What Should I Do If My Boiler Breaks Down?
Would you know what to do if your boiler breaks down? So many of us take this piece of equipment for granted but yet it is a vital component in our home heating systems, and one which we would be quite lost without. We rely on it for heating, hot water and when it breaks it can be costly and inconvenient.
If your boiler breaks down, here are a few things you should do to get it back up and running again with as little inconvenience to you as possible.Â
Find other ways to heat your home and hot water
First things first, you need to find alternative sources for heating and hot water. In the summer months, the demand for heating is probably a lot less, but having a cold shower is hardly appealing either. If you can’t shower at the gym, you will have to resort to using your immersion heater for short periods to heat your water, or suffer through cold showers (what a way to wake up in the morning!)
If we suffer from a cold spell and you need to heat your home, electric heaters, your fireplace and hot water bottles are all good substitutions until you get your boiler back on its feet again.Â
Call a professional, experienced engineer
After you notice your boiler acting suspiciously, or when it flat out breaks and won’t do anything, you need to call a professional engineer to diagnose the problem – do not attempt to fix it yourself. Your boiler is a complicated piece of machinery, and if it’s not fixed exactly right it could be potentially lethal for you and your family. Carbon monoxide leaks from faulty boilers can have deadly consequences, so don’t risk using it if your boiler doesn’t seem right.
Your engineer will be able to tell you what’s wrong with your boiler – and either fix it or recommend that you replace it. Obviously, a boiler replacement is an expensive undertaking – it can cost several thousand Euro to buy a new boiler, and have it professionally installed, so in this case a repair is always more favourable than a replacement.Â
Schedule a boiler service
Always make sure your annual boiler service is in your calendar – not just for safety reasons but for regular repair and maintenance. Your boiler has a lot of moving parts and your engineer will be able to assess these for wear and tear to ensure that your boiler stays in good working condition for longer.
Schedule a service once a year at least, and if you move into a new property have your boiler serviced straight away as you won’t know the last time this was done.Â
Insure your boiler against breakdowns
If you’re worried about being able to cover the cost of a boiler repair or replacement, why not check your current home insurance policy to see if you’re covered? If not, you can arrange for boiler insurance to help you manage the cost of this in the future and to give you some peace of mind.
