Ways to Prepare Your Boiler for This Winter

In order to keep a boiler running smoothly throughout the winter months, there are numerous things that should be done during the spring and summer to make sure the boiler is in excellent shape.

Yet despite it being very easy to have a boiler serviced when the weather is warm, most people fail to do so.

As a result, they usually find themselves calling a service technician to fix their boiler in the middle of a cold winter night.

To ensure this is not the case with your St. Michael home boiler, here are three ways to prepare your boiler for this winter.

Insulate All Pipes

Along with the pipes that make up the home's plumbing system, the boiler's condensate pipe needs to be insulated to keep it from freezing. If this pipe freezes, the boiler itself will not work due to the condensation not being able to be passed through to an outside drain.

However, if the pipe is properly insulated prior to cold weather, chances are good it will not freeze. The best way to insulate the pipe is by using pipe insulation, such as Styrofoam pipe insulation sleeves, to keep the pipe warm.

Other options include wrapping the pipe with heating tape or, in areas that are extremely cold, using temperature-controlled heating cables to keep the pipe warm.

Conduct Spot Checks

When a service technician is checking over the boiler, they also conduct an array of spot checks to make sure everything is in proper working order. The flue, along with outlets and other areas inside the boiler, need to be checked on a regular basis.

The flue is especially important to your St. Michael home boiler, since it is responsible for allowing gases and pressure to leave the boiler and the home. Other outlets can be checked, and the boiler cleaned inside and out to make sure no dirt or debris have accumulated.

Run the Boiler Year-Round

While the boiler is used extensively during the winter, it rarely gets looked at in the warm weather. However, to check for any problems as well as make sure pressure levels are within the appropriate range, the boiler should be run once each month at its lowest temperature in order to give it a quick evaluation.

By doing this, any problems that may come up can be fixed when the boiler does not need to be in use, rather than during a cold winter night.

Do you need services on your boiler in your St. Michael, MN home? Call B & D Plumbing, Heating & A/C at (763) 497-2290 today and get a professional on the job today.