Are you renting a property and wondering if you could save on your utility bills? Confused how your boiler installation works and want some general knowledge of what to do if your heating packs up? Then look no further! In this article I will provide you with the information you need to cut your costs, set your boiler installation to a routine that suits your individual and offer some simple life skills in how to deal with some common faults and boiler breakdowns within the law.
With that said, I must stipulate it is illegal for an unregistered person to remove the casing from a gas appliance and I will be giving as said above, only information and advice on what you can legally do yourself. If unsure, always report to your landlord who will call a registered boiler repair company.
In a nutshell
If you’re like me and want the facts and maybe a read later, here you go;
- External boiler installation control – Programmers and room stats control the amount of gas your boiler installation uses, keeping these under control will keep your bills under control
- TRV’S – Keeping these little beauties set correct and turned off in vacant rooms will save loads on your boiler installation bills
- Common boiler breakdowns – Low pressure, bleeding radiators, resetting your boiler, pilot light, check your gas is on! These are common causes of boiler breakdowns and are explained in this article in-depth below
Now for a deeper dive!
External Boiler Installation Controls
Better known as programmers and room stats, these are the external controls in your boiler installation that tell it when to come on and when to go off.
Most people have regular routines throughout the week whether you’re in full time work, part time or a student, you should have a general Idea of what time you wake up, shower and sleep, and adjusting the controls to suit these patterns will save you money on your utility bills.
Let’s say you work a 9-5 job for argument sake, we can presume your alarm clock will be bothering you an hour or so prior to leaving the house depending on how long you take on your social media and brushing your hair in the morning!
So we’re getting up at 7am, showering and leaving for 8am… if you have a combination boiler installed then we don’t need to worry about setting any times for hot water but if you have a large cylinder in your airing cupboard then you will want to set your hot water to come on at 6am and to go off at 7am giving it 1 hour to heat the water for your shower, you should set the heating to come on at 6:30am to 7:30am to ensure your house is warm by the time you rise and that it is off by the time you leave your house.
Your heating should come on half an hour before you arrive so 5pm to 7:30pm providing a warm house upon your arrival and maintaining it until evening time. Your hot water may require half hour or so for your pots and evening shower so this could be set to come on 4pm-4:30pm. You can set your heating to come on again around 9pm to 10pm to give you the warmth you need for the night and remember to wrap up tight.
Room stats controls are found on most boiler installations and they regulate the temperature of your house, keeping you warm but at the same time letting the boiler know when it does not need to be wasting gas. Most people feel comfortable at around 20C, so I suggest trying this temperature setting and adjusting it to your individual needs.
Your room stat will tell your boiler installation not to come on between your set times if the house is already at your desired temperature therefore saving on your energy bills.
So, heating should come on half hour before you wake/arrive home and be off when you leave/sleep minimising the time your boiler installation is burning your gas away.
Hot water requires roughly an hour prior to using it unless you have a combi-boiler installed in which case the water is on demand.
Thermostats and TRVs
All new boiler installations should come with thermostats and TRVs to regulate the temperature of the property. A TRV (short for Thermostatic Radiator Valve) regulates the temperature denying demand once it’s reached its desired temperature, therefore saving costs of gas and creating savings.
If you are a tenant and the bills are not included in the rental agreement, then these items in your boiler installation have the possibility of saving you hundreds of pounds over a period of time.
Find the appropriate temperature setting on your thermostat, usually around 20C and the correct number setting on your TRV (usually numbered 0-5), try number 3, and if your room isn’t at its desired temperature then try number 4 and so on until your happy.
Be sure to turn all the TRV’s to zero in rooms that are not used often, as we visit many properties where our customers complain about gas bills but have 3 or 4 rooms in which are rarely occupied
You’re not responsible for the bills? Ok fair enough, however these controls on your boiler installation not only cut costs in energy usage but the very fact they do equates to the boiler being used less, thus less “wear and tear”. Yes, like everything, boiler installs have a life span and the more it’s used the more it has the chance of acquiring problems and breakdowns.
If you have an old boiler installed then the chances that you don’t have these in place are somewhat increased, however most boiler installation companies can supply and fit these at a relatively low cost.
Common Boiler Breakdowns
Low pressure
Over time your boiler installation can lose pressure causing your boiler to breakdown. This is very common and easily rectified… on your boiler installation there will usually be a filling loop either directly under your boiler or in your airing cupboard along with a pressure gauge. If this is reading zero then you will want to turn the black knobs attached to a silver flexible pipe in most cases until the pressure reads at 1.5 Bar, then try resetting your boiler. these knobs can sometimes have a tendency of being a little stiff when trying to turn them so be careful and don’t go at it too hard as you could cause a leak and if in doubt then call a boiler repair company.
There are many videos on the internet, even down to the exact brand of boiler that you have that will give you a step-by-step video tutorial on how to execute this simple procedure.
Bleeding radiators
Most people have heard or know about this common procedure regarding your boiler installation. Its where air gets trapped in your radiators and causes the tops of your radiators to be cold, therefore resulting in poor performance in your boiler installation. There is a nipple on the top left or right side of your radiator that can be opened with a bleed key that you can purchase from a DIY store for less than a pound.
This procedure can be found on many video tutorials on the internet that involves a bleed key, paper towel and a small container to catch water. The aim of the game is to allow the air to vent/bleed out of the radiator until the water fills it to the top simply by turning the nipple anticlockwise to vent, then clockwise to close it off once the radiator is filled with water.
In doing this procedure on your boiler installation, you may unknowingly cause another fault as described above, low water pressure as you released air from the system, therefore the pressure will go down so follow the procedure as above.
Turn it off and on
Yes that’s right, off and on can get your boiler installation up and running again, and I know it sounds untechnical but our boilers, like our smart phones, laptops and computers are full of software and sometimes get as confused as our grandparents at a rave but it can and does work, especially in cases of gas running out on prepayment meters or electrical spikes occurring in the network.
Check your gas is on
Simple one but happens to the best of us… if you’re on a prepayment meter then odds on your going to run out occasionally and when you do your boiler will need resetting or the pilot light reigniting.
Pilot light
pilot lights are found on older boiler installations and are a common cause of boiler breakdowns. Depending on your boiler installation there are several ways to turn your pilot light back on. You can find videos online that will involve holding down the pilot gas valve and pressing the spark ignition in succession until a flame is achieved, then holding it for a further 15 seconds or so to allow the pilot light to stay before releasing your fingers.
Shout at your boiler!
Ok, so this one is not so technical, but it concludes the common steps you can follow to try to get that damn boiler working again. This procedure requires good lungs, a stern face and a decent vocabulary to hurl at your boiler installation! You can expect little to no results from this procedure, however if carried out with adequate tenacity could result in your neighbours coming to your aid to help you out, and if that fails you will feel a whole lot better after venting your disappointments to your boiler.
I hope these tips will help you save and for more tips stay tuned, keep warm, and most importantly, keep gas safe!