Is your boiler ready for winter? | Tenant news

As the summer ends and we move into Autumn, it's a good idea to check your boiler and prepare yourself for the winter ahead.

Turn on your heating before it gets cold and check it’s working. Don’t wait until we get the first signs of cold weather to do this, please do it now.

Once your boiler is on, if its not heating your radiators, if its making a strange sound, leaking water, or you suspect it has a fault, report it as a repair.

Report your repair

You can report a boiler repair in various ways. Our contractor Sure Maintenance will attend to all calls.

• via the My Habinteg portal
• via our repairs form
• to Habinteg Direct on 0300 365 3100Top of Form.
   

If you smell gas or suspect you have a gas leak, call the Gas Emergency Service on 0800 111 999 or via textphone (minicom) on 0800 371 787.

If you're a British Sign Language (BSL) user, you can use SignLive to contact the National Gas Emergency Service free of charge. If someone has collapsed or is displaying severe symptoms, seek medical help by calling 999 or 112.

While you wait for the Gas Emergency Service to attend you MUST:

• Open doors and windows to allow fresh air in
• Turn off the gas at the mains tap, which is usually near the meter. Move the handle a quarter turn until it’s at 90 degrees from the pipe to shut off the gas supply
• Leave the property.
   

Once you have done this, also report the issue to Habinteg in the ways outlined above.

Watch out for minor faults

Some of the following minor potential faults to keep an eye out for while your boiler is operational in the coming months include:

1. Loss of boiler pressure
   Check your boiler pressure – you can find out how to do this from your boiler instruction manual – the pressure should sit at 1.0-1.5 bar.
   
   Follow your manual’s instructions on how to reset pressure. If you can’t do this, call Habinteg Direct and report it.
    
2. Frozen condensate pipe
   One of the most common causes of boiler shutdowns is when your boiler’s external pipes freeze over in extreme low temperatures usually when we get prolonged tempretures below zero.This could be a simple fix.
   
   Switch the boiler off. Thaw the pipes by pouring warm to hot (not boiling) water on the pipe. When it looks as if the ice is all thawed, switch on the boiler. Don’t use ladders or hang out of windows to do this. If in doubt, call Habinteg Direct to report it.
    
3. Thermostat not working
   Troubleshoot using the thermostat’s manual instructions. Think about the temperature you keep the thermostat at. Typically, we would expect temperatures on Thermostats to be 20C, the higher the temperature then the higher your energy bill will be. 
   
   If you’re unable to get it working, call Habinteg Direct and report it.