As another year continues to pass one day at a time, you’re probably starting to see the ice and snow thaw out slowly. That can only mean the warm seasons will be right around the corner. However, with how quickly time tends to fly past, it’ll get cold again before you know it. But whatever weather there is, your heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system’s right there to make you comfortable throughout the year.
However, despite being engineered for this sole purpose, your heater or boiler is bound to wear down over time. Fortunately, instead of taking matters into your own hands, there are good HVAC technicians and professionals who specialize in repairing these utilities by practicing these:
Assess the Situation of your Boiler
Professionals first assess the condition of your boiler or heater to locate its problem. That way, they can provide the appropriate solution for your boiler issues. They inspect the entire unit system from its power source to its pipes. After they’ve located the source of its issue, they start right away with their procedure. So, in solving your heater or boiler problems, it’s advisable to do the same to properly address them.
Address the Power Source Issue
Power outages are the worst nightmare, especially if the temperature’s reaching extreme levels outside. If your furnace doesn’t work even when the power goes back on, there might be a problem with its power lines. If you have a thermostat, you can tell it’s not turned on if the screen is blank. If that’s the case, see how the circuit breaker’s doing. Having sudden outages and the power coming back on could have overwhelmed your circuits.
If there’s nothing wrong with the circuit breaker and yet your heating system’s still not working, the professional might conclude it’s using a non-electric power source. In this case, they might replace your thermostat’s batteries. However, if there’s a propane gas issue involved, contact the heating repair Cross Junction or other specialists to handle it.
Adjust the Pressure of your Boiler
Other than the power supply, there are still other factors that affect how your heating system works. For example, your boiler might keep turning off or there’s little to no heat warming up your water. In these cases, having low pressure could be the reason behind them.
While you can repressure it yourself, it’s better to be safe than sorry. After all, you’re likely to pressurize it too much if you’re simply running on instinct. So, have a professional do it instead.
First, they’ll check the pressure gauge. This is typically placed in front of the boiler. If they see it’s below one, that can only mean that the pressure is low. Although there are different boilers, repressurizing will be a breeze for them since they are knowledgeable and experienced enough to fix these boilers.
Relocate the Thermostat Accordingly
So, you’ve checked on the power supply yourself, and your unit is now working, but your home is still a little too cold? That might be because the location of your thermostat isn’t suitable for it.
Since heating systems nowadays are run by smart technology, they have built-in sensors which determine optimal temperature. Therefore, if it’s installed near a radiator or vent, the thermostat’s bound to get confused and set the wrong temperature. So, either you have it adjusted manually or relocate it to a better, suitable place.
Flush the System
If your boiler makes strange noises as you turn them on, that’s a bad sign. These noises could mean anything, but typically they translate as:
- A loose part
- Dirt accumulation
- Pipe damage
There are specific noises that indicate what the utilities’ damage is. However, you might want to leave that to the professional instead. Of course, the first thing they’ll do is identify the cause.
Once that’s over, their next step is to ‘bleed’ the radiator. There’s really no blood involved in the process; instead, what the specialist will bleed out is the excess air trapped inside. Besides the noises, having air trapped in the unit could disrupt water circulation.
If your radiator continues to have cold patches all over, or it’s still slow to heat up, your specialist might settle with a power flush. In this method, not only is the trapped air removed, but also any sludge or rust that might’ve accumulated over time.
Insulate Heater
Due to extreme cold, your pipes and boiler are the first victims that might succumb to it. Since they’re made of metal with water running through them, there’s no question why it’s so easy for them to freeze over. And once that happens, the boiler might be unable to heat water, it could turn off entirely, or your pipes may crack and explode.
To prevent any of these from happening, insulation is the best (and only) solution your specialist can come up with. There’s less chance for the water to lose its heat completely by insulating them. This way, the heating system could avoid malfunctioning in the middle of winter while helping you conserve energy to lower your bills, thus, striking two birds in one stone.
Takeaway
As a homeowner, maintaining your heater or boiler can be challenging. Despite how simple the heating system’s purpose is, knowing how to resolve its problem is a winding process since there are so many variables that could lead to the issue. Fortunately, there are professionals who are up for the task.