Why is my boiler leaking?

Your central heating system circulates hot water everywhere in your house. The water is boiled and moderated by the boiler that expands and develops in pressure. To restrict the pressure of your central heating system on hot water, the heating system involves various safety tools, these tools ensure that your home is safe. You might not be informed of exactly how common gas and oil leaks are in the house, but they could harm you and your family which is such an unfortunate thing. Gas and oil boiler leaks can be very simply evaded just by knowing the causes of leaks and having a professional come to the house to do a boiler service every year. Any leaks or possible leaks caused by damaged equipment will be comprehensively reviewed by your technician who will put your mind at peace.

The following are some common reasons for boiler leaks:

• Faulty boiler pressure valve: Your boiler system may be leaking from the boiler pressure pipe, so it is most useful to verify if the pressure is extremely high. The boiler pressure release pipe is intended to leak water for a safety protection purpose to prevent destroying these appliances. To recognize the over-pressure fault in your heating system, pay attention to the standard needle on your boiler, it must be showing in the green part. Also, you can bleed your boiler to overcome the stress, but frequently the effect is limescale or other difficulties in your heating system. Make sure you hire a gas safe registered boiler engineer in London to take a look.
• Corrosion in your system: In maximum cases, the cause of boiler leaks is corroded pipes or the water tank that breakdown over time. If the corrosion is touching a specific component, then a heating engineer can solve this problem with ease. Though, if the corrosion is extensive, then you need to go for a new boiler installation in London. If you are using an old boiler, the advantage of installing a new boiler will return back immediately.
• Temperature: The boiler system is provided with a temperature control device that controls the water temperature inside the boiler and stops it from getting extremely high. Any leak of the temperature valve hints too high boiler temperature that could start burning water getting out of the taps.
• Pump closures: A boiler pump works to elevate water around your heating system, therefore, if it is not sealed perfectly, then the water can flow out. In this situation, the pump is either required repairing or resealing.
• Poor installation: Certainly, a leaking problem in the boiler could actually be produced by incorrect installation. This is usually the problem when water is leaking from the pipe fixtures.
• Loose joints: Joints and pipe connections of your heating system may lose over time as a consequence of the water frequently extending on heating and losing on cooling. This indicates that the joints require to be fixed up to stop water from coming out.

Gas leaks are difficult to identify in the environment, so it is worth taking the professional help before you face the situation of doubting a gas leak from your boiler.

7 Ways to Increase Boiler Lifespan

Boilers are the most effective and common system to keep homes and offices warm and accommodate with a continuous supply of hot water. Nevertheless, your boiler needs routine maintenance to avoid expensive repairs, potentially serious accidents, and to increase its lifespan. If you want to make sure that your home and office is kept heated and you want to stay conformable throughout the colder days of the year, it is highly recommended provide a regular service to your boiler. A necessary step of servicing and maintaining your boiler will ensure its efficient standard at all times and add effectiveness to the lifespan.

Here are the most effective ways that can help you to enhance the lifespan of your boiler:

1. Regular servicing: There are often several things that can be done to improve the performance and lifespan of your boiler. A routine inspection on the level of water is extremely aspired to guarantee the system is not feasible to boil dry. The best method to keep your boiler working is to get your boiler serviced regularly. Specialists and manufacturers always recommend getting your boilers serviced every year, to be on the secure side. Regular servicing your boiler can make it more effective and enhance its performance as well as keep it in a safe and functional condition.

2. Bleed the radiators: Bleeding your radiators is required when the radiators have air and you can determine the situation by pressing the top and bottom portion of it. If you notice a cold top and a hot bottom, it is a sign that your radiator might be filled with air, hence requiring bleeding.

3. Power flushing: Power flushing is a source clean method for your central heating intended to get your system working as effectively as new again. This process is normally suggested as a prudent step to prevent your boiler from being destroyed by rubble in the system. It helps in keeping your boiler working and ensuring its efficiency. Although most boiler problems can be resolved through this process, some might need a boiler replacement. For this, you can speak to a professional boiler engineer london.

4. Run it in summer: These days many combi boilers come with a summer setting feature which works only when hot water is required. Being unused for a long time, your boiler may create some issues. Using it in summer days can help you to keep it working efficiently.

5. Protect pipework: When you observe that you are not getting the same amount of heat from your radiator as you used to have, bleeding the pipes is the suitable solution for it. The drain pipe needs to be examined for leakage and reviewing it is properly insulated against the cold weather.

6. Fit reflector panels: Reflector panels helps you in increasing the energy performance of your radiator, particularly for the parts that are fitted on the outside partitions and end up wasting heat through mortar and blocks.

7. Keep the temperatures controlled: Modern radiators are designed with thermostatic devices that make it feasible for you to set required temperatures. If your radiator does not include thermostat, you should think to have one retrofitted so that you will be provided with temperature control. These tips are adequate methods to keep your boiler maintained and efficient in the long run.

