Know what to check before you pay for a call-out.

Boiler pressure dropped? One radiator stone cold? Red light on a frosty morning? Most of the time it's something simple. This book shows you what to look at, what you can safely do yourself, and what you must leave to a Gas Safe engineer.

£29.99 one-off, instant PDF download

Get “Before You Call the Engineer”

Large print, plain English, step by step
Written for UK homes: combis, system and regular boilers
Seven printable checklists and logs

Cover of Before You Call the Engineer by Ken Butterworth

Sound familiar?

The pressure keeps dropping

You top it up, and a week later it's back on the floor. Chapter 3 shows you how to read the gauge, top it up properly, and work out why it's falling.

One radiator never warms up

Cold at the top, cold at the bottom, or cold all over? Each one means something different. Chapter 4 walks you through them.

No heating on a freezing morning

Before you ring anyone, there are simple checks: power, gas, settings, pressure and that little frozen pipe outside. Chapter 5 has them in order.

A quote you don't understand

Power flush, new boiler, "it's your pump". Chapter 8 gives you the questions to ask so you can decide with your eyes open.

A note from Ken

Now then. I'm Ken. I started my apprenticeship in 1970 under a gaffer called Old Stan, and I spent the next fifty-odd years fitting and fixing boilers around Bolton and Wigan.

The thing that bothered me most in all those years was people paying a call-out charge for something they could have sorted themselves in two minutes. A timer that had gone back an hour. Pressure that needed a top-up. A frozen pipe that just needed warm water.

And sometimes it went the other way. People had a go at things they should never have touched.

So this book is about knowing the difference. What to check first, what you can safely do, and the point where you put the kettle on and ring a Gas Safe engineer.

As Old Stan used to say: check the simple things first. The boiler's usually innocent.

Ken

What's inside

How your heating actually worksCombi, system or regular boiler, and how to tell which one you've got. Every part named in plain words.
Safety and the law, in plain wordsWhat you're allowed to do, what you must never touch, carbon monoxide, and what to do if you smell gas.
Boiler pressureReading the gauge, topping up step by step, and why it keeps dropping or creeping too high.
RadiatorsBleeding, balancing, cold spots, noises and what the numbers on the valves mean.
No heating or no hot water: the checks before you ringA simple order of checks, plus a table of symptoms, likely causes and when to call.
Controls and settings that save moneyThermostats, timers, valves and flow temperature, and the honest answer on "leave it on low all day".
Winter-proofing and emergenciesFrost settings, frozen and burst pipes, finding your stopcock and what to do in a power cut.
Getting work done without being ripped offWhat a proper service includes, checking an engineer, getting quotes, and repair or replace.
Ken's printable toolsMy Boiler Card, Pressure Log, Before-You-Call Checklist, Radiator Fault Finder, Winter Checklist, Questions to Ask an Engineer and a Service Record.

A look inside

Sample page from the book — Step-by-step checks

This book is for you if

You want to understand your own heating without the jargon
You're tired of paying call-outs for simple things
You live alone and want to know what to do when it stops
You want to ask an engineer the right questions
You'd like a warm house without wasting money

It is not

A repair manual for the inside of your boiler
A guide to doing gas work yourself
A replacement for your boiler's own instructions
Written for homes outside the UK

Ken's rule: anything to do with gas, or anything inside the boiler's casing, is a job for a Gas Safe registered engineer. The book tells you exactly where that line is.

Questions

What do I get?

A large-print PDF book with nine chapters and seven printable checklists and logs. You can read it on a tablet, phone or computer, or print the pages you need.

How do I get it?

Checkout is through Gumroad. Once you've paid, your download link appears straight away and is emailed to you.

Will it tell me to take my boiler apart?

No. It covers the checks and jobs a householder can safely do, like reading the pressure, topping it up, bleeding a radiator and thawing a frozen condensate pipe. Anything to do with gas or inside the casing is left to a Gas Safe engineer.

Is it for my type of boiler?

It covers the gas boilers found in most UK homes: combi, system and regular (heat-only) boilers. There are short notes on oil, LPG and storage heaters. Your boiler's own manual always has the final word on settings and pressures.

Is Ken a real person?

Ken Butterworth is a fictional presenter. The heating information in the book is real and has been checked against UK sources at the time of writing.

I have a question about my order.

Reply to your Gumroad receipt email and it will reach us.