7 Ways to Increase Your Boiler’s Lifespan

Let’s face it, with the ongoing increase in energy bills, nobody is too thrilled at the idea of having to dish out extra money for a new boiler, especially not if your boiler is fairly new. But a boiler, like any household appliance, needs to be maintained and cared for in order to operate as smoothly as possible for as long as possible. Neglecting your boiler or only attending to it when a visible problem has occurred will mean higher chances of it experiencing serious complications in future or worse yet, a complete breakdown. Why is it important to take care of your boiler? We can safely say that the biggest reason has to be to save money. The more care you apply to the condition of your boiler, the less money you’ll need to spend in the long-run. Imagine if you left your boiler unattended and it needed repairs too frequently, the costs alone from addressing the fixes would begin to pile up, eventually leaving you with bills that could have been avoided. What is the average life expectancy of a boiler? The average lifespan of a boiler is estimated to be between 10-15 years. With the addition of regular boiler servicing and maintenance, your boiler could potentially exceed its life expectancy. And whilst some maintenance steps are simple enough to carry out by yourself, you don’t have to feel as if you’re expected to carry the weight of the world on your shoulders. We can assist with the more nitty gritty aspects of caring for your boiler. With that being said, we’ll look at the top ways you can extend your boiler’s life expectancy for as long as possible before a new boiler replacement is considered. What are the ways I can increase my boiler’s lifespan? 1. Servicing is a saviour The first and foremost piece of advice we can give it to make sure that your boiler is serviced. It only needs to be done once a year so it’s not too much of a disruption but is a hugely effective way to increase your boiler’s life. By getting your boiler serviced by a Gas Safe-Registered Engineer, you can make sure that any and all little fixes are noted and addressed before they become troublesome. It’s like a health check-up for your boiler and does wonders for it. Plus, it means your warranty remains protected. DIY? 2. Invest in and install a magnetic filter Debris, sludge and the iron compounds from water can easily get clogged in heating systems, making it a huge vulnerability. The more build up of this, the less likely your boiler will be able to effectively provide heat around your home. A magnetic filter helps to filter all the grime and metallic components that get built-up in your system, leaving it cleaner for longer. This is a brilliant little addition to install to your system as it also helps to save more on energy bills, considering your boiler won’t need to work harder and longer as it would if it was full of sludge and magnetite etc. DIY? 3. Bleed your radiators When air gets trapped in your heating system, it means that heat emitters such as your radiators are not able to provide heat around your home as efficiently. If you feel your radiators and they are warm to the touch at the bottom but colder towards the top, they will need bleeding. Learn more in our guide: How to bleed your radiators. This only requires a couple of different affordable and accessible tools and is a brilliantly simple way to help release the air trapped in your home’s heating system. Your radiator will have a bleed point at the top where you can insert a radiator key to release the air. Place a towel or absorbent material underneath to catch any water that may release too. DIY? 4. Apply inhibitor to your heating system Build up of limescale is to be expected in a system that’s purpose is to move water. But leaving limescale to teem in your heating system can cause corrosion beneath it, weakening the metal that makes up your heating system. An inhibitor is a liquid that helps to protect your boiler against limescale, rust and corrosion by applying a protective coat to your system. DIY? 5. Give it a power flush A central heating system power flush essentially gives your heating system a deep clean by using water at a high pressure combined with cleaning chemicals. It will help to clear out anything that may be sitting in your heating system that could be causing build up or damage. With the presence of a magnetic filter or inhibitor, your system would less likely be in need of a power flush. But whether you have these installed or not, giving your heating system a bit of TLC can help to completely cleanse and revitalise it, making it almost as efficient as when it was first installed. DIY? 6. Turn the heating on in the summer Whilst it sounds completely contradictory, it is advisable to turn your boiler on for short periods throughout summer. This only needs to be very short bursts occasionally. Once every month for about 10-20 minutes should do. A boiler doesn’t cope very well being left unused for long periods of time. Turning the heating on every so often during the summer months helps to prevent moving parts seizing and keeps the water flowing through your heating systems. After all, the last thing anyone wants is to get to autumn/winter and have insufficient heat in the home. DIY? 7. Keep pipes insulated It’s important to not forget about the pipes, particularly ones that are exposed to cold air like up in the loft or outside in a garage. These are prone to freezing in the winter months, which is one of the biggest causes of boiler problems during these colder periods. Insulating the (typically copper) pipes with lagging helps to prevent a major boiler

