Tips for your home this winter

As we enter the festive period, here are some top tips to help keep your home safe during this time:

• Avoid overloading plug sockets with lights

• Keep fire safety doors free from decorations

• Whether using candles indoors or lighting a fire, keep any open flames away from fabrics and never leave candles unattended in a room

• Buy a fire-resistant tree if you pick an artificial one

• Lock your doors at night and keep presents out of sight so that people can’t look in and see them.

Condensate pipe

In particularly cold weather and mostly at night, your boiler’s condensate pipe may freeze, which can lead to a blockage, causing the boiler to shut down. Symptoms of a frozen condensate pipe include error codes or warning lights on your boiler’s display, which will be explained in your manual, or a bubbling or gurgling sound emanating from the condensate pipe or the boiler itself. If the condensate pipe is frozen then it will need to be thawed.

The easiest way to deal with a frozen condensate pipe is to put it in contact with warm water. A couple of jugs of warm (but not boiling) water poured over the exterior of the pipework works well. Increasing the temperature within the pipe can cause the ice blockage to subside. Boiling water could cause the pipe to crack. If the fault signals are still present check your boiler instructions or contact the manufacturer.

Have a look at this video for more information or read our handy guide.

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