Heating not working

Why is my heating not working?

Switching on the boiler to find the heating not working is not a great way to start or end the day.

This list of common faults might get you up and running again.

No demand

Central heating is usually controlled by a timer and a thermostat. You may have both, a combined programable room stat or you may have neither.

Which ever combination of controls you have the boiler needs a demand before it will start to work.

A demand is normally shown on the display of the boiler as a radiator symbol. This can be a picture that flashes on a display or a light that illuminates beside a picture printed on the boiler case.

However there are plenty of boilers that don’t show if there is a demand. The only way to tell is to turn your timer to constant and your thermostat to maximum. With the controls definitely set to on you should hear some noise of pumps or fans running. If not there is either no demand or the signal isn’t getting through to the boiler.

Thermostat set too low

If your room thermostat is set too low the heating will not come on.

This is a surprisingly common reason for a breakdown.

Most of the time this happens in late spring or early Autumn. On unusually sunny days the house might be warm enough that the heating doesn’t come on at its usual time.

Turn the thermostat to maximum then check the boiler. If the heating is now working the thermostat was set too low.