LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM — (Marketwire) — 10/04/11 — Preparing your home–s plumbing for the winter is vital to minimising the risk of potentially expensive repairs. Burst pipes, faulty boilers and radiators all need an inspection to ensure they–re in good working condition. Being prepared is better than being taken by surprise, so spend the time to ensure your home is completely “winterised”, that way you will also lower the likelihood of you having to call the in.
Firstly, your radiators are a key component, not only in your home–s heating system, but also to your comfort during the cold winter. Bleeding your radiators is a good way to restore some their performance and efficiency. There are easy ways to determine whether your radiators need bleeding and it–s by checking if they–re hot at the top, but cold at the bottom. A simple home remedy is to get your radiator key and a cloth, and locate the square shaped bleed valve which is usually located near the top of the radiator. Turn off the heating, and gently turn the radiator key, while holding the cloth underneath to catch any dripping water, and let the air escape until water starts flowing. Tighten the valve again and move on to the next unit, it–s that simple.
Boilers can have a serious impact on your home–s energy efficiency, so the first step is to ensure you have a modern boiler. Older boilers tend to use a lot more energy that their modern counterparts and it is recommended that if you boiler is older than 15 years you should look at replacing it. If you have a modern boiler, you should have it properly serviced before the winter. A good piece of advice is that you should put your heating on, once a month should suffice, for 15 minutes at a time during the summer. Boilers need to run regularly to maintain their efficiency and by doing this once a month you could help extend your boiler–s lifespan while avoiding a call to your .
Pipes, more specifically frozen pipes, are often hardest hit by the winter and with some simple precautions you should be able to avoid any damage to your home–s plumbing system. All exposed pipes need to be covered with good lagging. Lagging provides protection to exposed pipes and taps during the cold UK winter and is more of a necessity than a good investment, although it is money well spent. Lagging help reduce the risk of your home–s pipes bursting, keeping condensation build up around the pipes to a minimum and improves energy efficiency. That means good lagging could not only protect your heating and plumbing, but it could even save you some money in the process.
There are a number of plumbers and plumbing companies that will install lagging for you, however, ensure that the company you choose is a reputable and / or trusted authority, dealing with damaged pipes and a broken heating system in the middle of winter could be extremely inconvenient, not to mention potential financial implications.
Contacts:
Dyno
Sutherland House, Maple Road, SURBITON
Surrey, KT6 4BJ
020 8481 2200
020 8481 2288 (FAX)