It’s normal for pressure to increase when your heating system is working as intended, but it can over pressurise.
As the boiler heats up and the water starts to expand, there is more pressure. It may not happen often, but when you use your boiler for a while, it’s worth rechecking the boiler’s pressure without your heating on. The valve is used to lessen the pressure and make sure everything runs safely.
Typically, to maintain optimum boiler pressure, air should be circulating in the expansion tank. If there isn’t enough air inside the expansion tank, the pressure will increase, and water could escape from your boiler’s relief valve.
It is important to identify the cause of high pressure. If it isn’t fixed, there is the potential that the boiler could over pressurise, and water will spill out of the pressure relief valve.
Why Is My Boiler Pressure High?
You might be experiencing some high pressure in your system. Here are a few potential causes for this:
Have you re-pressurised your boiler and were unsure if it had enough water? This is a common mistake. It’s impossible to regulate pressure when the boiler’s on, so ensure there’s always enough water before starting.
If you try adding water when your home’s heating isn’t on, don’t add too much. When repressurising your boiler, keep an eye on the pressure gauge to avoid running out of pressure.
Leaking water from a boiler may indicate an incorrectly installed part. Sometimes leaks happen, or your valves might not shut properly. This might be because the filling loop is open. You may have this issue because of low pressure in the boiler.
It is difficult to determine whether the boiler is experiencing pressure problems immediately. However, if the boiler has been on for more than a few hours, it’s always best to check the pressure indicator.
When off, it will typically read somewhere between 0.5 bar and 1 bar of pressure. While on, it should be between 1-1.5 bars of pressure.
What Happens If My Boiler Pressure Is Too High?
The high pressure of the boiler won’t hurt you as long as the gauge is showing that it’s within its acceptable range. If it goes outside the range, the boiler will either turn off or have a pressure relief valve to prevent accidents. However, it would be best if you relied on a professional heating engineer for the best advice.
How To Reduce The Boiler Pressure
Ensure you find the root cause of any problems (e.g. leaks) before lowering boiler pressure – otherwise, you’ll end up with increased water usage and damage to your boiler over time. Remember that many things can contribute to high boiling temperatures – including contamination or blocked flues.
To get the most efficiency out of your boiler, it’s crucial to keep up on maintenance. This includes bleeding your radiators.
Bleeding the radiators will remove any excess air present in the system, affecting heat distribution and radiative heating performance.
To bleed your radiator system, release the pressure and let water escape through a towel or cloth. Repeat this process until the desired power is reached.
Ensure the boiler has been switched off completely and is cooled down before draining water from your rads. If you do the opposite, the water that comes out will be too hot and cause a scald.
Once you’ve released a small amount of water from the pipe, check the pressure. If necessary, remove the excess water and then recheck to ensure it is at a safe level. Repeat this step until you are fully satisfied with the boiler’s pressure.
Check the pressure of your boiler regularly to observe whether it increases. If it does, call a Gas Safe registered engineer to investigate the cause of the pressure change, and repair the boiler and heating system if required, ensure your boiler remains safe.
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