With cold spells affecting most of the country we are naturally relying more and more on our boilers to heat our homes and our water. This Christmas period, it just might pay to be prepared for the possibility of frozen pipes and the risks and challenges this may pose. Here at K and M Maintenance we know that nobody would choose to spend their festive period with no heating or hot water, so this is our guide to help you deal with frozen pipes and get that boiler back on quickly.
If your boiler suddenly seems to have stopped working, your radiators aren’t putting out heat, and your taps aren’t giving hot water, and you’ve found the source of this problem to be frozen pipework the first step to fixing it is to turn off the boiler. You can then begin to thaw out the culprit pipe.
Firstly, try and identify the areas inside the pipe that may be frozen, as often only a few parts of the pipe have frozen inside, and not the whole thing.
Once you have identified the problem areas inside the pipe, you should clear an area around the external part of the pipe in preparation for thawing. You want to make sure the area around the pipe is away from any snow or ice that may also melt causing a potential health and safety issue with slips, trips and falls.
When you are ready to begin thawing you can pour warm water over the problem areas. You should never use boiling water as the sudden change in temperature can result in cracks and fractures within the pipework itself. Additionally, some people find that using heat packs sold commercially for joint pain, or hot water bottles, around just the frozen parts of the pipe, is an equally if not more efficient method of thawing the pipe quickly a d effectively.
Once your condenser pipe has thawed and all of the frozen water has drained away, you should be able to restart your boiler with no issues, although it may be a good idea to think about how to prevent the pipe from freezing again. Feel free to contact us at K and M Maintenance for free help and advice.