How do you get your heating ready for winter?

The best way to get your heating ready for winter is to switch it on for a proper run before you actually need it, check the boiler pressure, bleed any radiators that feel cool at the top, and book a boiler service if it has been more than a year. Most of this takes less than an hour, and it means any problems show up on a mild October afternoon rather than on the first frosty morning when every engineer in West London is already booked up.

Start by putting the heating on for an hour or so with the thermostat turned up. Walk round the house and feel each radiator. They should warm evenly from top to bottom. If one is warm at the bottom but cool at the top, there is air trapped inside and it needs bleeding. If it is warm at the top but cold at the bottom, that usually points to sludge settling in the system, which bleeding will not fix. Radiators that stay cold altogether may have a stuck valve, especially if they have been turned off all summer. Listen to the boiler too. A bit of noise when it first fires up after months of rest is normal, but banging, gurgling or a kettle-like rumble is worth mentioning to an engineer.

Next, look at the pressure gauge on the front of the boiler. With the heating off and the system cold, most combi and system boilers like to sit somewhere around one to one and a half bar. If it has dropped below that, you can usually top it up yourself using the filling loop, and your boiler manual will show you how. Bleeding radiators lets a little water out of the system, so check the pressure again afterwards. If you find yourself topping up every few days, the system is losing water somewhere, and that is worth getting looked at before winter rather than during it.

Here in West London we are in a hard-water area, and that has a real effect on heating systems over time. Limescale builds up inside the boiler's heat exchanger, which makes it work harder, run noisier and use more gas to do the same job. Combine that with the black sludge that naturally forms inside older radiators and pipework, and you can end up with a system that never quite feels warm enough. A magnetic filter fitted on the return pipe catches a lot of that debris before it reaches the boiler, and if the system is already badly affected, a powerflush can bring it back to life. We see a lot of this across Brentford, Chiswick, Ealing and Fulham, particularly in older Victorian and Edwardian homes where the pipework has been there for decades.

A boiler service is the single most useful thing you can do before the cold weather. A Gas Safe registered engineer will check the burner, the flue, the seals and the safety devices, test the gas pressure and look at how cleanly the boiler is burning. It is also the moment small worn parts get spotted before they fail. Most manufacturers, including Worcester Bosch and Vaillant, need an annual service to keep the warranty valid, so it protects you in more ways than one. Autumn is the ideal time to book, because by December diaries fill up fast and you may be waiting longer than you would like.

There are a few other small jobs worth ticking off. Check that your carbon monoxide alarm is working and test the batteries. Make sure the condensate pipe, the white plastic pipe that runs from the boiler to a drain outside, is clear and not sagging, as this is the pipe that freezes in a cold spell and stops the boiler working. If any pipework runs through a loft, garage or outside wall, lagging it is quick and makes a big difference. And set your thermostat and timer for the winter, rather than relying on the settings from last March.

None of this needs to be complicated, and you do not have to do it all yourself. If something does not feel right, or you would just like the peace of mind of having it checked properly, get in touch and we will take a look. You can call us on 020 3355 0998 or send a WhatsApp to 07377 861815, and we will help you go into winter knowing your heating is ready.