Let’s say you’re visiting friends or family in one of the Great Plains states, like Nebraska. It’s cold when you arrive from the New York area and, just to make conversation, you say “I hope your boiler’s in good working order!”
Sounds perfectly normal, right? Especially so if you have a home boiler heating system. Well, in many parts of the country, they don’t. For the most part, they have forced air heating systems, with heat provided by a furnace.
So, how can you be sure which one you have? Easy: if the heat’s coming from a baseboard unit or radiator, you have a boiler (unless, of course, you have electric baseboard heating, but that’s a blog post for another day).
Not to belabor the point, but when furnaces and boilers start to wear down, their warning signs are very different.
These are some of the more common warning signs of boiler problems:
- No heat. This could be caused by a variety of things including broken airlocks, failure of motorized valves or low water levels.
- Losing pressure. A water leak in the system is the most common reason for a loss of pressure.
- Boiler keeps switching off. This can be caused by low water pressure, problems with the thermostat and air in the system.
- Thermostat issues. As thermostats age, their accuracy can go out the window, so to speak. They also can misread temperature settings or turn the heating on or off by itself. And now for the good news: just because you’re not as comfortable as you might like doesn’t necessarily mean you have a boiler problem.
- Leaking and dripping. Internal corrosion is just one of several factors that can cause a boiler to drip and leak water. The problem often can be fixed, but not always.
- Strange banging noises. When air gets inside your boiler heating system, the result can be some rather unpleasant noises such as banging, whistling or gurgling.
All boiler problems have one thing in common: they don’t get better on their own. Plus, the longer you wait to seek professional help, the worse the situation will become. So, if your boiler isn’t keeping you as warm and comfortable as it once did, contact the home heating specialists at Air Professionals today. We’ll accurately diagnose the problem and give you our best recommendations on how to resolve it.