Households in England are being told they should pour hot – but not boiling – water on their pipes from Monday due to freezing cold ice and snow.
The Met Office has issued yellow weather warnings for England and Wales on Monday from 7pm, lasting until mid-morning on Tuesday, with very cold conditions and up to 20cm of snow possible.
Scotland starts early, with the north of Scotland expecting snow from Sunday night.
As a result, the freezing temperatures can have an impact on your house including on your central heating.
And when it’s literally freezing outside, being without central heating is the very last thing you want.
Energy firm British Gas says that if you begin to experience problems with your central heating, such as a gurgling noise from your radiators, trickling taps or your boiler won’t turn on at all, that you should immediately check the pipes on the outside of your house to see if they are frozen.
British Gas says: “First things first, you’ll need to find out which pipe is frozen. If you have a modern condensing boiler, it’ll most likely be your condensate pipe. This will be a plastic one that comes out of your boiler – find where it goes outside to see if it’s frosted over.
“Unfortunately, any outdoor pipe can be at risk during icy weather, as are the ones that pass through any cold spots in the house – like lofts, basements and cupboards that sit on external walls.
“Once you’ve found the culprit, you’ll need to thaw it out to get things flowing again. Slowly pour hot (but never boiling) water over the frozen pipe and place a hot water bottle over it to help melt away the ice.”
The reason you need to use hot but not boiling water is because pouring 100C water on a 0C pipe can shock the pipe too much and cause it to crack as it’s rapidly caught between boiling point and freezing point at the same time. Instead, use hot water to gently bring it back to normal operating temperature.
Heating experts iHeat also have tips to spot a frozen boiler condensate pipe on the outside of your house.
They said: “The vast majority of modern boilers have an error code which is displayed on its user interface in the event of a frozen condensate pipe, other signs include a gurgling noise coming from the boiler or piping and the boiler being ‘locked out’ from standard use.
“The most common way to thaw out a frozen part of the condensate pipe, is to pour warm water over the outside of the piping, but be careful as not to cause a slip hazard.
” Alternatively, you can place a hot water bottle on the affected area or have the above ground part of the piping lagged (insulated).”
