If your boiler loses its pressure, you may need to repressurise it in order to regain hot water. This ensures that your boiler continues to heat your home and provide hot water as its designed to do.
Unlike other problems with your boiler, repressurising doesn’t require an engineer callout. It’s certainly something that you can do by yourself and in the below guide, we explain exactly how to do it.
How To Check Boiler Pressure
Whether you own a Baxi, Vokera, Glow Worm, Potterton, Vaillant, Worcester or any other combi boiler, they will all have a pressure gauge. The pressure gauge will be located upon the front panel and you will want to check the pressure whilst the boiler is off and cool. Most gauges will have a “green” zone that indicates the correct pressure required and you should aim to be within the zone for the most efficient boiler pressure.
What Pressure Should It Be?
The majority of boiler brands in the UK recommend that the pressure of your combi boiler should be between 1 and 1.5 bar. If the pressure is below 1 bar, you may have lost some water from a leak. If the system reads higher than 2 to 2.5 bar, you need to release some pressure by bleeding the radiators.
How To Repressurise A Boiler
- Switch off your boiler and allow it to cool down beforehand.
- Locate the filling loop (as shown in the below photo).
- Check for any leaks in the loop or around the boiler.
- Open both valves to allow cold water to enter (you should hear it enter the boiler).
- Leave the valves open until the pressure gauge reaches 1.5 bar
- Close both of the valves once the pressure has been achieved.
- Turn on the boiler and reset it if required.
How Long Does It Take?
The length of time it takes to repressurise a boiler is highly dependent upon how much water has leaked out. However, it shouldn’t take any longer than 10 to 20 seconds but if it does, this may signify that you have a leak.
How Often Does It Need To Be Done?
The process of repressurising a boiler isn’t a common task that you are expected to carry out. If you are repressurising a boiler on a regular basis, this is a sign that there is a problem and you should call out an engineer. The most common problem is that there is a leak in the system, which will need further investigating.
Other Factors To Consider
Although the majority of households in the UK use combi boilers, there are some exclusions in terms of repressurising a boiler. For example, if you have a conventional boiler system, you shouldn’t ever have to re-pressurise it because it uses a self-filling water tank that controls the pressure for you.
Conclusion
Once you have repressurised a boiler once, you will find it much easier the next time because it really is a very easy and straightforward task that you can do yourself. If you still don’t feel confident after reading our guide to repressurise a boiler above, we would recommend reading your boiler brand’s user guide. Most people will overthink it but it really is very easy to repressurise a boiler and something you should try out before calling an engineer.