Save Some Pennies This Winter by Draught-Proofing Your Home

With the nation battling increasing energy bills, it’s becoming more and more crucial to find alternative ways to save money. Draught-proofing your property is one of the ways you can help to keep the heat inside your home during the colder months as well as helping to keep your money in your pocket. What is draught-proofing exactly? Draught-proofing means to seal any gaps present in your home to prevent cold air from entering. Gaps that cause cold spots and draughts can exist in different forms all around your home, such as cracks in structures, gaps in windows and even the spaces underneath doors.  Why bother draught-proofing your home? If the thought of saving your wallet from the trauma of being dented by energy bills wasn’t enough of a convincing factor, then allow us to list a few more reasons as to why draught-proofing your home is beneficial and will serve you positively. Helps keep your home warm Less energy is used, lowering your carbon footprint Affordable and easy to do yourself How much does draught-proofing save? Whilst there’s no magic number or fixed price of how much you’ll save on your energy bills with draught-proofing, it certainly does make an impact and helps you to save money in the long-term.  Depending on the type of property you live in and whether you decide to draught-proof yourself or seek out professional help, the amount you save per year is estimated to be around £20-£50. Whilst it doesn’t seem much, it is certainly an improvement from the prices of energy bills.  Your home’s draught ‘hotspots’ and how to close them Most homes will have almost the same draft-prone spots but depending on the type of home you live in, you could be vulnerable to more than just the usual ones. Essentially, any area where the outside air makes its way inside the home is open to introducing a draft inside. So what areas around the house are open to drafts and how do you close them?  Doors (including keyholes and letterboxes) Doors will be one of the first considerations as this is typically the main source of drafts. There are different areas of a door that can cause drafts. Here’s how you can combat those areas of doors: Letterbox and keyholes: Use a cover or plate for keyholes and a draft-excluder brush for letterboxes Gap at bottom of door: Use a draft-excluder brush or purchase a dedicated draught-excluder. Alternatively, you can use old or ruined clothes and bunch them up to fill the gaps at the bottom of doors. Gap on sides of door: Use foam or rubber strips/sealant or the thin gaps on the sides of doors Windows Windows are another consideration that shouldn’t typically cause drafts if insulated properly or installed with double glazing. However, in the colder months windows can be more susceptible to drafts. For this, use foam, rubber, metal or plastic strips/sealant around the frame of the window. Alternatively, you can look to purchase thicker curtains to help prevent cold drafts.  Flooring and skirting Drafts that can sneak in through floor gaps and cracks in skirting boards can be fixed relatively easily with fillers and gap stoppers. However, if you’re looking for a more long-term solution to tackle floor draughts, you can look into investing in underfloor heating. Floorboards: Use filler or caulk that can withstand constant movement to fill in the floorboard gas. Typically these will shrink as they begin to dry, allowing drafts to re-enter so it’s worth investing in airtight versions of filler. Additionally, you can look at purchasing products such as Stopgap to fill in gaps in your flooring.  Skirting boards: Use sealant or fillings for any cracks in skirting. Remember to wipe off excess sealant before it dries. Loft/attic hatch Due to the fact that hot air rises, it can often get lost within the attic. Use a fabric or foam strip, similar to how you would with a door to block gaps around the edges of the loft hatch to prevent hot air from escaping. Most lofts have insulation installed but it’s worth looking into a more effective insulation if you find that drafts still come through via the attic.  Wall cracks Cracks in the interior walls of your home are not only problematic because they cause damage to your property’s infrastructure but they also make it easier for cold air to seep into your home.  Use a filler or cement mixture to fill in smaller sized cracks in walls. This is the safest solution to making sure wires and electrics inside the walls are not impaired. If there are larger and more fragile cracks or fractures in your walls, seek out the assistance of a professional.  Perfecting the balance between draught-proofing and ventilation If you do take the plunge of committing to the DIY project of insulating and draught-proofing your home, don’t forget that your property will still need consistent air flow and stable ventilation to help with preventing dampness, mould and condensation. Make sure that when you’re draught-proofing your home to not accidentally cover, block or fill forms of ventilation such as extractor fans or wall vents.  When is it time to seek help with draught-proofing my home? Whilst most of the ways to resolve draughts in the home are easy to do by yourself, some of the more troublesome fixes will require a professional to assist. It’s an individual choice whether to DIY the fixes or hire some help depending on preference and finances. Doing it yourself is much more cost-effective and mostly easy to do. However, the slightly more tasking fixes could cost more if errors are made and are just generally more time-consuming, making it worth just seeking out a professional.  We’re able to offer support and heating services to keep your home warm and toasty all throughout the year. Get in touch with one of our gas safe registered engineers today. 

