Power cuts and gas boilers

AliceW

I have an Ideal Logic+Combi 30 boiler and it's working fine. But I've suddenly realised that if we were to have a power cut I wouldn't know what to do about the boiler.

If the boiler is on at the time the power goes off should I switch it off at the electrical wall socket,  or just turn the wall thermostat dial to continuous off?

daivid

The boiler will be off as the power is off. Depending on how long the power is off and the thermostat you have, you may need to reset when power returns. Last winter we had several power cuts - thankfully short and most at night without me noticing - the boiler was fine.

Section62

AliceW said:

If the boiler is on at the time the power goes off should I switch it off at the electrical wall socket...

Personally, if there was a power cut I would disconnect the boiler from the mains supply - either by unplugging it if connected using a 13A socket, or else switching off at the double pole isolator (if fitted).

When the mains supply is restored there is a risk of it being low quality and/or going back off again soon after.

Modern complex boilers have a habit of blowing circuit boards if the power supply is faulty - which can be an expensive repair or mean the boiler has to be replaced.

I'd rather isolate the mains supply to the boiler until I'm reasonably comfortable the power is back on and staying on.

Different views are likely to be given others.

ThisIsWeird

Or, just ignore it. Like every other appliance.
It goes off. It comes back on.

EssexExile

ThisIsWeird said:

Or, just ignore it. Like every other appliance.
It goes off. It comes back on.

That's always worked for me. Although there is a chance of an overheat cut out operating when the pump stops suddenly, but luckily I know where the reset is!

TELLIT01

It's not something I'd ever considered.  We've had numerous power cuts over the years and the boiler has always come back on.

Albermarle

TELLIT01 said:

It's not something I'd ever considered.  We've had numerous power cuts over the years and the boiler has always come back on.

Same here.

FreeBear

Section62 said:

AliceW said:

If the boiler is on at the time the power goes off should I switch it off at the electrical wall socket...

Personally, if there was a power cut I would disconnect the boiler from the mains supply - either by unplugging it if connected using a 13A socket, or else switching off at the double pole isolator (if fitted).

Most (all ?) boiler installation manuals specify hard wired to a fused switched unit. There was a poster a while back with a boiler that Worcester Bosch initially declined to repair under warranty. One of the reasons given was that it was on a plug & socket. Quite possible other manufacturers would use the same excuse to evade a warranty claim.

35har1old

AliceW said:

I have an Ideal Logic+Combi 30 boiler and it's working fine. But I've suddenly realised that if we were to have a power cut I wouldn't know what to do about the boiler.

If the boiler is on at the time the power goes off should I switch it off at the electrical wall socket,  or just turn the wall thermostat dial to continuous off?

If you think it necessary to isolate the boiler
What about the fridge freezer smart tvs and burglar alarms

ThisIsWeird

AliceW said:

I have an Ideal Logic+Combi 30 boiler and it's working fine. But I've suddenly realised that if we were to have a power cut I wouldn't know what to do about the boiler.

If the boiler is on at the time the power goes off should I switch it off at the electrical wall socket,  or just turn the wall thermostat dial to continuous off?

Hi Alice.

Turning it 'off' at the wall thermostat won't protect the boiler from electrical spikes and power surges; only switching it off at its isolating switch will do that. 

So, absolute best practice would be to do this, because there will be a very small risk that the resumption of power will be 'dirty', 'spiky', & 'surgy', and carry a teeny-tiny risk that this could damage the boiler's PCB if it's still connected.

Most folk - including me - wouldn't bother, tho', or have ever done this. Simply never occurred to me to do so. And, given the very small risk involved, it's unlikely I'll remember to do so the next time we have an outage. 

Spinybif

If you have your consumer unit upgraded to latest regs I believe there is spike protection built in so avoiding any problems when power comes back on