Benefits of Installing a Brand New Boiler

Rather than spending a lot of money on your old boiler repairs, in many cases, it would be most useful to install a new system. Many homeowners are still using inefficient central heating systems and their homes are not fitted with the ideal boiler that can meet their heating requirements. Installing a brand new boiler can reduce your energy bills as much as possible because heat will be dispersed equally and you would not have to fix the temperature. You will not only see the financial benefits on electricity bills, but also the new boiler installation will ensure that you are not spending money on frequent repairs and services. The average boiler service will cost a huge amount and when you combine this to your energy bills, it is a valuable amount. Hence, installing a new boiler can save you from several issues and provide many benefits.

Take a look at some major benefits:

New boilers are energy efficient: All fitted boilers have condensing technology that simply indicates to make more utilisation of the fire gases and extort extra heat from the fuel that is being used. New condensing boilers are more than 90 percent efficient which means you can save lots of money on energy bills with a new boiler.

Financial savings: This is the most significant reason for those who are looking for a boiler upgrade. New boilers are energy-efficient and work up to 40 percent more efficiently than the old one, which provides you a great annual saving opportunity. If you add this to the amount you will keep from repairs, it converts into a little wealth.

Reliability: Older boilers have more chances to breakdown without notification. This situation will leave you without the hot water until you can arrange the money to repair it. A new boiler comes with a new warranty which means you can trust your boiler for years to come.

Peace of mind: The main problem with old boilers is the possibility of leaking carbon monoxide. It can be dangerous for homeowners as it takes people to the hospital. This is a colourless gas and impossible to detect. Replacing your boiler will provide peace of mind and keep you and your family safe.

New boilers are smaller: Today, the design of boilers has been enhanced, making new boilers smaller than older. This will provide you more options to install the boiler and keep it out of the frequently used areas.

These are the benefits that you can expect from the new boiler installation. While upgrading your boiler, you must consider some vital factors such as the boiler type, space where you will install your boiler, and the most important one your budget. It would be good if you consider replacing your old boiler, the final decision is yours.

Your Power Flushing Myths Busted

Every central heating system, whether it is old or new needs power flushing for one very simple and common reason. After a long time, a build-up of sludge starts to form inside the system which causes blockages in the tubes and hence it makes the system work harder and slow in order to warm up the water. Because of this, people face high electricity bills that directly impact on their budget. So the main and simple reason for using power flushing is to provide faster and more efficiency to your boiler so that you can save your time and money.

Image source - devpolicy.org

The power flushing method also makes your boiler worthwhile, build-up of limescale is more deleterious to your boiler than you think. With the increased time, the residue accumulates and creates damage to the heat exchanger which can slow down the boiler and reduces the amount of heat it generates, necessarily causing the boiler to pack up. There are some ways that help you to identify some of the misconceptions about the power flushing method and how this could benefit you.

Power flushing will cause leaks in my heating system?

It is improbable because most power flush units are designed hence the maximum pressure is less. The use of a high flow rate makes power flushing effective. Some of the power flushing systems have radiators with limited deep corrosion holes, the use of only a scab of corrosion preventing the system liquid from dripping out. The exceptional stage of corrosion needed for such a condition indicates that the leak would occur imminently even without applying a power flush method.

You can’t power flush microbore systems

This is a completely wrong statement because most microbore systems can be power flushed, but it will take extra time as compare to usual flush. There are some strict conditions when power flushing your microbore system. Firstly, you need to heat up the boiler and check the current state and heat result of every radiator individually. Power flushing is a beneficial method as it will be more effective and homeowners will get great heat results. Many microbore systems are available with 8 or 10mm tubing which sometimes can create problems with the build-up of heavy sludge in the sharp bends in the tube. So, professionals always pre-process these systems with the flushing chemical to ease up and deploy the corrosion debris as much as it can be done before the power flush.

The pressure from a power flushing pump will damage the boiler

The pressure from the power flushing pump will never break your boiler because the highest pressure of a power flushing pump will never exceed more than 2 reefs, and hence it would not be over-pressurised and affect the inner workings of your boiler.

You can’t fire a combination boiler to heat the water during a power flush

In many occurrences, you can heat your boiler during the power flush process, but you have to keep one thing in your mind that the combi boilers require at least 0.5 reef water pressure before it will heat up. Also, non-firing is normally related to an obvious lack of strength.

A magnetic filter will do the same job

The choice of a permanent filter is a wise decision because it can remove debris from the water flowing through it, and also prevent system breakdowns. Most permanent filters are designed with a limited capacity. Debris is various systems that would profuse their capacity. A power flushing pump will be more effective rather than depending on the usual circulator pump to remove corrosion debris.

Anyone can carry out a power flush

To perform a power flushing job and carry out the process accurately, plumbing engineers would require special training. In this special training session, they need to learn about what not to do when performing power flushing as well as they must know the tips to provide the most effective service.

Book service of Power Flushing London

At LJB Heating & Plumbing LTD, we prefer the state of the advanced equipment hence our professionals can provide an effective power flush work to get your system back to work as before. We have highly qualified engineers to provide power flushing work.