How to Clean a Heater Coil in a Boiler

The heating coils on a boiler are types of heat exchanger. The coils are exposed to the boilers heat source, either gas, oil, coal or wood, and pass on the heat from the fire to the water inside the coils. The hot water then heats the rest of your home. Over time, the coil gets a build up of soot and ash from the boiler's heat source. This makes the coil work less effectively at heating your home. Cleaning the heating coil once a year keeps it working well.

Vacuum
Cloth
Bucket

Instructions

- 1
  Turn off your boiler and turn off the gas line that runs to the boiler, if it's gas powered. Open the maintenance hatch.
- 2
  Locate the heating coil. It should be inside the boiler's firebox. The coil will be a metal tube or a series of metal tubes.
- 3
  Vacuum all the dust, soot and ash off of the heating coil with the brush attachment.
- 4
  Fill a bucket half full of warm water. Wet the cloth and scrub the outside of the heating coils with the cloth to remove all the burnt on ash and soot. Scrub the heating coil until it's clean. Rinse the cloth as often as you need to.
- 5
  Close the boiler's maintenance hatch and turn the boiler back on. Turn the gas to the boiler back on as well.

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