Blog
The difference between hard and soft water
Hard water
Soft water
Why your home might not stay as warm as it used to
What you can do
- Bleeding your radiators
- Draught-proofing
- Use a hot water bottle at night instead of leaving the heating on.
- Checking your thermostat
- Maximising insulation
What professionals can do
- Clogged radiators
- Leaking pipes
- Faulty boiler parts
- Performance issues
What to Do If Your Water Pipes Freeze
Preparing your home for the colder months is a step to prevent any freezing pipe surprises. However, when such a problem occurs, it is important to prevent them from causing further damage. Read on to learn a few tips you can adopt when your water pipes freeze.
When experiencing a frozen pipe, the first step is to open your taps if they are closed and switch the main water supply to the home off. Doing this would prevent water damages such as a leak, or water from building up in the pipes when the ice has thawed.
Next, you would want to apply heat to the frozen pipe by wrapping it with an electric heating pad. You can also wrap the frozen pipe with towels soaked in heated water. Whatever approach you adopt, avoid using a blowtorch, propane, kerosene or any open fire device.
Continue applying the heat until your water pressure is completely restored. In case you can’t locate the part of the frozen pipe, or that area is just not accessible, thawing your pipe may be impossible. At this point, you will need to seek expert support to prevent bursting your pipes and ensure you and your home are safe.
A robust plumbing plan will save you from frozen pipes. But in case your pipes do freeze, the smart approach is to manage and figure out how to fix them. If it’s an emergency repair, help is just a call away. Contact us via telephone at 01372 879 787 or visit for more info.
How to save money on your gas bill
- Turn down your thermostat. Lowering the temperature by just one degree can save energy and money, without changing how warm you feel.
- Don’t dry clothes on the radiators. Covering them lowers how much heat the radiator can release. This causes your boiler to run for longer just to heat the room to the same temperature, using up more fuel.
- Use a hot water bottle at night instead of leaving the heating on.
- Change to a different supplier. You could be able to find a cheaper option, especially if you’ve used the same supplier for more than three years. You could also use this lower price to negotiate a deal with your current supplier.
- Move your furniture away from your radiators. The foam in upholstered furniture like your sofa will work as an insulator, stopping the warmth from getting into the room.
- Use the sun. This is the cheapest and most readily available source of heat. Even in Winter, when the sun comes out, make the most of it by opening doors inside and letting the warm air move around the house.
- Draw the curtains at night to keep warmth in and cold out.
What to Do If Your Water Pipes Freeze
Preparing your home for the colder months is a step to prevent any freezing pipe surprises. However, when such a problem occurs, it is important to prevent them from causing further damage. Read on to learn a few tips you can adopt when your water pipes freeze.
When experiencing a frozen pipe, the first step is to open your taps if they are closed and switch the main water supply to the home off. Doing this would prevent water damages such as a leak, or water from building up in the pipes when the ice has thawed.
Next, you would want to apply heat to the frozen pipe by wrapping it with an electric heating pad. You can also wrap the frozen pipe with towels soaked in heated water. Whatever approach you adopt, avoid using a blowtorch, propane, kerosene or any open fire device.
Continue applying the heat until your water pressure is completely restored. In case you can’t locate the part of the frozen pipe, or that area is just not accessible, thawing your pipe may be impossible. At this point, you will need to seek expert support to prevent bursting your pipes and ensure you and your home are safe.
A robust plumbing plan will save you from frozen pipes. But in case your pipes do freeze, the smart approach is to manage and figure out how to fix them. If it’s an emergency repair, help is just a call away. Contact us via telephone at 01372 879 787 or visit for more info.
How to save money on your gas bill
- Turn down your thermostat. Lowering the temperature by just one degree can save energy and money, without changing how warm you feel.
- Don’t dry clothes on the radiators. Covering them lowers how much heat the radiator can release. This causes your boiler to run for longer just to heat the room to the same temperature, using up more fuel.
- Use a hot water bottle at night instead of leaving the heating on.
- Change to a different supplier. You could be able to find a cheaper option, especially if you’ve used the same supplier for more than three years. You could also use this lower price to negotiate a deal with your current supplier.
- Move your furniture away from your radiators. The foam in upholstered furniture like your sofa will work as an insulator, stopping the warmth from getting into the room.
- Use the sun. This is the cheapest and most readily available source of heat. Even in Winter, when the sun comes out, make the most of it by opening doors inside and letting the warm air move around the house.
- Draw the curtains at night to keep warmth in and cold out.
Signs you may need to replace your boiler
Boiler breakdowns can be disastrous. No hot water can mean chilly bedrooms, no baths or showers, leaks, floods, and in the worst cases, they can be dangerous. It makes sense then to replace your boiler before this could occur. There are some key signs to look out for to let you know it might be time to replace your boiler.
If a boiler has been in your home for several years, it may be less efficient than the newer models. The cost of a new boiler may bring down your bills, which could outweigh the rising cost of an inefficient boiler. Always check to see how expensive your bills are getting against the cost of a new boiler.
If you have to continually get your boiler repaired, then this cost can mount up too. Ask the specialist to diagnose your boiler and assess whether a new model may be a better option for the future. Specialists will be able to test your boiler’s efficiency and advise on the likelihood of it breaking down in the near future. The other factor a specialist can advise upon is the ease of getting parts for your model. As manufacturers update their stock, parts for older models can become scarce and costly.
Finally, if you notice that you continually have to adjust the pressure gauge or that some parts of your home are no longer getting fully heated despite your thermostat being at a steady temperature.
Signs you need a power flush
- Radiators that have cold spots
- A boiler that is making a banging or knocking noise
- A boiler that keeps breaking down
- A boiler that keeps switching on and off
- Radiators that take a while to heat up
- Reduction of your energy bills but 25%
- It can make your boiler quieter
- Radiator heat is a significantly increased
- It will improve the efficiency of your system overall
- Increased circulation throughout your central heating system
- Extend the lifespan of your central heating system
- It is a quick and simple process that will give you peace of mind
- The circulation throughout your system will become slow, and radiators will begin to take a long time to heat up, as well as having cold patches when they do
- Your central heating at the system will become much less efficient, and you will notice this in your monthly fuel bills
- You might find that you are paying an increased amount when it comes to repairing costs for your boiler and radiator system when a power flush will have helped the issue