The UK is set to be gripped by a cold snap this week as temperatures plummet, with some areas including Dartmoor and Devon already seeing heavy snowfall overnight.
As we all look to stay as warm as possible amid the wintry conditions, heating engineers have issued a stark warning about how the cold weather could be impacting our boilers.
Experts at Toolstation said that boilers may stop working in the cold as insufficiently insulated condensate pipes are likely to freeze up and become blocked - meaning you'll have no access to hot water or central heating until the problem is fixed and your boiler is working again.
Thankfully though, you can prevent frozen pipes from ever becoming an issue with just one £1 item, according to Lorenzo Giove, a heating engineer at Seven Heating.
Lorenzo explained that the best thing to do is to insulate the pipe - also known as lagging - to keep the cold air and icy conditions from freezing it.
He said: "During the cold weather in December, I was called and texted nearly 100 times by customers with the same issue - frozen condensate pipes. The condensate pipe is the external pipe which carries acidic water waste from the boiler out of the house to an external drain. When it becomes blocked with ice, your boiler stops working.
"In the first instance, the easiest way to prevent a frozen condensate pipe is to lag the pipe. It's a cheap and easy way of preventing issues when the weather really starts to bite. With particularly cold weather expected until Thursday this week, I'd recommend doing this as soon as possible."
Pipe insulation can be bought from Toolstation for around £1, and all you need to do is wrap the insulation around the pipe and fasten it in place with a few cable ties.
A spokesperson for Toolstation said: "Pipe insulation can be purchased for less than £1. A metre length of our most affordable insulation wrap costs just 99p and its thick foam cuts heat loss by up to 70%, protecting against frost and freezing.
"All you need to do is wrap some insulation around the pipe. You may like to use cable ties to ensure it’s fastened on tightly."
And if you discover that your pipes are already frozen, Lorenzo also said it's not a difficult problem to fix, and you shouldn't need to pay a hefty bill for an engineer. In fact, all you need is a kettle!
The heating expert added: "Generally speaking, a boiler will flash up a fault code if the condensate pipe has frozen and caused an issue. Head outside and locate the waste pipe coming from the exterior wall. Cover the pipe in something like a tea towel and pour over several rounds of boiling water.
"The towels will help retain the heat from the hot water and you will start to hear the cracking of the ice. Hopefully, all being well, it will get things moving and working again. Hot water did the trick for most people who contacted me when it was cold in December."
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