A home for everyone
14 January 2025

Solving issues with your heating system

Sometimes the fix to our problem is right at our fingertips. Check out our heating self-help below.
Illustration scene of customer fixing their boiler

Each month, we share environmental advice. This month, we are focusing on heating systems.

Keeping the temperature of your living room between 18C and 21C (between 16C and 20C for babies' rooms) is important for you and your family’s health and wellbeing, and helps reduce condensation

As we are in the depths of the cold winter months, it is important that our heating systems are working properly to meet these temperatures. 

When things go wrong, it can be frustrating. As tempting as it might be to pick up the phone and call for help, sometimes the resolution is right at our fingertips! 

Check out our self-help tips for solving issues with your heating system:

Do you have hot water but no heating?

Do you have a combination boiler? If so please check your room stat/programmer. Is it flashing? Some are radio frequency controlled and the batteries may need replacing.

Can you see 'communication fault' flashing on your thermostat controller?

First of all check to see if your boiler is running. 

This type of issue can be caused by low battery power on your radio thermostat, which controls your boiler. This can be resolved by replacing the battery in your thermostat. 

Do you have gas and no heating or hot water?

Do you have another gas appliance such as a cooker?

Try lighting the hob. If it lights you have a gas supply. If it does not light, please check your gas supply.

If you pay for your gas quarterly

  • Make sure the yellow gas cock directly below the boiler is in the on/open position.

If you pay using a top-up card

  • Check the LCD screen on your gas meter. Does this say ON?
  • If it does not say ON, your meter has locked out. Please insert your top-up card and follow the instructions on the gas meter screen.

Check for fault codes

Is there a fault code flashing on the front of the boiler?

If it is flashing, put the fault code, make and model of your boiler into Google, (for example Boiler Make - Glow Worm Model - 30CXi Fault code - F1). This should help you see what the problem is.

If your fault code says “low central heating system pressure”, or “temperature fault”, check the pressure gauge and top up as required.

If your fault code says "no ionisation", or "interrupted gas supply", try resetting the boiler. If this still does not solve the problem, please contact us.

Can you see a fault code reading 'no ignition' on your boiler?

To fix this fault, turn your boiler off and then restart it by turning it back on. This should kick start your boiler.

Check the pressure on your boiler

Please look for a small round pressure gauge with a number bar of 1-3. Check to see if the pressure is over 1 bar. If not, attempt to top up to 1 bar using the valve at the end of the hose.

Have you adjusted the pressure indicator on the pressure gauge on your boiler?

Most boiler re-pressurising can be done from the lever located directly underneath your boiler. You will only need to make a small and slow adjustment turn to increase the pressure. Please see your boiler instruction manual or do an internet search to find out how to do this on your specific boiler model. 

Is your gas meter working?

Meter issues are the responsibility of the gas supplier. If you have a low battery notice on your meter or it is a meter fault (of any description) please contact your gas supplier.

Have you restarted your boiler?

There is no harm in turning your boiler off and then on again. The buttons are made for use and you can refer to your instruction manual or do an internet search to find out how to do this.