I love autumn in Winnipeg. Our urban forest is particularly beautiful at this time of year, with all the leaves on the trees going from greens to ochres and crimson, turning our city into a kaleidoscope of colour before the grey-white of winter sets in.

You might wonder what this time of year has to do with your boiler. Falling leaves aren’t going to interfere with the flow of heat through your home, so what kind of special fall boiler maintenance would you have to do?

The truth is, your boiler needs regular maintenance, and that includes a pretty rigorous annual tune-up. The reason this happens in the fall is, well, because fall comes before winter, and that’s when you’re going to need your boiler running at full capacity. Honestly, some fall nights here in the Peg can feel a heck of a lot like winter, so the sooner in the season you get your boiler tuned up, the more likely you are to have heat when you need it.

There’s a lot that goes into boiler maintenance. First, your technician is going to do a thorough inspection of the boiler to see if there’s anything obviously broken or out of place. Next, they’ll inspect and clean the heat exchanger – when it gets dirty, it loses a lot of efficiency.

The water in your boiler needs to be at a certain pH level. When the pH of your boiler is off, the caustic or acidic water can start to eat away at the boiler. Even water with a pH that’s slightly higher than it should be can encourage scaling on the surface of the boiler’s interior. The technician will check the pH of the water, and make adjustments if necessary. They’ll also flush out the tank if there are excessive levels of sediment, because sediment build-up can damage your boiler.

Your boiler’s connections will also need to be checked. Your technician will inspect your vents to see if there’s any damage, deterioration, or obstruction. They’ll do the same with all of the pipes and joints coming in and out of your boiler.

Physical Inspection

Finally, once the thorough physical inspection is complete, the technician will test your boiler. This allows them to confirm that the thermostat is working properly and heat is being distributed throughout your building in a consistent way. What’s more, problems that weren’t obvious to the naked eye can reveal themselves once the boiler is running.

If all goes well, you’ll get the “all clear”, and you can sleep soundly knowing that your boiler is going to keep you and anyone living in your building toasty through another winter. On the flip side, if there are any problems, your technician will give you options. We offer Winnipeg boiler repair & replacement. That means we’ll help you determine whether repairing or replacing is more cost-effective, and, if the answer is replacement, help you find a boiler that suits your needs and budget.