated immediately.
Boiler care cover
If you’re a homeowner, it is a very wise idea to take out some kind of boiler care insurance. Boiler servicing and repairs can be expensive, and you may find that the upfront cost of boiler care puts you off having the necessary services and prompt checks required if you believe there to be a fault somewhere in your boiler. Purchasing boiler care cover will mean that callouts will be far cheaper (if not included in your premium), and annual servicing is usually included in the price, too.