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Defrosting Condensate Pipes

31 Jan 2019

Celtic Horizons

Snow and cold conditions have been predicted for much of our area over the next few days.

Hopefully, it won’t be anything like we experienced back in March last year.

One of the main issues we faced then was with people’s boilers not working due to their condensate pipes freezing but here some tips from Welsh Water which can help you resolve this problem yourself as well as some more information below.

Why does it freeze?
If the condensate pipe runs outside, the cold weather could freeze the pipe and block it. A trigger is switched to shut down the boiler when it reaches a certain point to prevent the water flooding the system.

How do I clear it?
Clearing the frozen blockage is something you can do. If you are confident you have located the pipe externally then there are two ways of thawing the pipe yourself:

  1. The first option is to pour lukewarm water to the outside of the pipe.
  2. The second option is to use either a hot water bottle or a heat wrap (usually used for bad backs) and place it around the pipe at the section where the water has frozen.

You should never disconnect the condensate pipe in the process. DO NOT USE BOILING WATER!

If you are unsure please give us a call on 0330 159 6080 to come and carry out the repair.