As a landlord, it’s your responsibility to make sure there is hot water and heating in your property at all times – but what can you do if something goes wrong?
If there is suddenly no heating or hot water in your property let – don’t panic! There are numerous small things to check before calling in the professionals.
For instance, it could be as simple as someone turning a fused spur off, the prepaid meter running out, or the boiler’s system pressure being low.
If this ever happens to you, and you’re left with no hot water or central heating, I’d recommend speaking with your tenants and going through the following problem solving landlord’s checklist, below:
1. Check there’s money in the pre-paid gas meter
This may seem like the most obvious thing to do, but if your tenants have a pre-paid meter, it could be that it has simply ran out and needs to be topped up.
This is always the first thing to check if there’s a problem, as more often than not, they’ve simply forgotten to top up the meter and have been out when the warning has come on.
2. Check there is power to the boiler
In my experience, this is one of the most common things that happen when people get new tenants, as they tend to go around the kitchen switching things off before wondering why the boiler isn’t working.
Check all the power sockets, and see if there is a light on the boiler. No light means there’s no power getting through, and it’s likely there is a very simply solution.
3. Check the thermostat
Sometimes the programmable room thermostat can be the problem. For instance, if it’s set to come on at 18 degrees, but the temperature in the house is at 20, your tenants may be left scratching their head as to why the boiler isn’t coming on.
The simple solution to this is to turn the thermostat up, as this should prompt it to come on at its new desired temperature.
4. Check controls are set to ‘on’ for heating and hot water
This is another very simple one, but you’d be surprised how many people don’t always notice if one or both of these is set to ‘off’.
So, if you’re getting hot water but no heating, or vice versa, a simple switch could solve your problem.
5. Check the boiler clock hasn’t reset
If there’s recently been a power cut, or an electrician has been in and changed something in your house, the boiler clock can reset itself – just like your microwave or oven clock might do when it’s been deprived of power.
You may not even notice straight away, but when the boiler doesn’t come on at its usual time, you start to worry. Only to realise it’s actually now set to come on at 4am!
6. Check system pressure to the boiler
A lot of boilers won’t turn o if the system pressure drops below half a bar – it’s a common safety feature, just like when you try to boil a kettle with no water and it clicks off automatically.
It’s fairly simple to check the boiler’s pressure, although low pressure could be caused by a number of things. For more information, read my blog entitled ‘Pressure Problems: Quick and Easy Pressure Fixes for Landlords’ (INSERT LINK).
Time to call in the professionals
None of the above seem to be the cause of your problem? If you’ve checked with your neighbours, and there is no interruption to the electrical supply or water supply – or work being carried out on the building – it’s time to call a qualified Gas Safe registered engineer. Good luck!
Conclusion
As a landlord, it can be frustrating when you have to deal with problems such as no heating or hot water in your rental property – however, usually this is caused by something simple.
I’ve put together the above checklist, which you can try before calling in the professionals. In summary:
- Check there’s money in the pre-paid gas meter
- Check there is power to the boiler
- Check the thermostat
- Check controls are set to ‘on’ for heating and hot water
- Check the boiler clock hasn’t reset
- Check system pressure to the boiler
Of course, let me know if I’ve missed anything obvious out!
Have your tenants ever been left with no heating or hot water? How did you manage to fix it?
