Get Your Boiler Ready for Winter in the North East

North East winters do not give boilers an easy time, and the worst breakdowns always seem to land on the coldest night. A little preparation in autumn goes a long way. Here is how to get your boiler ready for winter before the first real cold snap.

Run the heating early

Fire the heating up for an hour while it is still mild. If it is going to fail, far better it does so in October when an engineer can get to you, than in the middle of December.

Bleed your radiators

Cold patches at the top of a radiator mean trapped air, and air makes your boiler work harder than it needs to. Our guide on how to bleed a radiator walks you through it in five minutes.

Check the pressure

Top up the pressure if it has dropped below about 1 bar. If it keeps falling, there may be a small leak worth investigating before winter sets in.

Protect the condensate pipe

A frozen condensate pipe is one of the most common winter callouts in the North East, and it is largely preventable. Lagging the pipe helps, and our guide on a frozen condensate pipe shows you what to do if it does freeze.

Book a service

The single best way to get your boiler ready for winter is an annual service. An engineer will catch a worn part or a drifting flue reading while it is cheap to fix, rather than after it has left you with no heat. Booking a boiler service in early autumn means you head into winter with confidence.