The winter and cold months are the time we really rely on our boiler to provide us with heating and hot water. However, as temperatures fall the condensate pipes on our boiler can become more likely to freeze which will shut down your boiler.
Below we explain how to identify a frozen condensate pipe and how you can thaw the pipe. However, if you don’t feel confident with the following steps below, please contact us as we are more than happy to assist you.
What is a condensate pipe and where is the condensate pipe?
The condensate pipe is usually a white or grey plastic pipe which will come out of your boiler directly outside into an external drain. The part of the pipe which is located outside is most likely to freeze when temperatures drop below freezing. If your boiler is located in an unheated part of your house (such as your garage) you should treat the condensate pipe as if it is outside.
How to tell if your condensate pipe has frozen:
It’s important to ensure that’s the cause of the problem. The first sign that your condensate pipe has frozen may be an error code displayed on the boiler or another sign may be a ‘gurgling’ noise coming from the boiler. If your boiler was working fine until a cold spell of weather, there’s a high chance it could be a frozen condensate pipe.
If a frozen condensate pipe is to blame for your boiler failing to start, it means that you have to defrost the frozen water that has built up within the pipe before it will work again.
How to thaw your frozen condensate pipe:
If you suspect that your boiler condensate pipe has frozen, the following steps below should help and get your boiler back to normal:
1: Locate the blockage – this is likely to be where the pipe is most exposed outside and more than likely will be frozen at the open end of the pipe or at a bend or an elbow.
2: Thaw the pipe – We would recommend using a hot water bottle or a microwavable heat pack and place this on the blockage as this will slowly defrost the pipe. You may use hot water however, please do not use boiling hot water as this can damage the pipe. If you are using water from the boil, please let the water cool for at least 15minutes once it’s boiled. Please also be mindful if you use hot water this will fall onto the ground and make the ground slippy, so please be careful.
3: Once the frozen section of the pipe has been defrosted and cleared, check your boiler manual for instructions or the manufacturer’s website on how to reset your boiler correctly. Your boiler should then restart. However, if your boiler still isn’t working then please give a Gas Safe engineer to come and look at it for you, we are happy to help.
How to prevent the condensate pipe from freezing again:
If your condensate pipe isn’t already insulated, you could wrap it with waterproof and weatherproof materials to help prevent it from freezing again. Also as a temporary measure, it may help to turn the boiler thermostat to maximum and run your boiler in continuous mode until the cold spell is over. If you do continue to experience problems, please give us a call and we will be able to help further with this.