My Boiler Is Not Heating Water. Here’s What To Check

Most of the UK’s modern homes rely on a gas boiler for both heating and hot water. We often tend to take hot water for granted and expect it to be available when we need it. However, as a piece of equipment that is typically in use 24 hours a day 7 days a week, it is inevitable that sometimes problems may occur.

If you have found yourself with no hot water there is no need to panic. Check out our guide to see if you can identify the cause of your hot water not working and see if there is a quick fix. If you couldn’t identify the reason, then get in touch with Belfast Gas and we will send an engineer to get your hot water back up and running.

Here are the most common causes why your hot water isn’t working and how to deal with them:

Before checking anything else, it is important to make sure that the boiler itself is actually working. If your boiler is not working there will often be a display colour change with an error code on it. You may find what the error code means when you check your boiler’s manual. Some fault codes can easily be resolved with a simple boiler reset, then others may need help of professional heating engineer.
It may sound very simple, but like with a lot of things, sometimes turning your boiler on and off can give it the boost it needs. On the majority of modern boilers you may find a reset button on the front of your boiler. Try turning it off and back on again.
If you are not sure how to fix your faulty boiler, you may message us in WhatsApp, our qualified engineers are available for a free diagnostic and advice. Click the button below:

Whether you have an oil, gas or an electric boiler, you need to check that your energy supply, oil, gas and water are working correctly.
It may seem like common sense, but if no water comes from the taps, it could be a temporary suspension in your water supply. In this case you can easily switch the supply back on or query any service disruption with your water supplier.
If there is no display on your boiler, this may indicate the problem with your power supply. Check also that you have electricity to your lights and sockets. If you have experienced a recent power cut, it may have also affected your boiler settings.
Finally, make sure you have gas supply by checking other appliances such as your gas cooker.

Most modern boilers allow you to change the temperature of your radiators or hot water easily with a simple dial. Although if your thermostat was recently playing up or got accidentally knocked to the wrong setting, then you may try to kick start your boiler by turning the temperature up to high for a short period of time and then reset them to the normal temperature. If it doesn’t help you to get back the hot water, then you will need to get an engineer to help.

The boilers are often forgotten about when the clocks go forward or back. First make sure that the clock is set to the right time. Then you should also check that the timer is set for the hot water to come at the right time.

If there has been a power cut recently, then your boiler may have been reverted back to factory settings once the power supply was restored. So it may not be functioning as you are used to. Check all of these settings – it’s a simple and quick fix.

One of the reasons why you may have no hot water and no heating is an airlock. This happens when air becomes trapped in water pipes, being less dense than water, it can collect the high points on the pipes leading to partial or complete water blockages.

Another reason of no hot water could be frozen pipes, particularly in long periods of cold weather. Most of all the condensate pipe can freeze, which is the waste pipe which carries condensate from the boiler to the outside drain.
In this case you may try pouring hot (but not boiling!) water over the pipe. If you attempt to turn on your boiler and it still doesn’t work, try unfreezing the pipes again. If this still doesn’t help, it’s time to give Belfast Gas a call.

Our local experienced heating engineers are qualified and Gas Safe accredited to perform assessments of your heating system to identify any potential problems. If you need some advice, call our friendly team on 0800 054 1186 for help. We provide oil and gas boiler servicing and heating system repairs across Belfast and Northern Ireland.