Lockdown triggers UK boiler breakdown surge

Hometree - a UK-wide boiler, heating and home cover specialist - has reported a 12% increase in year-on-year boiler breakdowns from landlords, tenants and owners over the winter. 

 

The most common complaints were a lack of heating, low boiler press and leaks. During colder snaps frozen condensate pipe issues peaked. 
 

More than 50%¹ of boiler breakdowns occur in the winter, which usually equates to just over 2.5m² UK households suffering a heating failure. But if the Hometree increase was representative across the UK that would account for almost 3m households this past winter. If the average cost to get a boiler back up and running is £200, those additional households will have paid around £60m in repairs.

Hometree has stated the rise is because, over the winter, more people kept their household heating on throughout the day. A spike in working from home, coupled with the number of people on furlough and lockdown increasing overall time spent indoors, have led to the nation’s boilers being put to the test like never before.

The figures are likely to similarly represent a 12% increase in overall heating use, so the average household will see their bills increase by the same amount. With a typical mid-sized home ordinarily using 12,000 KWh of gas per year, that figure increases to around 13,440KWh – an extra £55.

Kemley Sellars from Hometree said: “With the boiler being a crucial component in ensuring that homes are kept comfortable during the coldest months, the additional usage whilst working from home has meant increased wear and tear. It really highlights the importance of having your boiler serviced in the coming months, ensuring that it’s working for next winter where many may have transitioned post-Covid to working from home more often.”

To prepare your boiler for next winter, Hometree recommends landlords, tenants and owners do the following:

• Check your radiators. To begin, you should switch on your heating as normal. Once your home is fully heated, you can start to check each of your radiators for cold spots, which is normally caused by trapped air. If you feel that your radiator is cold towards the bottom, you may have to bleed them to remove this trapped air.
• Service your boiler. An annual boiler service conducted by a Gas Safe engineer is crucial to ensure your boiler is in full working order.
• Insulate your pipes. The increasingly low temperatures in the winter months can cause any standing water in your pipework to freeze. It’s important to use the months outside of winter to ensure all your pipework is insulated.
• Check your boiler pressure. If your boiler pressure drops, you could suffer from a loss of hot water in your home. Your boiler’s pressure should always stay within the green zone on its pressure gauge once your system is switched on. To avoid a pressure drop, it’s recommended that you check and use the filling link/loop, and bleed your radiators if the pressure is too high.
   

Hometree provides landlords and homeowners across the UK with a range of policies that cover breakdowns and repairs to heating, electrics, plumbing, drainage and gas fires. They can sign up for a monthly subscription contract, and if a home emergency arises, one of Hometree’s 2500+ nationally-based engineers will be dispatched to solve the problem.