Is it time to replace the boiler

With winters coming, its time to think of getting our homes warm. If you use boilers and radiators get them prepared for the next winters as fuel prices are rising day by day and you shouldn’t be wasting money on inefficient heating systems.

Is it time to replace the boiler?

The efficiency of the boiler is practically established by the proportion of the innate energy in the fuel which is consequently converted into heat while being used to run the boiler or in other words you can simply put it in this way, the more efficient your boiler the less gas or fuel it will consume to produce heat. Boiler efficiency advanced in the 80’s when condensing boilers were introduced. Condensing boilers have a large heat exchanger in them that even convert the vapors.

They are highly effective achieving about 90% efficiency. As compared to old conventional boilers that linger between 60 - 70% efficiency, a modern standard combi or conventional boiler operates at around 80 - 84% efficiency. This difference means you will be saving around £150 per year.

Older boilers especially those which are not maintained they become less efficient and intend to consume more energy and money to heat your home, an old boiler will significantly have higher running costs as high as £300 per year.

Are my radiators distributing heat properly?

Radiators are the main component that distribute heat around the home, however if your boilers are working and your radiators are blocked this can cause a huge difference to the efficiency of the whole system.

Bleeding:

With the passage of time air can make its way to the radiators by entering the system, bleeding the radiators helps in removing any trapped air and gases. Trapped air is one of the most commonly encountered problems in a central heating system which causes poor water flow system performance leading to higher energy bills.

How do you check whether your radiators need bleeding or not?

Simply place your hand on the radiator to check the temperature and then place your hand downwards. If the top is cold and the lower half is cold, then this is a sure sign of air being stuck in the radiator which definitely requires bleeding. Get a Gas Safe Registered engineer to check your radiators.

Thermostatic Radiator Valves:

Older central heating systems were often controlled by just one room thermostat placed in the hallway or down the stairs, making the heating systems heat according to where the thermostat’s location, causing severe temperature imbalance between rooms.

Getting your spare bedroom heated is as pointless as gold plating a toothbrush. Heating your whole house with the same temperature is a waste of money and energy. Install thermostatic radiator valves in each room and adjust them according to each individual choice. Keep the heating off in unoccupied rooms.

Radiator Balancing: Hot water fed heating systems work on the basis of “Feed and Return”, in simple words the boiler routes hot water through pipes around the house before returning back to the boiler for re-heating. Keep your radiators balanced by adjusting the lock shield valve on each radiator, allowing lesser flow of nearby radiators while providing more flow for the radiators that are far away. This technique gives an even temperature in the whole house