Hello! So my partner switched off the boiler completely as it was making a strange sound like it’s going to explode. He told me there’s nothing else to do as he thinks the condensing pipe might be frozen and we have to wait it out. Well it’s already 12C inside, pretty cold. And we wfh. Is everyone else struggling with this in this cold spell? Any tips? Insulation is extremely poor in this apartment.
31 comments
Housing quality is not very good in this country
Are you renting?
Have you called the landlord?
If the boiler is acting strangely he should call some out to check it
Boilers work a lot harder in winter – makes sense that that’s when they’re likely to die as opposed to summer when they’re only occasionally supplying hot water.
I’m not sure your central heating pipes will have frozen if the temp inside is only now getting down to 12C.
Some people have issues with the condensing pipe freezing which is a quick fix. Also from memory they usually just shut the boiler down and show an error code. It may be that your partner has jumped to conclusions
In many years of owning condensing gas boilers in the UK and living through many cold spells, we never had any issues even with older boilers.
Turning your boiler off because it makes a sound and then letting your house get cold without doing anything about it is ridiculous.
You can fix a frozen condensate pipe, locate it and heat it up with hot water. To reduce reoccurrence in future get it lagged if not already.
Your boiler isn’t going to explode if it’s properly serviced (should be annual). If the condensate pipe is blocked it’ll show and error and turn itself off. Your partner is likely overreacting.
Boil a kettle and pour it over the condensate pipe
Funny enough, I never have issues with my boiler when it’s regularly in use during winter. It’s when it starts to get warmer when the issues start with the pressure and it cuts out
If it’s the pipe outside that’s frozen up just pour boiled water along it. Fixed our pipe. We’ve since insulated it so it freezes up less.
I have a heated blanket, heated shoulder warmer thing, little oil radiator… means I can heat my work area without doing the whole house.
Without spending money, 2 pairs of socks, lots of layers and a hat and gloves
If you post in DIYUK, with any supporting info like picture or video if applicable, they will probably give you any solution that you can try yourself
If pipes are frozen use a hair dryer on them.
If the condensing pipe is frozen just go and tip boiling water on it.
If it’s not then it could be explosive ignition which sounds a lot worse than it is. Can sound like boiler is vibrating on the wall. Normally happens when the boiler comes on for the first time in a few hours, you’ll need to get someone to come and have a look but it’s still safe to use.
The condensate pipe on my boiler freezes and the boiler makes some scary noises but it has a safety shutoff.
I leave my boiler on at the lowest temperature 24/7 during cold snaps and that seems to have stopped the pipe from freezing.
Pour warm, not boilingz water on the condensate pipe. It will discharge. Get some cladding for the pipe from Wickes or Screwfix.
I’m not an expert, but I’d get DIY advice before emptying boling kettles onto stuff, like try and do it a bit slower .
If it is the condensate pipe frozen you can defrost it with warm water and the the boiler running again. It should be lagged if there is an outside run. I had similar problems with a boiler in my attached garage at an old house where they’d run the pipe outside to the drian, I rerouted along the inside wall and drained to the gully by the door, never had a problem again.
Everyone recommending pouring boiling water seems a bit cavalier to me. If you have a microwave heatbag, warming that, putting it in something to keep it clean and wrapping it around the frozen area is less likely to cause damage. A hot water bottle would also do but is less flexible.
Get a hairdryer on the frozen pipe. If the pipe is outside, poor hot water over it. Should fire up right away then.
Ours seems to predict the cold spell and break just before it so we can say “lucky it broke just before the cold snap”.
I always have mine serviced in October. That way it’s ready. Even though it’s only 1.5 years old it’s always worth doing to prepare
They worker longer and harder so any issues are probably more likely to appear. Just had 4 visits from my boiler insurance to sort out 3 different issues right as we’re suffering from the coldest week yet lol
Put some lagging on your condenser pipe
Our boiler always has a wee crap out at the start of a cold snap.
Boiling water from a kettle over the pipe if it’s ran externally Will normally melt the ice plug that’s causing the issue
Hot water bottles. Best invention every made.
If the condensing pipe is frozen then the correct action is to warm it up until it clears.
If it is due to the cold weather then you can expect this to have happened to the outside section.
You don’t want to wait until the weather warms up. (At least not If it is going to stay freezing for some time). If the house gets freezing cold then other pipes or the actual boiler might freeze and that would be a real problem. Especially if the boiler is in a cold place like a garage.
If water is passing through your condensate pipe but you are still getting nasty noises from the boiler then you might be short of water in the system. Check that the pressure gauge is reading in the correct range. (It will probably be marked with a green section). Most boilers will switch off with a fault message if the pressure is low – but I just found recently that ours does not do that. Check instructions on how to top up.
Follow up by bleeding the radiators and adding more water as necessary to bring pressure up.
You may need to repeat this after running the system for a while – and might have a leak that needs fixing.
If none of the above works then you need an expert!
It would make sense if cold spells had more boilers going wrong, simply because they are being used more. With a thermostat on a regular winter day my boiler is only on intermittently, it’s definitely on a greater percentage of the time right now and thus more likely randomly hit a problem.
>He told me there’s nothing else to do as he thinks the condensing pipe might be frozen and we have to wait it out.
Just fill a suitable receptacle with warm water (not boiling or hot because you don’t want to crack the pipework) go outside to the pipe exiting the boiler and use the water to melt the ice.
Waiting for it to unfreeze? That could be days if it’s cold enough.
2 minute job. It is a bit of a farce that it happens on these boilers since it’s the obvious coldest times when it does it. Valiant right? You can get lagging to go on the pipes though (although I’ve done this water thing 4 times and said after each occasion I’ll lag the pipes but never have – if this were Canada I’d have done it by now)
Disconnected the condensate piep below the boiler and place the end in a bucket. Recon3ct it when the outside temperature rises. Oh and don’t forget to periodically empty the bucket
How to Defrost a Frozen Condensate Pipe:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fsexxoVaO40&autoplay=1&rel=0&controls=1&showinfo=0&feature=youtu.be