One of the things that helps to keep our homes warm, comfortable and hygienic is modern plumbing. There are many parts that make up the plumbing that warms our homes – from the boiler itself to gas valves like this https://orseal.com/ – however, to make sure that everything stays in good working order, there are things that you can do yourself to take care of it and make sure that it is working well and doing its job.
Here are some things that can help you to do this…
Be careful about what you pour down the sink and flush down your toilet – To keep the drains working properly, make sure that you are not putting anything down that could cause them to become blocked. In the kitchen, a common culprit is fat and oil, that cools and hardens in the drain and causes it to block. In the bathroom, make sure that you are not flushing things down the toilet like baby wipes and even dental floss, as these are both major problems for your plumbing to handle.
Take Care of your Pipes – In the winter, pipes can become frozen, and when this happens, it not only stops them from allowing water through, but also then increases the risk of the pipes bursting. In order to reduce this risk, keep pipes well insulated. You can buy material for insulating pipes from DIY stores. If you do find that a pipe has frozen, then you firstly should turn off the water at the mains. Then the pipe will need to be defrosted very slowly – if it is done too quickly, the pipe could also burst.
Get Your Boiler Serviced Regularly – Having your boiler serviced is not only something that will keep you safe, but it also means that you are less likely to have a boiler breakdown in the midst of winter. The best time for you to have your boiler checked by a professional and qualified heating engineer is at the end of the summer, before you need to use the heating again. Boilers are often not used much, if at all in the summer, so things can go wrong with them during this time – you don’t want to turn it on during the first cold snap only to find that it no longer works!