A cold shower can be invigorating, but is usually less welcome when you’re not expecting it! If you find you are regularly running out of hot water for showers, washing up or other normal household activities, there are several potential causes you should investigate.
Your boiler is too small
If you’ve always had a problem with your hot water, there’s a good chance your boiler is simply too small for the size of your house or the number of bathrooms and hot water appliances you have. Any given boiler can only produce a certain volume of hot water per minute, so if you are trying to use more than the boiler is capable of producing you will start running out.
This problem should be especially noticeable if you find you run out of hot water for the shower or sinks when your washing machine, dishwasher or other appliances that use hot water are running.
Your boiler is losing pressure
If your boiler has suddenly stopped producing hot water completely, the most likely cause is a drop in pressure. Boilers should normally work at a pressure of 1-1.5 bar and if the pressure drops below 1 bar, the boiler will automatically switch off. A drop in pressure is usually caused by water leaking out of your system, so if this keeps happening you will need to get a boiler engineer to investigate.
In most modern boilers it is fairly simple to re-pressurise the system as there is normally an easily accessible control valve you can turn to add water back in. Consult your manufacturer’s instructions to find out how to do this for your boiler model or give the manufacturer a call. Be careful not to over-pressurise the system as excess pressure can potentially damage your boiler.
Your heat exchanger is faulty
If your boiler has suddenly stopped producing hot water, or is no longer heating water to an acceptable temperature, and there is no issue with your system pressure, the cause is likely an internal fault in the boiler. This is often caused by issues with the heat exchanger as this is responsible for heating your water. This will need to be determined with a detailed examination by a competent boiler engineer who may be able to simply clean the heat exchanger to return it to working condition, or else replace it in the case of a more serious fault.
Never run out of hot water with DHS
If you want central heating that never lets you down, DHS are a Bristol boiler company you can rely on. With over 40 years’ experience, we have the expertise to help you choose the right boiler for your home so you always have plenty of hot water! All of our engineers are Gas Safe-registered, with all the appropriate training and qualifications to ensure your boiler is installed and maintained correctly, offering complete peace of mind at all times!
Unit 2 Septimus Buildings 
