Winter breakdowns are miserable. No heating. No hot water. A three-day wait for an engineer. And a call-out fee that makes you wince.
Most of these emergencies are avoidable. The problem is not the winter cold, it’s that we wait until October to think about heating. By then, every engineer in Teesside is booked solid, and small problems you could have caught in August have become expensive failures.
This checklist takes about an hour. Do it now, and you’ll spend winter warm rather than waiting on hold for an emergency plumber.
1. Book a boiler service
This is the most important item on the list, and the one most people skip.
Annual boiler servicing catches problems before they become breakdowns. A service typically costs £60–£90 in Teesside. A winter emergency call-out costs £150–£250 before parts, and you’ll wait days for an appointment.
Summer and early autumn are the best times to book. Engineers are less busy, you’ll get a quicker appointment, and you’re not paying panic prices. By November, you’ll be competing with everyone else who ignored their boiler until the first cold snap.
What’s included in a service:
- Gas pressure and flow rate checks
- Flue analysis and combustion testing
- Internal component cleaning
- Safety device testing
- Visual inspection for leaks, corrosion, and wear
- Boiler efficiency assessment
If you’re a landlord, this is not optional. You need an annual gas safety check (CP12 certificate) by law. The checks overlap with a standard service, and most engineers will issue the certificate as part of the same visit.
As Gas Safe registered engineers (reg. 972035), we’re taking bookings now for pre-winter services. Book early and you’ll actually get a time slot that suits you.
See: Boiler Servicing, Gas Safety
2. Check your boiler pressure
Low pressure is one of the most common boiler problems, and it’s easy to fix if you catch it early.
Look at the pressure gauge on your boiler. It’s usually a dial or digital display on the front. Normal pressure when the system is cold is 1 to 1.5 bar. If it’s below 1 bar, you need to top it up.
Most modern boilers have a filling loop, a small flexible hose with valves at each end, usually tucked underneath the boiler. Open both valves slowly and watch the gauge rise. Close them when it reaches 1.2 bar. If you’re not sure how, check your boiler manual or call someone who knows what they’re doing.
If pressure keeps dropping, you have a leak somewhere. Small leaks get worse over winter when the heating is running constantly. Get it checked now, not in December when you’re freezing.
If you need more detail, we’ve covered this before: Radiators Not Heating
3. Test your heating
It feels ridiculous running the heating in July. Do it anyway.
Turn the thermostat up and run the system for 30 minutes. Walk around the house and check:
- All radiators are heating up — If some are cold or only warm at the top, they may need bleeding (see next section). If they’re cold at the bottom but hot at the top, that’s sludge buildup, and bleeding won’t help. You’ll need a power flush.
- No strange noises — Banging, whistling, or gurgling usually means air in the system, limescale buildup, or a failing pump. It’s worth investigating.
- The thermostat is working — Does the heating respond when you change the temperature? If not, you may need a new thermostat or wiring check.
- No error codes — If your boiler is flashing a fault code, look it up in the manual. Some are simple (low pressure, air in the system). Others need an engineer.
- Hot water is working — Run a tap for a few minutes. If the water is lukewarm or takes ages to heat up, your boiler may be struggling.
It’s much better to find a problem in August than in the middle of winter when you actually need the heating.
See: Central Heating, Boiler Repair
4. Bleed your radiators
If radiators are cold at the top and warm at the bottom, there’s air trapped in the system. Bleeding them takes five minutes.
How to bleed a radiator:
- Turn off the heating and wait for radiators to cool.
- Find the bleed valve (small square or hexagonal fitting at the top corner of the radiator).
- Hold a cloth under the valve and insert a radiator key (or a flat-head screwdriver if it’s a slotted valve).
- Turn the key anti-clockwise about half a turn. You’ll hear a hiss as air escapes.
- When water starts dripping out, close the valve immediately.
- Repeat for all radiators that need it.
- Check the boiler pressure (see section 2). Bleeding releases water, which can lower the pressure.
If you bleed the radiators and they’re still not heating properly, the problem is sludge, not air. Sludge is a mix of rust and limescale that builds up over time and blocks pipes. The fix is a power flush, which typically costs £300–£600 depending on the size of your system. It’s not cheap, but it’s cheaper than replacing radiators or a boiler that’s been killed by circulation problems.
We wrote a full guide here: Is a Power Flush Worth It?
See: Radiators
5. Insulate exposed pipes
Frozen pipes are the single most common cause of winter boiler breakdowns in Teesside.
When water in a pipe freezes, it expands and splits the pipe. When it thaws, you get a flood. If the pipe is inside your boiler or under the floor, this is an expensive disaster.
Where to focus:
- Condensate pipe — This is the small plastic pipe that runs from your boiler to an outside drain. If it freezes, your boiler will shut down and display an error code. Insulate it with foam pipe lagging (costs a few pounds from any DIY store) or reroute it to an internal drain if possible.
- Pipes in unheated spaces — Lofts, garages, external walls. If you can see a pipe and feel a draught, insulate it.
- Pipes near external walls — Even inside your house, pipes close to cold surfaces can freeze if the heating is off for a few days.
Pipe insulation takes minutes to fit. Split the foam tube along its length, slide it over the pipe, and tape it closed. If you’re not sure which pipes are at risk, an engineer can advise during a service visit.
See: Emergency Repairs
Bonus: Check your carbon monoxide detector
Press the test button. If it doesn’t beep, replace the batteries. If it still doesn’t work, replace the unit.
Carbon monoxide detectors should be replaced every 7 years, even if they seem fine. The sensors degrade over time. If you have gas appliances and no detector, get one immediately. They cost around £15–£25 and sit on a shelf or mount to a wall.
A faulty boiler can produce carbon monoxide, which is colourless, odourless, and lethal. A working detector is the only way you’ll know there’s a problem before someone gets hurt.
Why August and September are the right time
Heating engineers are three to four times busier in winter than in summer. By October, we’re juggling emergency breakdowns, routine services, and installation jobs. Wait times stretch from days to weeks, and prices reflect the demand.
In August, we can usually get to you within a few days. You can choose a convenient time. And if we find a problem, there’s time to fix it properly without the pressure of freezing weather.
Summer servicing is not about squeezing extra money out of homeowners. It’s about avoiding the winter chaos that makes life miserable for everyone.
Final thoughts
None of this is complicated. Book a service, check the pressure, test the heating, bleed the radiators, insulate the pipes. An hour of your time now could save you hundreds of pounds and a week of cold showers.
If you’d rather have someone else handle it, get in touch. We’re taking pre-winter bookings now, and we’ll make sure your heating is ready before the rush starts.