Have you checked your heating?

Many people run into problems with their central heating and boilers when they have not been used over the summer. There are a few things you can do to make sure that your heating works when you need it the most.

In the months when you don’t use your heating you can:

  • Turn it on for five or ten minutes every so often to keep the system running
  • Keep any thermostatic radiator valves (the temperature controls on the side of your radiators) open even when the heating is switched off to prevent them sticking.

If your heating doesn’t work when you turn it on you should:

  1. Make sure you have credit on your gas meter if you use a pre-payment meter and that the meter states "ON" on the display
  2. If you have had to top up credit on your meter make sure that the boiler has been reset if needed
  3. Check the programmer or timer is switched to "ON"
  4. Check that the room thermostat on the wall is turned up and any batteries in it work
  5. Make sure thermostatic and manual radiator valves are turned on full
  6. Check the timer is set correctly
  7. Check that any other gas appliances are working. If not then it may be a supply fault that you need to report to your gas supplier. 

If you've tried our tips and still have a problem, please take a look at our Repair Responsibility Tool.

If it is a problem that Midland Heart have responsibility for, please write down your answers for the questions below and ring us on 0345 60 20 540 to report your repair.

Things to tell us when you call:

  1. Have you identified any problems when carrying out the above checklist?
  2. Do you have any form of secondary heating?
  3. Do you have an immersion heater?
  4. Are there frail and vulnerable occupants in the home such as young or elderly?

Our Customer Hub is open from Monday - Friday 8AM - 6PM. Outside of this time your call will be transferred to our out of hours service and you'll only be able to report emergency repairs. Please click here to check if your repair is an emergency.

 

Resetting your boiler

After a loss of power or a power cut your boiler should automatically reset itself. If not, you may be able to reset it yourself. Check out this short guide to help you reset your system. if you're unsure or the resent doesn't work contact us.

Below is a checklist that covers the most common problems we get asked about. Please have a read as they might save you time and help you avoid problems.

  • Is the main electric supply point switched on? Check the fuse in the device and replace with 3 amp fuse if required
  • Are all lights working? If they're not, there could be a service interruption. Check with your neighbours.
  • Is the pilot light on if you have one? If not, attempt to relight this using instructions on the boiler.
  • Has the thermostat or thermostatic radiator valve (the temperature control on the side of your radiator) been turned down?
  • Has the timer been altered ready for the seasonal change?
  • If there has been a recent freeze or snow, check the boiler flue outlet for blockage, and plastic ‘condense pipe’ outside to see if it could be frozen pipes (click here if that's the case).
  • Is there an error code visible on the boiler? If yes, make a note of it and take a look at the Baxi website where they explain the majority of the error codes that might appear. Baxi are our primary boiler supplier

Common boiler error codes