Do you know how to check your heating system?
Heating in the household is essential at this time of year, it’s difficult to get out of the bed in the morning enough as it is, never mind with the system on the blink.
British Gas is calling on mums-to-be to make sure their homes are ready for winter, as a new study reveals that a staggering 50 per cent of mums have suffered boiler breakdowns with a baby or young child in the house.
The poll of mums shows that expectant parents prioritise other planning activities such as decorating nurseries and buying clothes over simple household checks. It also found that over 1 in 10 mums don’t know how to check whether their heating or hot water is working.
Chris Brain, a British Gas Engineer with 20 year’s experience commented: “Having responded to several call-outs from mums with young babies, I know that being left without heating and hot water is particularly stressful. At British Gas, we prioritise all those with young children or vulnerable people in the home, so if you do have young children, always mention it to us in event of an emergency.
“It would be great to see basic home checks becoming part of the baby planning routine. Sometimes the simplest of things such as bleeding a radiator or checking the water pressure in your boiler can make all the difference.”
In response to the survey results, British Gas has put together a list of crucial pre-birth checks to help mums avoid unnecessary home-heating stresses.
Helen Chandler, a mum of three from Manchester, who found herself without hot water and heating for three days last Christmas, said: “I didn’t even think about checking the boiler or external pipes before the birth of our first baby. However, after being left in the cold on Christmas day last year, I’m definitely more prepared around the home and aware of keeping the house and family warm.
“This year, we’ve been bleeding radiators and lagging our pipes, so that we’re not caught out by any future cold spells!”
British Gas’ list of pre-birth checks to ensure newborns are kept warm this winter
1. Stop your home losing heat
- Hang heavy, lined curtains at windows to help keep the heat in and close them as soon as it starts getting dark. If you have Venetian blinds tilt the blades so they face down
- Make sure all of your home’s windows and doors seal properly to stop warm air escaping. For those that don’t, fitting draft excluders, which you can buy from most DIY stores, is a quick and cheap way to cut down on your energy bills
2. Make sure your radiators are working properly
- If your radiators have cold spots, this means you have air in the system, so you will need to bleed them to get them working efficiently
- To do this, turn the system off and then turn the radiator key until the air stops and water runs consistently. Once you have turned the system back on, the problem should be solved
3. Ensure your nursery remains at a constant temperature
- Your timer should normally be set to coincide with your schedule, to ensure your radiators only come on when you need them to. But please bear in mind with a newborn at home, it’s worth setting your heating to come on during the night to counter any drastic drops in temperature that may happen, to ensure the nursery’s temperature remains constant
- Consider Thermostatic Radiator Valves in the nursery, as these allow you to control the temperature of the nursery independently to the rest of the house. These are sensitive to temperature, so do not cover the valve with anything
4. Insulate your pipes
- Check your pipes are insulated using lagging, which can be bought cheaply from most DIY shops. This will prevent them from bursting and can also save you around £15 per year, according to Energy Saving Trust
5. Consider fitting a Carbon Monoxide alarm
- This will protect you and your family from potentially fatal carbon monoxide leaks
6. Be in the know – if your central heating and hot water stop working, make sure you know what to do
- Firstly, check to see that there are no other causes - are the other gas appliances and electric sockets working?
- Check your isolation switches are on and that the trip switches in your fuse box are also on
- If you are a pre-pay customer, you should also check that you are not out of credit
- Check your thermostat – it may simply be a case of turning it up
- Check appliance controls on your boiler, is the temperature dial turned up?
- Your boiler pressure should read between 1-2 bar - If the pressure is too low, carefully turn on the valves next to your boiler until you see your pressure gage rise
- Reset your boiler’s timer. If you’re not sure how to set it, check the manufacturers guide
- Check your boiler’s pilot light – if you have a pilot light and it has gone out, check the manufacturer’s instructions as to how to relight it
7. In an emergency, have the British Gas number handy
Tagged in Parenting Home Heating