Central heating not coming on in your Birmingham home, even though the hot water works? The thermostat, timer and valve checks to try, and when it is a job for an engineer.
Heating on, not hot water only, and the clock right after the clocks change.
A few degrees above room temperature. Listen for the click that calls for heat.
Wireless and battery thermostats cannot ask for heat when the batteries are flat.
On a system with a cylinder, a stuck valve gives hot water but cold radiators.
A pump that has seized over the summer stops the water moving round the system.
On a combi, a diverter stuck on hot water gives hot taps and cold radiators.
Usually not. The boiler lights for hot water, so the fault is more often the controls, a valve or the pump.
Many timers do not change automatically, so the heating may be coming on at the wrong times. Check the clock on the programmer.
It is best left to an engineer. Some pumps can be freed, others need replacing.
The part in a combi that switches hot water between the taps and the radiators. When it sticks, one of the two stops working.
For no heat we aim for the same or the next day, and the common parts are often carried on the van.
Ask to see the Gas Safe ID card when they arrive. The back lists exactly which appliances that engineer is qualified to work on, and the number can be checked on the Gas Safe Register.
One of the most common calls on the first cold evenings of the year is a house where the hot water works perfectly but the heating will not come on. The boiler lights for the taps, so the boiler itself is usually fine. The problem is that nothing is telling it to heat the radiators, or the hot water cannot get to them.
Start with the controls, because that is where most of these turn out to be. Check the programmer or timer is set to heating on, not hot water only, and that the clock is right, especially after the clocks change in October. Turn the room thermostat up a few degrees above the room temperature and listen for a click. If it runs on batteries, or is a wireless thermostat, change the batteries, as a dead thermostat cannot ask for heat.
If the controls are calling for heat and the radiators stay cold, the next suspects are mechanical. On a system boiler with a cylinder, a motorised valve that has stuck shut will stop heat reaching the radiators while hot water still works. On any system, a pump that has seized after the summer off will stop water moving. And on a combi, a diverter valve stuck in the hot water position will give hot taps and cold radiators.
Those are engineer jobs, and the usual fixes are a replacement valve head, a pump, or a diverter valve. Tell us what kind of boiler you have, whether there is a hot water cylinder, and what the controls show, and the fault is usually narrowed down before anyone arrives.
A photo of the boiler badge and the display on WhatsApp tells us the make, the model and often the likely part before anyone sets off. If you smell gas, leave the house, do not touch switches and ring the National Gas Emergency line on 0800 111 999 from outside.
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