How to test your boiler and central heating - Is it working correctly?

To ease the demand and make sure all our customers can be seen in a timely fashion, we’re asking you to test your boiler and central heating before you need it. This will allow our teams to deal with any issues before they become a problem and make sure you’re ready for the cooler months.

To test your boiler:

• Turn the hot water thermostat to the maximum temperature. Make sure anyone in your household knows you’re testing the boiler so they don’t scald themselves.
• Run the hot water tap for a few minutes to allow it to heat up, being careful not to scald yourself. Remember, it can take a few minutes for hot water to come through if there is cold water sat in the pipe.
• If the water is coming through hot as expected, you can turn the thermostat back down to your usual setting.
• If the water is getting warm, but not warm enough, or not getting warm at all, report a repair through My Account or by contacting our customer services team via Live Chat.

To test your central heating:

• Turn your Programmer onto ‘constant’ and adjust the thermostat to maximum temperature.
• Allow it to heat up for 10 minutes or so.
• Once you’re satisfied it’s working, you can turn it back to your normal settings.
• If it’s not working, report a repair through My Account or by contacting our customer services team via Live Chat.

If your thermostat isn’t working:

• If your thermostat doesn’t seem to be responding, install new batteries if it's a battery operated, but only use high quality batteries. Lower quality batteries may not work effectively in your thermostat.
• Once the batteries have been replaced, test the thermostat again by amending a setting or switching your heating to constant. If it’s still not responding as expected, report a repair through My Account or by contacting our customer services team via Live Chat.
• If your thermostat is not battery-powered and you’re still encountering issues, please contact our customer services team. Do not attempt to remove the programmer or any other heating control if it’s mains powered.

You can also turn off the water supply to external toilets or outside taps using your stop tap or isolation valve, which will prevent outside pipes from freezing and bursting during colder months.