Your boiler is the central heating system of your home. Like any other mechanical system, it requires regular maintenance if you want it to work effectively.
The American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) states that boilers should be maintained every six months to ensure they last more than 15 years.
While your boiler and heating system are important, they’re also expensive to replace. To that end, it’s crucial to understand the benefits of an efficiently maintained boiler for your home. In this handy guide, we’ll explore a few boiler maintenance tips for homeowners in Lakewood, CO.
Schedule Regular Service
Without a working boiler, your home can be subjected to loss of heat or hot water. During the winter months, this is less than ideal. To prevent a boiler from failing during the times it is needed most, regular service is crucial for your boiler to remain running efficiently.
Regular boiler maintenance by a certified technician will help you identify any issues the boiler might have before issues begin to escalate, that is why the first tip on this list is to schedule regular service on your boiler. This will help target potential issues before they escalate.
Remember that routine maintenance helps mitigate costly future repairs and identify any current issues with your boiler. Most importantly, regular service means your home will stay warm and dry during those cold winter months.
Check Water Pressure
Making sure the water pressure in your home is kept at an appropriate level is another tip that will help keep your boiler working smoothly. Water pressure is what keeps water circulating properly around the pipes in your home.
When the water pressure is too low, the system won’t work as efficiently. If the water pressure is too high, you have a higher chance of leaks developing within your system.
By checking the water pressure and keeping the pressure circulating at the correct levels, your boiler will be able to do its job properly.
Turn on the Heat
Even if you don’t feel like you need to turn the heating on in your home regularly, it’s still a good idea to do so regularly. By turning your heat on at least once a month, you’ll ensure your boiler is still up and running.
This goes for the summer months too. Inactive boilers lead to breakdowns after extended periods of time. Boilers work best when consistently used, so avoid problems in the future by turning on your heat at least once per month!
Remember to Ventilate
The boiler in your home requires space to operate optimally. A crowded boiler room leads to improper ventilation, which means your boiler won’t be able to combust fuel or produce heat as efficiently as it should.
Not only do boilers need space to ventilate, but proper space is also necessary for routine boiler maintenance. The area around your boiler should be free and clear of blockages for access anytime you have a professional in to service the boiler.
Regularly Check for Signs of Trouble
An easy way to ensure the life of your boiler is extended as much as possible is to check for easily identifiable issues throughout the year. This could include instances such as:
- Boiler turning off automatically
- Leaking pipes
- Delayed heating
- Extinguished pilot light
- Loud noises like rumbling or rattling
If you notice that your monthly heating bills are much higher than usual, this can also be a sign that your boiler might be in need of maintenance. Any of these issues should be double-checked by a professional, but keeping a regular eye out for issues like these can be helpful in extending the life of your boiler.
Check for Signs of Aging
Boilers may be built to last for quite some time, however, there are certain signs that begin to appear when a boiler is nearing or past its prime. If you suspect your boiler might be in need of a tune-up, check for signs of aging such as:
- Calcium deposits by piping joints
- Soot located underneath the burners
- Needing to add water more often than usual
If you aren’t sure how old your boiler truly is, keep an eye out for any of these signs of wear and tear. The sooner you notice something is off, the sooner you can get routine maintenance scheduled.
Confirm Insulation
In the cold winter months, you want your boiler to be firing correctly. In Lakewood, the cold season lasts for nearly 4 months out of the year. If there are any exposed areas, your boiler might not work as efficiently as it should during this time. Improper insulation leads to escaped heat, meaning your boiler will be working overtime to keep your home warm.
Be sure to check that the insulation for your boiler is up to standard. By doing so, you’ll be ensuring that your boiler is doing an effective job of keeping the house well-heated.
Need to Schedule Boiler Maintenance?
We hope this maintenance guide for boilers has been helpful! Boiler maintenance doesn’t have to be daunting or complex. By simply following a few extra steps throughout the year, you’ll be able to extend the life of your boiler for years to come.
If your boiler is showing signs of wear and tear, schedule a routine maintenance visit today. At Doctor Fix It Plumbing, Heating, Cooling and Electric, we have decades of expertise in heating homes and businesses in the Lakewood and Denver areas.
Send us a message through our contact us page, and we’ll take it from there. We offer same-day heating and cooling services 7 days per week!
