What Does It Mean if Your Central Heating Boiler Is Losing Pressure?

Your boiler heats up cold water that flows around your home through a circuit of pipes and radiators. For your central heating system to work as efficiently as possible, your boiler pressure needs to be as stable as possible. Most common boiler issues can be traced back to a pressure issue. Is your boiler acting up? Are you having to deal with a lack of hot water or efficiency? Your central heating boiler may be losing pressure. Thankfully, low pressure is quite easy to diagnose and it shouldn’t be too much of a costly fix.

How to check your boiler’s pressure levels?

Locate the pressure gauge on the front of your boiler. There will be a low and high end indicated by red sections on the dial. On most digital gauges, you will see a flashing pressure reading, indicating the level of pressure within your boiler. If your pressure system reads less than 1 bar, it is possible you may have lost water from your system which will need replacing. If the pressure gauge indicates high pressure, above 2.75 on the scale, you may need to bleed your radiators to release pressure.

What causes a lack of pressure?

A lack of pressure within your boiler can be a symptom of a few issues.

Leaks

If your boiler is frequently demanding water to pressurise itself, or if the pressure constantly needs topping up, it’s likely you have a leak somewhere within your central heating system. Small leaks can go unnoticed for a long time, leading to a gradual decline in pressure. To check for leaks, keep an eye out for signs of damp patches around pipes and your boiler.

You can also check your pressure relief valve, a pipe which usually protrudes from an external wall. Try tying a clear food bag around the pipe, taping it in place overnight. If there is any water in the bag the next morning, there is a problem within your central heating system. When checking for a leak in your central heating system, do not look inside your boiler, only a trained specialist should do this for safety reasons, as the pipes are extremely hot. Consider hiring ceiling leak detection & repair specialists from Aspect to safely assess the health of your boiler.

Radiators

If you have recently bled your radiators, it is normal to experience some pressure loss within your boiler. Bleeding a radiator releases air, which in turn lowers the pressure within your system. If your radiator is leaking, this can also cause a lack of pressure within your central heating boiler. Do a visual check of the radiators within your home, in case there is any sign of water escaping. You may also want to tighten any loose connections and valves around your radiators to stop air being released.

Boiler pressure gauge fault

Whilst it is unlikely, it is not uncommon to have a faulty pressure gauge on your boiler. This can be quite dangerous if you are topping up your boiler pressure quite frequently. If you top your boiler up regularly and the pressure gauge is barely moving or nothing happens, this could suggest your reader is faulty. Consider hiring a gas engineer to assess the issue safely for you.

If you are struggling to understand the issue around your boiler’s pressure, a specialist will be able to use modern technology to find the source of the issue. If your boiler is leaking, Aspect technicians can use state of the art, non invasive technology to find the source of the problem. Technicians can also conduct moisture surveys, to find any issues with your heating system, externally and internally.