Help Guides: FAQs

If you’re feeling the cold in your home, it could be because you have air in your radiator system. You can check your radiators by carefully touching them while they are on to see if they are cold in places, particularly near the top, which will mean that they need bleeding. 

Here’s what you should do:

• After switching the heating off and waiting for the system to cool, make sure you have a radiator vent key and towel at the ready. 
• Use the radiator vent key by turning it anti-clockwise to open the valve, making sure the towel is behind the radiator just in case it sprays hot water. 
• Once you’ve finished, turn the key clockwise to close the valve.

The next step is to check the pressure gauge on your system and make sure it is between 1-1.5 bar. If it’s not within this range, fill the boiler up with the filling loop, which is usually located under the boiler (if you have a heat or system boiler, it may be near your cylinder).

If you have too much pressure in your system, you can reduce the pressure by bleeding the radiators with a bucket to reduce the amount of water in the system. This is important because it prevents the pressure relief valve blowing open due to an excess amount of built-up pressure.

If you’re spending some time away from home this winter and aren’t sure what to do with your boiler, we’ve got you covered.

The simple answer is to always keep your boiler running when you’re away, because in the event of very cold temperatures your pipes can freeze up outside. The best thing to do is to lower the temperature on your thermostat so that there won’t be as much of a demand. 

There’s no need to worry about the boiler operating unattended. Any boiler installed after 1996 must be fitted with a safety mechanism that shuts down if there are any major faults with the boiler. Leaving your boiler on standby mode can also reduce the risk of parts seizing up inside it, which is another reason why you shouldn’t simply switch it off.

If you have a Halo Combi Wi-Fi thermostat, you can access an easy-to-use holiday mode which allows you to switch off your preset heating schedule for however long you’ll be away from home.

User guides for our current programmers can be found under the literature section of our website in PDF format. They explain how to set times, temperatures and alternative functions.

Any controls that work on 240 Vac can be used alongside our current range of boilers. The Logic and Vogue range can also be controlled by OpenTherm technology. For more information regarding this you can contact our customer services team on 01482 498660.

There is a tool available on our website which gives you a guide on what boiler would be best suit for your home. It asks for brief information on your home and then generates suggestions based on your input.

These are available to download in the form of a PDF file from our website free of charge. These can be found here.

A condensing boiler is a high efficiency boiler which runs at a lower temperature than older, traditional style boilers. It recovers energy through, what is termed, 'Latent Heat'. When the burned fuel products cool they turn in to a liquid and create condensation. 

• A Combi boiler provides both heating and hot water instantly. 
• A system boiler is designed to work with a cylinder to provide hot water as it does not have the hot water heat exchanger. It contains an expansion vessel and pump allowing the boiler to be installed in a sealed system. 
• A Heat only boiler is the simplest type of boiler. It can be used on either an open vented system, which has a tank in the loft, or in a sealed system with the addition of an external pump and expansion vessel. Hot water is provided by using a cylinder.

Pluming is the effect seen from the flue on modern condensing boilers, it appears as a white "steam like" discharge from the flue. It’s a result of modern high efficiency boilers running at a cooler temperature than older, less efficient boilers did. It is safe however, there are a range of flue additions to remove the plume from the area. For further advice on this please either speak to your installer or call our Customer Services department on 01482 498660.

‘Pre-heat’ is a function that is designed to provide you with instant hot water when required. It works by infrequently heating the plate heat exchanger so that when hot water is requested it is already heated. This feature is not compulsory however, if not selected can take a few minutes before the hot water is at the appropriate temperature.

When ‘0’ is displayed on the boiler screen it means the boiler is on standby. This means the boiler is not receiving a demand from either the hot water or central heating. Still need further guidance with your Ideal boiler? Why

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When 'D' is displayed on your boiler screen it means your boiler has fired up for a hot water demand. Still need further guidance with your Ideal boiler? Why not browse our boiler help guides or call our Technical Support team

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When 'C' is displayed on your boiler screen it means the boiler has a central heating demand. Still need further guidance with your Ideal boiler? Why not browse our boiler help guides or call our Technical Support team on 01482 498663?

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If you need to find out how old your boiler is you can check within the installation manual; your installer will have completed the Benchmark Certificate that can be found here.  If this is not available, the age of your boiler

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The serial number is displayed on a barcoded sticker located at the top of the boiler. Alternatively, it should be present on the Benchmark certificate completed by the installer when the boiler was fitted. If you require further assistance please contact our Customer Services department on 01482 498660.

This means there is a problem with the return. To reset this turn the boiler off at the wall (fuse spur) for a couple of seconds then back on again. If the boiler fails to operate then please contact Ideal or alternatively a Gas Safe Registered Engineer if outside of the warranty period.

On the older range of Ideal boilers, you can reset your boiler to remove the service message by holding the mode dial in the reset position for 3 seconds. For the newer range of Ideal boilers, such as Logic+ and Vogue,

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The answer to this depends upon how your boiler is used, it does require servicing at annually, which for the vast majority of installations is fine, if you have a boiler installed or used for an unusual application which means the boiler is operating more than expected it may require servicing more frequently, but for normal use annual servicing is sufficient.

If you’re unable to receive hot water from your boiler, there are two different methods to follow depending on the type of boiler you own. Combi Boilers: On an Ideal combi boiler you should firstly check that the hot water temperature is

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