Why do I have no heating or hot water?

Problems with your power supply

Your boiler needs a constant supply of power to heat up your water for your taps and central heating. If your boiler’s display has gone dark and it’s completely unresponsive, it’s likely a power issue. Here are a few things you can check:

Has there been a power cut?

If it happens during the day, a power cut can be hard to notice. If you suspect a power cut is the problem, you can confirm it by:

• Checking lights and plugs in multiple rooms in the house.
• Asking your neighbours if they’re also experiencing power issues.
• Checking the National Grid coverage tracker for power cuts in your area.

If it is a power cut then you can report it to the National Grid, if it’s not already highlighted on their coverage tracker.

Check the boiler switch on your fuse box

If it’s not a power cut, the next step is to check your fuse box (consumer unit). One of the switches on your fuse box should be labelled ‘boiler’. If this has tripped, then that’s why you have no heating or hot water.

Try flipping it back up to the ‘on’ position to get your boiler going. If it trips again, it’s best to call a qualified electrician.

Can’t see a switch for your boiler on the fuse box? There may also be a fused spur somewhere near the boiler, which is a switch that can turn the boiler on and off. Make sure this is turned on.

Gas supply issues

Similarly to your electrical supply, your boiler needs a constant flow of gas to keep working. If your gas supply is interrupted for any reason then that’s the end of your heating and hot water. Here are a few things you can do to check if this is the problem:

Check the Emergency Control Valve

The Emergency Control Valve (ECV) is the valve located next to the gas meter. The handle should be labelled indicating the direction for on. If this is in the off position, it stops the supply of gas to your home.

Make sure the valve is in the on position to get your heating and hot water flowing again.

Check another gas appliance

You can find problems with your gas supply by checking other appliances in your home that use gas. If you have a gas hob or fireplace, try to fire them up. If it doesn’t work and you can’t hear gas, then there is a problem with your supply.

Make sure there is enough balance on your prepayment meter

If you pay for your gas using a prepayment meter, you may have just run out of credit. Take a look at the meter and check your balance. If you’re out of credit just top it up online or over the phone.

Reset the meter

If your credit has dropped to £0 you may need to reset your meter. There are lots of different gas meters out there, so if you don’t know how to reset yours it’s a good idea to find a guide online.

Problems with the boiler

If your gas and electric supply is fine, then it’s time to check your boiler. The easiest way to diagnose a boiler problem is to check its display for fault codes. These codes are different for every boiler brand, but a quick look at your boiler manual will help you figure out what’s wrong.

It could be any one of the below issues:

Low or high boiler pressure

If your pressure reading on your boiler gauge is too high (above 2.75 bar) or too low (below 1 bar), your boiler won’t work properly. Too high or too low and the boiler could turn off and show a fault code.

You can fix low pressure by re-pressurising your boiler and if you have high boiler pressure, check out our guide on how to reduce it.

Frozen condensate pipe

A condensate pipe carries condensation from your boiler to your drainage. It’s usually a white or grey plastic pipe that travels from your boiler to a drainpipe, sometimes through the wall directly outside.

If your condensate pipe does go outside, it may freeze in cold weather, which blocks the pipe and leads to a boiler shutdown.

You can thaw this pipe yourself using a hot water bottle to get your heating and hot water up and running again.

Check if the pilot light has gone out

If you have an older boiler with a pilot light, it may have gone out. Check your boiler manual to find out how to relight the pilot light.

Boilers can either have a manual or automatic process for igniting the pilot light, so make sure you’re following the right instructions for your boiler.

Can’t get it to relight? Time to get the professionals in.

Reset the boiler

Even if you’ve fixed the problem with your boiler, it might not start working again until you’ve done a boiler reset. All boiler models differ, but it usually means finding the reset button and holding it down for 10 seconds.

Check your thermostat settings

If you’ve noticed a lack of heating as the weather gets colder, it might be because your thermostat isn’t set high enough.

Between 18 and 21 degrees is a good temperature to aim for, but if you just want to check that your boiler is still responsive, try turning up the heat to see if it hums into action.

Some thermostats also have hot water controls, meaning it’s possible to accidentally turn off your hot water at the touch of a button. Take 5 minutes to check all the settings are as they should be.

Top tip: If your thermostat uses batteries, check they aren’t running low.

Check your timer settings

Boiler timers set when your heating comes on and goes off based on the times of the day you need it most.

If you don’t have a timer on your digital thermostat, you could have an analogue timer on your boiler. No matter which version you have, set the timer so that the heating comes on as soon as possible to check it’s still working.

How to stop your hot water and heating from breaking down

While you can’t defend against every heating or hot water problem, there are some things you can do to maintain your heating system and help prevent boiler issues:

• Get an annual boiler service: Not only is it a good health check for your boiler, it also helps keep your warranty intact.
• Bleed radiators when necessary: Keep your heating working efficiently by checking the top of your radiators for cold spots while the heating is on and bleeding them when needed.
• Keep an eye on your boiler pressure: High or low boiler pressure can indicate a potential boiler problem. Keep an eye on the pressure every couple of months to catch these problems early.

Do I need a new boiler?

Your boiler can last up to 15 years before it starts experiencing serious problems, but if yours is showing any of the following signs then getting a new boiler could be cheaper in the long run:

• A noisy boiler
• Water and radiators taking longer to heat up
• Boiler leaks
• Regular breakdowns
• Strange smell coming from the boiler
• The boiler is more than 10 years old

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