Maintaining your home

Take a look at some of our useful hint and tip guides that can make looking after your home a little easier

How to check your heating system

• Heating or hot water issues

  If your heating or hot water isn't working, it doesn’t always mean your system is broken. There are sometimes quick and easy things you can do to get it back up and running. Here are some things to look for if your system seems to have gone down.

  • Check your gas, electric and water supply is on. If you have pre-paid gas or electric meters, check to see if you have credit on both
  • Look at your fuse box to make sure there are no tripped switches
  • Check your room thermostat is turned up and the boiler timer is set to the right time
  • If your boiler has one, check the pilot light hasn't gone out. If it has, you can check your user manual to see how to reignite this
  • Turn your thermostat on full for a while to see if this triggers any heat
  • Check if the power switch to your boiler it turned on.
  • If it's been very cold, check the condensing pipe hasn’t frozen. If it has, check the drop-down box bellow to see how to resolve this.

   

  If you have taken all the above steps and still can’t get your heating or hot water to come on, report your repair using Connect.

• How to thaw a condensing pipe

  Combination boilers, or combi boilers, create condensation as a waste product. This condensation is taken away from the boiler through the condensate waste pipe or condensation pipe.

  Extremely cold weather conditions can cause these pipes to freeze as the pipe usually leads from the boiler, through the wall to the outside of the building. Where the pipe meets the outside of the building is usually where it freezes.

  How can I fix this issue?

  If this happens you can easily fix this issue by thawing the frozen pipe with a hot water bottle or heat wrap that can be applied to the frozen area and allowed to defrost over time.

   

  You can also pour warm water over the frozen part of the pipe can be more effective.

  Once the pipe is thawed, you can reset your boiler and this should solve the issue.

  Please take care if using hot water to thaw your condensation pipe – you should not use boiling water as this can be dangerous.

  If your condensing pipe is above ground level, give us a call and well come to fix the issue.

How to unblock your sink

• Unblocking your sink

  Before we start unblocking the sink, it’s important not to use any sink unblocker or chemicals as these can be harmful to your skin or eyes if spilled.

  Check to see if sinks in any other room are blocked. If you do, this could be a bigger issue, report it using Connect.

  If it’s just the one sink that's blocked, follow these next steps.

  1. Using something like a jug, remove as much water as possible from the sink.
  2. If you have a plunger, use this to try and move the blockage. Covering the overflow of the sink with your hand will help to create an air-tight seal. This can sometimes be enough to fix the problem.
  3. If that doesn’t work, place a bowl under the sink to catch any spills whilst unscrewing the sink’s U-Bend with your hand, this is most likely where the blockage will be.
  4. Keep the U-bend upright and remove its contents into another bowl or container.
  5. Once this piece of pipe is unblocked, reattach it to the sink and screw back in place. The pipe will have two rubber O-rings inside, make sure these are in place when reattaching the pipe.
  6. This should do the trick and your sink should be unblocked.

   

  If following these steps doesn't help to clear the blockage and you’re still having issues, report the issue with us using Connect, our customer portal.

How to prevent Legionella

• Preventing Legionnaire’s disease

  To read more on how to prevent Legionnaire’s disease, visit the Legionella section of our website.