Boiler Pressure Too High - Why it Matters if There is Too Much Pressure in a Boiler

If your boiler pressure is too high, it will not work effectively. Similarly, if the boiler pressure is too low, you will struggle to fuel your central heating and hot water. The ideal boiler pressure is usually within a narrow range and anything higher or lower is generally cause for concern. Keep reading to find out what happens if the boiler pressure is too high or low and how to release pressure in a boiler.

Running the boiler pressure too high can lead to it shutting down to conserve itself, or to some of the parts failing, which means you will need to buy a replacement. If the boiler pressure is too high and leaking is occuring, the chances are you will need to call a qualified gas engineer to look at the device. In this situation, you might need to replace the worn parts or even install a new boiler.

What is Boiler Pressure and What Happens if the Boiler Pressure is Too High?

What happens if the boiler pressure is too high is that the system comes under excess strain and is at risk of breaking down. Boiler pressure is used to pump the hot water around your home, into your radiators and to your taps and showers. The combination of water and air needs to be just right to fulfill the requirements of your boiler, but not so high that it causes damage. If your gas boiler pressure is too low, the unit will usually cut out, and many models also do the same when the boiler pressure is too high.

Your ideal boiler pressure will usually be between 1 and 1.5 bar. You can find the current reading on your boiler pressure gauge and that will let you know if there is too much pressure in the boiler. Most gauges show the perfect range for boiler pressure so you can easily see whether the unit is working properly. If the reading is below 1 bar, you are losing pressure and need to work out why. If the boiler pressure gauge is reading 2.5 bar or more, it is too high and also needs fixing.

You might find that the boiler pressure rises when the heating is on. This is not necessarily a fault. It is perfectly normal for the pressure to rise by around 1 bar due to water expansion as the water is heated in your central heating system. However, increasing by any more than one bar means your boiler pressure is too high and there could be a fault. Potential causes are a faulty pressure release valve or expansion vessel.

How to Reduce Boiler Pressure

To work out how to reduce boiler pressure, you need to work out why the boiler pressure is too high. If it is due to a malfunction in one of the parts, you might be able to diagnose and even fix this yourself.

Take a look a the filling loop under the boiler, which is a flexible metallic pipe. It should feature one or two black taps, and you may have used these to add water to the device when the boiler pressure was too low. Check that the taps are fully turned off. If they are open, even slightly, they could be the culprit. Turning them off will therefore reduce the boiler pressure.

The pressure release valve is there to discharge water when you have boiler overpressure problems. This brings the pressure back to the normal range. However, if the valve is leaking, you may have found the reason for the boiler pressure issue.

Another way to lower high pressure in the boiler is to bleed your radiators. You may have too much water in your central heating system and turning the valve on the side of the radiator with a radiator key will release some of that water. This should reduce your boiler pressure and, when you have bled them all, you will hopefully find that your boiler pressure gauge is back in the ideal zone.

If these tips don’t work, you need to call a professional gas engineer. Clever Energy Boilers runs a 24-hour-a-day breakdown and repair service and you can contact us on 0330 055 2210.

What to Do if the Boiler Pressure is Too High and Leaking is Happening?

What happens when the boiler pressure is too high is that the system comes under unnecessary strain. This often means that the parts in the boiler become worn down by the high boiler pressure and seals and pipes crack, allowing water to leak out of the bottom.

If your boiler pressure is too high and leaking is occuring, it could be that the pressure release valve is under strain to get rid of some of the water causing the problem before too much damage is caused. This may be because of too much water in the system. It could also be that there is a build up of limescale or some other obstruction in the pipework that increases the pressure and breaks the seals.

When the boiler is leaking, you need to call in a professional immediately. Otherwise you could risk other parts of the boiler developing rust and it might even short the electrical components. Boiler overpressure problems can lead to leaking so make sure you contact Clever Energy Boilers to come out and reduce your boiler pressure and fix the issue on your behalf. NEW!!! Need a new combi boiler

Is High Boiler Pressure Dangerous?

Many people ask ‘is high boiler pressure dangerous’ and the answer is ‘not necessarily’. Modern boilers are built to be as safe as possible thanks to great technological advances. This means that they will shut down automatically if the pressure becomes too high. If they were left to keep building pressure, this would be a concern, but these safety features are now built in.

That said, if there is too much pressure in a boiler, it could cause damage to the internal components and leave you with an expensive repair job. You might even have to replace your boiler depending on its age and the viability of replacing the parts affected.

It is always sensible to call in trained, Gas Safe engineers to take a look at your high pressure boiler if simple fixes like bleeding radiators and checking the taps on the filling loop under the boiler don’t work. At Clever Energy Boilers, our professional engineers are used to working with boilers from all of the main manufacturers in the UK and have performed fixes for a wide range of happy customers across the country over the years.