As we head well into December and heading to the busy Christmas holiday period, Elements Heating Installations is here to provide you with our top tips and advice on how to best prepare your home for winter, as well as what to do if you wake up on a winter's morning with a frozen condensate pipe.
If you make an appointment for your annual boiler service today, you will ensure that you get ahead of the busy schedule. Get in contact with one of our heating engineers and we'll make a reservation for you. Just give us a call on 07875 344794.
As all heating engineers approach their busiest time of year, we strongly advise all clients to have their boilers serviced if they have not already done so this year, and if possible, book in your next boiler service for 2022. Across the UK, thousands of individuals have boiler breakdowns each year when the temperature drops sharply as we head into the new year in January, either owing to frozen pipes or lengthy periods of time with their central heating switched off while away on holidy. We don't want it to be too late for you if you wake up with no heat in your house due to a frozen pipe or a damaged boiler, so book in your boiler service with us immediately.
How do I repair my frozen condensate pipe?
The first thing that you should know if you have encountered a frozen condensate pipe in your home is to not be alarmed. The team here at Elements Heating Installations have prepared a few things that you can do to repair any damage to your boiler and get it back up and heating your house again.
Check your boiler's lights
Whether your boiler has stopped working or you have no hot water or heat in your house, one of the first things you should do is check to see if the problem is limited to your condensate pipe. Your boiler will most likely have a flashing amber light on the front and display a fault code if your condensate line is frozen. The trouble code will be model-specific, so check it up on the internet or in the owner's manual to figure out what's wrong.
Turn your boiler off and on again
The next step is to try resetting your boiler to see whether the problem code still appears. If your pipe was frozen but has now thawed, the errors on your boiler's dashboard may no longer apply. If the problem signs are still there after resetting your boiler, you'll need to try another option. Examine the exterior pipe Your condensate pipe's job is to drain water from your boiler and dispose of it outdoors. A plastic pipe will travel from the location of your boiler to the exterior wall of your home. It's conceivable that a pipe exposed to the outdoors has frozen over, causing the pipe to become clogged since any water within has frozen into ice.
Thaw your frozen pipe
The simplest solution for a frozen condensate pipe is to thaw it and allow it to defrost. You should collect a couple of jugs of warm (not boiling) water and pour it over the piping outside your residence, in the same manner, you would defrost your windscreen on a cold morning.
Invest in pipe lagging
We recommend that you insulate your pipes in preparation for Winter by obtaining pipe lagging from your local DIY store for a low cost.
Book a boiler service or boiler repairs today
We're approaching the most inconvenient time of year for your boiler to go down. Heating engineers' schedules get increasingly busy as the weather gets colder, and there is often significantly less availability for emergency plumbing and heating services, and here at Elements Heating Installations, we're no different. So, don't delay in scheduling your boiler servicing by contacting immediately.
Choose Elements for a winter boiler service
If you are local to Brackley, Banbury, Northampton, Oxfordshire, Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, or any of the surrounding areas and you would like to book a boiler service, then you can reach us via our phone number on 07875 344794. You can also use the contact form on our website to send us a message if you would prefer us to contact you.
