What would you do if your boiler breaks down? Who would you call? A heating engineer or a plumber?

We get phone calls all the time from worried customers form across south Wales with faulty boilers who are unsure whether they have called the right person. It’s fair to say that the lines between a heating engineer and a plumber can be blurred and when the pressure is on to stop a leak from a boiler or restore heat to you house, knowing which one to call can make all the difference.

Your boiler uses a lot of water pipes and is plumbed into the mains, so should you call a plumber to repair your boiler? The answer to this question is …. No.

Here’s the difference between the two.

Heating Engineer

The clue is in the name! A heating engineer will work solely on heating in domestic and commercial properties rather than working across the broader industry, making them specialists in heating and gas work. They carry out a wide range of jobs from maintaining and installing heating pipework to fixing appliances when they break down. For this reason, you may prefer to contact a heating engineer rather than a plumber, as they may be more familiar with your issue.

You should still ensure that your heating engineer is Gas Safe registered before allowing them to work on your boiler.

Plumbers

We feel the confusion has come from plumbers, as their trade can cover a multitude of tasks when it comes to bathrooms, kitchens, wet pipes, dry pipes, boiler maintenance or servicing and heating systems.

While many plumbers do possess a number of plumbing skills and qualifications, they are not essential in order for them to trade as a plumber, meaning that anyone can refer to themselves as a plumber without any formal certifications. Although they may be experts in their field and highly recommended, they may not be Gas Safe registered and therefore can not work on your boiler.

Some plumbers are also Gas Safe registered, however this should not be expected as standard. If you find a plumber who is also offering gas central heating services, check the Gas Safe register to make sure that they are legally permitted to work with gas.

Gas Safe Register

A boiler repair or service involves working with gas, so only a Gas Safe registered engineer can legally work on a gas boiler. The gas industry is highly regulated to ensure that relevant services are provided to the highest safety standards, so if your repair is to a boiler or other gas appliance, you must make sure that you contact a Gas Safe engineer.

Luckily Limgreen has everything you need right here, with just one phone call and a few simple questions we can have the right person on the job.

Boiler Check list.

• Check your gas supply – are your other appliances working? Is the emergency control valve open? If none of your appliances are working, then call your gas supplier as it is likely to be a problem at the mains.
• Press your reset button – it might have tripped due to a safety precaution. You should find it on the front of your boiler but otherwise check manufacturer’s instructions. You should NOT have to remove a panel to locate the reset button.
• Is your boiler pilot light? Older models with a pilot light might require reignition. Follow your boiler manufacturer’s instructions. If it’s a newer model, then you could try pressing the deblocking button to reignite the burner.
• Check your power supply – check to see whether one of the fuses hasn’t tripped on your fuse box. Sometimes the obvious is overlooked! And can be fixed with a simple reset.
• Heating controls – check the times on your thermostat / programmer. Get the manual out and make sure you’ve got them set up correctly. Check your timer. Your thermostat will lose accuracy as it gets older and might need replacing.
• Check your boiler pressure – low system pressure in boilers can cause them to run at a lower capacity or cause them to stop working completely. It’s especially common in combi boilers. The pressure gauge should be at 1 bar when your system is cold. If your boiler has a flexible filling top, you’re able to fill up (charge) your system with water yourself. If you’re at all unsure as to how to do this then please call us and we’ll set out one of our Gas Safe Register engineers to service your boiler.
• Radiator valves – these might be a problem. Fiddle around with them to see if you can get them warming up. For a standard lock shield valve, you’ll need to remove the plastic cover and use the appropriate tool (can be from DIY shop) to adjust the setting, whereas a thermostatic valve can just be turned to the desired setting.

Contact limegreen 

The post Do I need a heating engineer or a plumber? first appeared on Limegreen.

The days are getting longer and the traditional deep chill that sweeps the country seems to be lifting. That doesn’t mean it’s plain sailing from here through to Spring. February is the month that we experience more boiler call outs than any other month of the year.

Figures reported by insurer Direct Line for Business state that boiler repair claims during February are 163% higher than the monthly average, with last winter showing a 27% increase in broken down boiler claims compared to the previous year.

Despite having a moderately warm winter our boilers have been under a large amount of stress over the winter period. While we all hunker down and cwtch up in our living rooms and blast the heating first thing in the morning to help the transition from your warm bed to the kitchen, it is easy to get complacent with our boilers. So if you have been lucky enough to have a problem free season so far, it is not uncommon for small problems to start appearing in your heating systems now.

Boiler breakdowns can happen at any time and it is not always the cold weather that causes these problems. Taking the proper precautions can prevent these problems from surfacing and regular maintenance will ensure that your boiler runs smoothly,  so you don’t get caught out with a chilly house next winter.

If your boiler is starting to show the strains of winter  call us on : 029 2066 6620

The post February is the worst month for boiler problems first appeared on Limegreen.

There are five common problems that require immediate attention if your home is to stay warm and inviting during the festive season through the New Year, and a well maintained boiler not only keeps you cosy and warm but also money.

No Pilot light. 

This could mean you have a significant problem with your system that requires an expert right away. Pilot lights can go out as a fail safe to prevent an explosion from a build up of gas! If you smell gas you should leave the property and contact us immediately!

My boilers knocking and clunking 

This is an easy symptom to notice as the clunking and clanging is keeping you awake at night! This is probably caused by a build-up of air in the system. Leaking  or loose pipes, taps or connections can draw in air, and the same problem can be caused by low pressure. Not a serious problem but it is something you’ll need to call one of our engineers to resolve.

The lights are on but no one is home?

Everything seems to be working but your radiators are FREEZING! This is the most common fault with boilers and can happen with the new type of ‘condensation boiler’ that has a pipe at the back that funnels condensation away from the unit. Because it’s filled with water it can freeze during winter, causing the whole boiler to stall. This is something you can easily fix yourself  simply by defrosting the pipe with some warm (not boiling!) water. Simply pour it over the length of the pipe until it has thawed.

Working but not warm enough

You may be sat at home with the heating on but it just isn’t pumping out enough heat, what do you do? Well there are a number of causes for this problem,  but perhaps the most common is your thermostat is inaccurate. As a highly sensitive piece of equipment it can only take a slight knock to throw the thermostat out. It needs to be placed with a high degree of accuracy, and over time its delicate electronic components can wear out.  So before calling us to quote you for a new boiler it might be worthwhile checking the thermostat is up full or getting us to check out that old thermostat,  as that might be the main suspect.

The dreaded limescale 

In the same way it can effect your kettle, taps or shower, limescale and hard water are problems that Limegreen residents have had to deal with for years. The white residue from hard water can be visible in most appliance, but can go undetected in your boiler.  If this builds up it can significantly reduce your boilers efficiency and puts stress on the system. If this is the case you need to have it professionally removed using a specialist cleaning product.

The post Our Top 5 Winter Boiler Problems first appeared on Limegreen.