How Do You Maintain Your Residential Boiler?

With winter weather knocking at the door, now is the time to ensure your Warman boiler is operating at optimum efficiency. The Old Farmer’s Almanac predicts bone-chilling temperatures in the months ahead, although you wouldn’t know it given the temperatures this past October and November—let’s do everything to keep your Warman home cozy and comfortable.

Our team at AquaTemp specializes in heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) solutions for residential homes of all sizes. Whether you want to install a zone control system or find ways to improve your building’s indoor air quality (IAQ), give us a call today for a free consultation on your next project.

Boiler Maintenance in Warman 

A well-maintained boiler provides you with many years of comfort. It also provides clean and dust-free heat, reducing the number of allergens stirred up by forced-air and other modern heating systems.

The key here is to keep up with maintenance. Annual inspections allow our AquaTemp team to uncover minor issues before they turn into costly and untimely repairs.

Here are a few tasks you can expect from our professionals:

1. Checking exhaust pipes for proper venting. That includes checking carbon monoxide (CO) and combustion efficiency to ensure that your boiler is operating safely within manufacturers recommendations.
2. Testing the pressure relief valves and control valves to ensure interlocks work correctly. The pressure relief valve automatically opens if the pressure gets too high inside your boiler.
3. Inspect the burner to verify a consistent flame.
4. Checking the pressure gauge to verify it is operating correctly.
5. Checking for cracks, holes, and leaks.

Between service visits, we encourage home building owners to keep their eye’s and ears open for any unusual noises or signs of leaks on the system.

What is Kettling?

Kettling is a term used to describe unusual popping noises that can sound like a boiling kettle. It can be unsettling—Sometimes this noise can be subtle and only noticeable while your home is quit at night other times very noticeable.

Kettling interferes with your boiler’s ability to heat your Warman home sufficiently. The cost of your heating bills will go up, and your building may experience uneven temperatures, not to mention that many times this could be an indication that there are other problems within the system.

Low water pressure, a water temperature setting that is too high, and a leaky system also may contribute to boiler noise.

What Causes Kettling?

Limescale is corrosion that results from calcium carbonate deposits in water—it could likely be at the root of your boiler’s kettling noises.

Limescale can build up on the heat exchanger and make it harder for the component to heat the water around it. As a result, the boiler’s burners work harder, and the heat exchanger ends up becoming too hot. The water becomes too hot and starts kettling.

Boilers are not designed to boil water, I know then why call them boilers? In the past the only way to distribute the heat was to boil the water and distribute the steam throughout the home or building, as technology evolved we found ways to distribute how water throughout which was  more efficient and safer than using steam. More to come on this topic in future blogs for the history buffs out there. A malfunctioning boiler controls within the boiler could be causing the kittling to occur which in most cases is not good for the boiler.

Avoid Kettling Through Maintenance

Maintaining your heating system is key to extending its service life and improving its performance. Regular preventative maintenance should at least include an inspection of the pressure tank, tests of the pressure-relief valve and the high-limit control, and thorough heat exchanger cleaning.

If your boiler is more than 20 years old, you may want to consider replacing it with a high-efficiency model that takes advantage of the latest technology.

Maintaining Your Domestic Water Supply

Many residential boilers handle two jobs: heating your home and providing all your domestic hot water needs (DHW). The domestic hot water system supplies hot water for your kitchen and bathroom sinks and other appliances.

The same boiler can supply both heating and domestic water as long as the two water systems do not mix. In many cases, a stand-alone water heater tank heated by your boiler will supply the domestic water.

Our team at AquaTemp will always check these connections to keep your building warm while ensuring your domestic water supply is safe.

Call Us Today to Maintain Your Residential Boiler

At AquaTemp, we understand how to keep your Warman, SK, residential boiler system running strong throughout the winter. Call us today at 239-331-4465 or request service online to learn more about our products and services.