What Are the Part L Changes and How Will They Affect Our Services?

The Part L changes are applied to the current Building Regulations in place for those working in the trade industry and self-builders. The Building Regulations are a type of legislation that consists of various different standards that were ultimately put in place to outline the health and safety needs that must be met when building properties. Due to the recent changes in the Part L section of the regulations, we’ll be covering them throughout this article and how they will affect our projects and proceedings. What is Part L of the Building Regulations? The building regulations legislation has a total of 16 different areas to be covered. The Part L area encompasses the Conservations of Fuel and Power which aims to highlight the energy efficiency of both current and future homes. Part L was previously set as four different documents but recently was shaved down to be just 2, document L1A and document L2B. The presence of these 2 documents outlines an aim to reduce carbon emissions by 31% for dwellings and 27% for buildings other than dwellings. This means that procedures must be followed to ensure that new future buildings comply with these aims. Approved document L1AThis document is intended for dwellings and covers the need to make new home builds energy efficient. It is the responsibility of any tradespeople who are working on the construction of the property to ensure it is compliant with the procedures of this document. Approved document L2BThis document is intended for buildings other than dwellings, so includes making sure that renovations or extensions to current homes are energy efficient. The document observes that it is not always possible to achieve new build home standards but that if a thermal element of a home is being renovated, it must adhere to the Part L1A document standards. When will the changes come into effect? The Part L changes were announced in December of 2021 by government officials and have begun to take effect as of June 2022. As mentioned previously, these changes are being established as an effort to help advance the trade industry and work towards a greener future. The action is also in preparation for the roll-out of the Future Homes and Building Standard, a legislation due to be introduced in 2025. One thing to note though is that there is some leniency towards properties that were still within the planning process prior to the start of the Part L changes. Any property or application for notices that were applied for prior to June 2022 are still treated as part of the old regulations, as long as building starts prior to June 2023. What are the new changes? The key changes that have been made as per the Part L alterations will affect any individuals or organisations that work on renovations, builds, extensions or home improvements on both new and existing properties. The notable changes are as follows: Changes to SAP 2012 and a new energy rate New property builds will have a new metric in place to measure energy usage called primary energy, which is measured using kWhPE/(m² per year). Properties will also now be assessed and calculated as per an updated version of a previous specification called the Standard Assessment Procedure (SAP 2012). This updated version, SAP 10.2, uses a dedicated software to calculate the amount of primary energy that’s needed to create the amount of energy to be distributed throughout the property. Better insulation conditions Building, transforming or extending a property to be solidly insulated should be a primary regard of any tradesperson doing construction on a property. The Part L changes will enforce new limiting U-values, which is a unit of measurement that represents the following calculation: rate of heat transfer through a structure ÷ difference in temperature across the structure. One other consideration that should be taken into account is the application of ‘thermal bridging’ – a term used to describe gaps in insulation across the property. These gaps in the insulation cause heat loss which contributes to the decrease of energy efficiency of a building, meaning they must be addressed to hit the set targets of reducing CO2 emissions. For work on existing properties, any work done on thermal elements will need to adhere to new fabric energy efficiency standards. Conducting site-audits A ‘self-audit’ must be conducted including documenting all plans and photographs as evidence. Whilst this is typically something done by most professionals in the trade industry, it is not typically a consideration for self-builders. How will the changes affect GreenSmart? It has always been in our best interest to ensure that the services we provide are the best in the business. The changes that the Part L regulation has introduced won’t change this and we will always make sure to provide our customers with high-end, quality service. Changes to our day-to-day services: As trading plumbers and heating engineers, our customers’ comfort in their own homes is a top priority and we strive to make sure they have working heating systems come rain or shine. Our installation work will be enhanced to ensure there is absolutely minimal heat loss throughout the property. We will comply with the Part L changes and make sure to further improve our client’s homes according to the set out standards.

