The boiler, everything you need to know

In this article, we answer the most important questions about maintaining your boiler. The boiler, which often hangs in the attic, needs to be properly maintained. After all, without the central heating boiler, you have no hot water. In addition to a cold shower, this also means an unheated home. So not entirely unimportant. How to prevent this? We'll tell you!

Annual maintenance of the boiler

To ensure that the boiler continues to work properly, it is important to maintain it annually. If you have a rental house, it is usually the case that your landlord will arrange this for you. When buying a home, you can subscribe to a company that specializes in maintaining central heating boilers. Or you can always call in the help of a self-employed technician or (small) installation company separately. The average annual maintenance costs are around €80 to €130.

‍Refill the boiler

Refilling your boiler is important. If the water pressure is not between 1.5 and 2.0 bar, the boiler does not work properly or does not work at all. Of course, that is not the intention. That's why we'll explain how you can refill your boiler yourself.

What do you need? A bucket or basin, a filling hose, a mop and possibly a water pump wrench.

Set the room thermostat to the lowest setting and wait for the boiler to reach 40 degrees. This is because you are going to fill the boiler with cold water. If the boiler is still too hot, you run the risk of the boiler bursting due to the temperature difference.
Now grab a bucket or a basin.
Using a water pump pliers, attach the filler hose to the water tap. Fill the hose carefully with water. The intention is that there is as little air as possible in the filling hose.
Now connect the other side of the filling hose to the filler valve. (It is possible that the filler valve is on a radiator in the kitchen or bathroom or under the central heating boiler.)
Open the filler valve and gently open the water tap.
Make sure the water pressure is about 1.8 bar.
First turn off the water tap and then the filler valve.
Unplug the hose and let the water that is still in the hose run into the bucket or basin.
Now make sure that the room thermostat returns to the desired position.

How do you clean a boiler?

In principle, you can only clean the outside, also known as the mantle, of the boiler at home with a damp cloth and (clean) water. Optionally, you can also use a standard cleaning agent for this. Does the boiler also need to be cleaned from the inside? Then you should call in the help of a resume maintenance engineer.

How do you vent a radiator?

Does your boiler make rattling or ticking noises? And is your heating no longer warm properly? Then it is possible that there are air bubbles in your pipe, which means that your boiler has to work harder and consumes more energy. It is then time to vent your radiators. You can do this yourself in a few simple steps. We'll help you get started! What do you need? A cloth and a vent key

Make sure the room thermostat is at a high temperature for about 10 minutes. Approximately 25 degrees. Are the radiators warm? Then turn off the thermostat and unplug the boiler.
Turn off the radiator valve and open the radiator vent valve with the vent key and let the air escape.
As soon as only a trickle of water comes out, the radiator is vented, open the radiator faucet again.- Do this with every radiator in the house, from top to bottom.
Set the thermostat back to the desired temperature and plug it back in.

‍Legal obligation to maintain the central heating systeml

Maintenance to a central heating boiler is mandatory and must be carried out annually or otherwise specified by the manufacturer by an authorized Installer or maintenance company. This has everything to do with the carbon monoxide poisoning that can occur when a central heating boiler does not function properly or is very contaminated. Carbon monoxide poisoning can cause you to faint or even die.