The DIY heating system health check
As a homeowner, you’ve probably got several things marked on your calendar as regular appointments. Things like your dental check up, your boiler service, your car MOT or service.
Most of my customers are religious when it comes to making sure their boiler is serviced – after all, this is what maintains the safety of the equipment and often keeps the warranty of the boiler valid.
They’re conscientious homeowners who know that investing in a regular “tune up” can prevent problems further down the line, which in turn can help reduce costs in the long run.
And yet, when I ask them… “when was the last time you had your heating system serviced?”, they look at me like I’ve gone mad.
A heating system service may sound like a boiler service, but it is in fact completely different – although it does have an impact on how your boiler runs and in fact, how much money you’re spending on gas bills.
But before you suddenly decide that you need to have your system service, I have a DIY heating system check that you can do yourself to see if your system is in need of some love and attention.
Here’s a list of questions I often ask customers before I quote them for a power flush.
What is the age of your heating system?
This may seem obvious but the age of your system will have a dramatic effect on how efficient your system is running and how hard your boiler is having to work to pump your hot water through your pipes and radiators.
If for example your system was installed 40 years ago and to your knowledge may never have had a drain down or clean, then it’s probably time to give the old girl a make-over.
Even if you’ve drained down your system (to change pipework or change a radiator) there’s a chance that the water replaced didn’t have inhibitors added to prevent more scale build up, and I can certainly guarantee that the scale and sludge in the system were not flushed out.
Maybe your system isn’t very old (perhaps a few years) then this is the time to take action and put in place preventative measures to ensure your system continues working optimally.
When was the last time your heating system was serviced?
Another obvious point. Has your system ever been serviced. You may be one of the few who have had a power flush in the past to clean out all the dirt. But did you mark your calendar to have it done again?
Maybe the reason you had it flushed in the first place was because you were experiencing problems, and a power flush solved those issues. However, we all know that prevention is better than a cure. This is true of your own personal health and it’s certainly true of the health of your heating system.
Why wait until your system starts encountering problems before you take action to sort it. You can prevent many of the heating problems that can lead to huge gas bills or even the need to replace a boiler if you look after your system with a regular service.
How many radiators are in your house?
This question may puzzle you because I can probably bet that you don’t know how many radiators you have in your house. Take a moment to think about it now.
And then, just imagine (actually picture it) the maze of pipes that connect them all together and back to your boiler.
You’ve probably more radiators than you realise, and the metres of pipework will probably surprise you. But just imagine all the years of dirt, sludge and scale that builds up in your closed system over the years, coating the lengths of your pipes and radiators.
That’s quite a lot of much that you probably have lining your system. The radiators you have, then of course the bigger boiler you have. But just consider this, if each meter of pipe and radiator is coated in scale and sludge, then your boiler is having to work twice as hard to circulate the water that it’s heating.
Even if you don’t seem to have any issues right now (uneven heat, cold spots, pin holes in radiators) then you need to consider that the more radiators you have, the more surface area on the inside of the system is available for scale and sludge to cling to.
Over time, this builds up and can start to present issues like mentioned before and before you know it, you could be heading to a full system failure.
Are your thermostatic valves all working properly?
One thing many customers aren’t even aware of is the state of their thermostatic valves. These are the controls on your radiators that mean you can adjust the temperature of the radiator. Some rooms that you rarely use may be better off on a lower heat so that you’re not wasting energy on heating a room that’s rarely used.
The more work your radiator needs to do, then the more chance your system can build up scale and sludge. However, if your valves aren’t working properly, you could be heating parts of your system that don’t need it.
If your system is old, you might even find that you don’t have any thermostatic valves, so you may want to consider adding valves to all of your radiators. In fact, this is one of the things I almost always insist on whenever I change a radiator for a customer. Since I’m doing the work anyway to isolate the radiator and change the equipment, it takes very little effort (and money) to add a thermostatic valve to the mix.
If you have valves already, take a moment to check they’re working correctly by removing the head and then check if the pin inside can move in and out freely.
How long does it take for your radiators to heat up?
A big indicator that your heating system is in need of a service is if your heating takes forever to heat up.
Most efficient heating systems will automatically kick in when the thermostat tells it to, and then proceed to heat up very quickly.
If it’s taking a while, this may be due to the fact that the water in your system has a flow problem. Meaning… your pipes may be blocked which restricts how fast the water can move through the pipes and radiators.
This may seem a simple and obvious idea, but many people don’t put two and two together to understand that their pipes may need a clean to allow a better follow to restore efficient heat up time.
Are all your radiators working and heating up fully?
The final, and probably most important point to check when you’re doing your DIY system health check is whether your radiators, individually, are showing signs of reduced efficiency.
The symptoms to look for are either:
Cold spots in your radiators that no amount of bleeding will cure, or
Radiators that don’t work at all
These two symptoms are a sure sign that your system is blocked with scale and sludge from years of circulating the ever increasing corrosive water locked inside your closed system.
A radiator change may cure the problem immediately, but that only takes into account that particular portion of your system. What about the other (tens of metres) of pipework and numerous radiators that have built up scale and sludge too?
If any of these questions make you realise that your system could be in need of a service, then I’d recommend a power flush. No matter what age your system is, a regular (3-5 years) power flush can prevent a full system failure with an expensive boiler replacement or even entire pipework replacement.
You service your car, your service your boiler, so why not service your system to make sure it’s efficient and in good working order, which will save you money in the long run?
If you’re in the Wiltshire area, you can contact us for a free quote to have your home power flushed . Give yourself the peace of mind knowing that you have a professional making sure your system is working at it’s best.