What Is an Unvented Hot Water Cylinder (& More Questions Answered)

We’ve all heard the phrase ‘make a house a home’ but what elements make this actually true? Whilst a fresh lick of paint on the walls, stylish decor and comfortable furniture all absolutely create the full homely feel, its basic foundations such as a working heating system and hot water that brings a home to life. About GreenSmart Services: Plumbing Contractors | Plumbing and Heating Services The different types of hot water systems that you can choose from to achieve the ultimate comfort in your home each have their own respective pros and cons. Learning the differences between each can help you to identify the best pick for your humble abode. One of these options to help keep your home warm and save on your energy bills is an unvented hot water cylinder. What is an unvented hot water cylinder? An unvented hot water cylinder is a water cylinder that is connected straight to your mains water supply. Unvented cylinders store large amounts of water at high pressure which makes sure to deliver hot water at a high flow rate to your water outlets such as taps and showers. Many UK homes now have unvented hot water systems installed. How does an unvented cylinder work? There’s no need for a dedicated cold water storage tank in the loft with an unvented water system. Instead, the cold water supplied to the unvented system is provided via the mains. When a tap is turned on, the pressure from the cold water gets funnelled through the cylinder, allowing for the hot water to be pushed out the top whilst cold water is simultaneously fed into the bottom of the cylinder. An unvented cylinder will use either electricity (direct) or a boiler (indirect) to heat the water. A direct cylinder is heated by an immersion heater and doesn’t have the necessary connections to work alongside a boiler . An indirect cylinder has a copper coil installed where the heating water generated from the boiler travels through and the heat is transferred into the hot water cylinder. How is an unvented cylinder different from a vented one? A vented cylinder stores water in a separate tank typically situated within an attic or loft. The water in the cylinder is then moved around the house using gravity once it’s been heated. A vented cylinder demands extra space due to the additional cold water tank in the loft or attic space. An unvented cylinder doesn’t have a dedicated water tank but rather sources water directly from the house mains supply. As the water is supplied via the mains, the flow rate is much better than vented, making for more pleasing showers. What are the benefits of having an unvented hot water cylinder? What makes an unvented hot water system worth the investment? If the thought of an enjoyable shower experience wasn’t enough, the other benefits of having an unvented hot water cylinder installed may be the straw that breaks the camel’s back. Easy to maintain Whilst it’s important to be able to do some basic care checks on your cylinder, there’s little to no reason for you to keep on top of any heavy maintenance. The servicing engineer will schedule inspections to keep the warranty valid. High water pressure There’s nothing worse than popping into the shower to be greeted with weak water flow. The high pressure release of an unvented cylinder means a better shower experience. Doesn’t require a cold water tank Due to the fact that there’s no cold water tank installed alongside the unvented cylinder, more space is left available, typically in the attic, for you to use and to fill with all of your Christmas trinkets. Can be installed almost anywhere An unvented hot water system doesn’t require any designated space or location for installation within a home, meaning it can be put wherever is most convenient for you. Long warranties The life expectancy on an unvented hot water system is much longer compared to a lot of other types of plumbing installations. Each hot water cylinder that GreenSmart provides comes with a manufacturers warranty of at least 25 years. Will my hot water system need servicing? We would recommend getting your unvented hot water system serviced at least once a year to keep it performing in optimal condition. Neglecting your unvented hot water system will likely cause complications and costly repairs. We can arrange yearly servicing preparations to assist with keeping your new unvented cylinder healthy and viable. So what what now? It really is worth the investment of getting a hot water cylinder installed in your home, simply due to its sheer impressive and effective nature. So if you would like one we can install one for your home. You can either call us on 01225 982222 or drop us an email at hello@greensmartservices.co.uk.