A burst pipe is classed as a water emergency it can cause serious damage to your home and electrical wiring. It’s important to take action as soon as you discover a burst pipe. If you’ve got a burst pipe, follow these steps to get things under control:

• Turn off the water supply
  Turn off the main stopcock. You should find this under the kitchen sink or where the service pipe enters your home. (The stopcock controls the flow of water and shuts off the entire supply in an emergency. The stopcock can usually be found under the kitchen sink, bathroom, cloakroom, cellar or basement).
• Drain the system
  Then drain the system by turning on all your cold taps and flushing your toilets.
• Turn off water heating systems
  Switch off the central heating, immersion heater and any other water heating systems. If the central heating uses solid fuel, let this die out. Once water heating has shut down, turn on the hot taps to help drain the system.
• Turn off the electrics
  If water from the burst pipe is leaking near your electrics or electrical appliances, switch off the mains immediately. If the mains switch is wet, don’t touch it or you could risk electrocution!
• Please contact Greenstone now for advice or to arrange an engineer visit.e now for advice or to arrange an engineer visit.

Even the best-tended boiler will struggle to function if its condensate pipe freezes. Luckily, it’s not a difficult job to put things right if it does happen. This handy guide will help you get your boiler up and running quickly and easily.

A condensate pipe carries condensation from your boiler to your outside drain. It’s usually a white or grey plastic pipe that travels from your boiler through the external wall directly outside where your boiler is located.

During cold weather the condensation in this pipe may freeze and cause a blockage causing the condensate to back up into the boiler and cause a shutdown.
If you suspect your condensate pipe is frozen follow these steps to try and solve the issue:

• Confirm the condensate pipe is frozen
• Locate the blockage
• Thaw the pipe
• Restart your boiler

A leaking boiler is a common problem however should always be treated as soon as possible. Failure to do so can result in bigger problems occurring. Not only is a leak an indication of a more serious fault, failure to fix the problem can result in corrosion to the boiler’s internal parts as well as minor flooding. As a first step, the source of the leak needs to be isolated. However, you should never attempt to do any complex servicing or repair work on the system yourself, please contact Greenstone for advice or to arrange an engineer visit.

Is your radiator cold at the top and warm at the bottom? If so there is probably air trapped inside follow our simple steps to rectify the situation:

• Turn of the central heating system at the main control
• Find the bleed valve / point usually small red handle at one side of your radiator
• Protect the floor around the radiator from leaking water
• Bleed the radiator insert the bleed key into the bleed valve on the radiator, turn the key anticlockwise. You should begin to hear the air releasing from the radiator. When water begins to drip out will know that all the air has been purged from the radiator
• Re-tighten the bleed valve and turn your heating system back on

If you still are experiencing problems, call Greenstone to arrange for an engineer to visit.

There are a few reasons why this may be happening:

• There may be a buildup of scale in your system this will need to be treated with a chemical.
• The thermostat may be set to high reduce the thermostat temperature, this may eliminate the noise but will also reduce the heat in your home.
• Not enough water flow through the boiler.
• Lack of water pressure in your boiler.

You should never attempt to do any complex servicing or repair work on the system yourself, please contact Greenstone for advice or to arrange an engineer visit.

Lavatories and baths that fail to drain quickly and efficiently may be symptomatic of a blocked drain or an overflowing inspection chamber or gully. It may seem obvious, but don’t empty any more water into the drains!

We should probably include the Scottish Water contact number too – 0845 600 8855

If you smell gas or suspect a gas leak:

Call the National Gas Emergency Service immediately on 0800 111 999 (Minicom or Textphone – 0800 371 787)

The National Gas Emergency Service will repair and fix the gas leak completely free of charge if it’s found to be external to your property (including the gas meter). If the gas leak is internal, it will then be your responsibility to have the leak repaired. Please contact Greenstone Energy to arrange for a qualified gas safe registered engineer to attend.

Please note the following precautions when dealing with the suspected gas leak:

• If you’re calling from a mobile phone, go outside first or call from a neighbour’s property
• Don’t turn electrical or light switches off or on
• Don’t smoke or do anything to create a spark
• Turn off the gas supply at the meter (as long as you don’t have to switch on a light to find it)
• Open doors and windows
• Wait outside for the emergency person to arrive

Pipework that is located in unheated areas should be well insulated, particularly in unheated spaces (lofts, under floors, in outbuildings and garages). It is important that you know where your stopcock is so that it can be turned off immediately if the pipes freeze and cause a burst. In freezing weather conditions try to keep the temperature above zero in your home by keeping the heating on if possible and using the thermostat at night to prevent the temperature dropping to freezing.

Please contact Greenstone for advice or to arrange an engineer visit.