Why do condenser boilers freeze

My Glow-worm has a reset button that you can push with a pin, underneath the display. With the boiler fired up, you can now try your heating or, if you have a combi-boiler, turn on the hot water. The boiler should fire into life, and you should get hot water. Boilers should be pressurised to 1bar. On my boiler, the filling loop consists of two taps located underneath the boiler; both must be opened to fill and both closed when done.

If your boiler is at the correct pressure and not working, do not fill it further, as this could damage it. The main reason that a condensate pipe freezes up is because the boiler and pipework have been poorly fitted. There are a couple of options. First, see if you can get a plumber to fit a larger pipe. Secondly or alternatively , see if you can have the condensate pipe run into a waste pipe and drain so that the end is not exposed outside.

As the condensate is slightly acidic, you can only run the pipe into plastic pipework; if you have metal pipes, these can corrode with the waste. This will reduce fuel efficiency but could help avoid frozen pipe issues; once the worst of the cold weather has passed, you can dial the temperature back down to make your boiler more efficient, while you sort out a plumber to fix the issue permanently. Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest.

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Since the government brought in a new regulation that only condensing boilers can be installed. The way that condensing boilers work is by returning water at a cool temperature, the cool water meets with the hot exhaust flue in the heat exchanger and this is the heat that causes condensation to form, when the temperature drops, the condensation is taken away and can freeze, this is where problems can occur.

You can try to gently unfreeze the condense pipe with something like a hot water bottle, heat pads or a warm jug of water not boiling. Once it is unfrozen hold down the reset button on the boiler and it should start to work again. Please only attempt to do this if your pipe is easily accessible at ground level, under no circumstances should you attempt to thaw a condense pipe which is at height, without the assistance of a professionally trained engineer.

Now is the time to start thinking about measures to prevent this from happening as a frozen condensate can back up into the boiler creating a very expensive repair bill. Replace the pipe with a larger diameter which is less likely to freeze, or even routed inside the house or a more sheltered spot then insulate. How to prevent a frozen condense pipe January 26, Information BainPlumbing. We are a Yorkshire-based company covering areas around Wakefield, Leeds, Sheffield and beyond. If you are unsure if we may be able to cover your area, please take a look at our locations page.

Authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Registered in England. Registered No. Contact Us. How to prevent condensing boilers breaking down in cold weather. How to prevent your condensate pipe freezing Fortunately there are a few things you can do to prevent your condensate pipe freezing: Insulate your condensate pipe with lagging to protect it from the cold.