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About the author Adam Adam is our resident home heating expert. If you touch the top section of your radiator, does it feel cooler than the bottom half?
This means your heating system is working inefficiently. A radiator bleed key — used to open up the radiator vent valve available from most hardware stores. Before bleeding, you first need to turn the heating on so that all the radiators warm up. This builds pressure in your radiator that will push the unwanted air out. What are the signs that the radiator needs bleeding? If you can hear gurgling sounds, the radiator takes a long time to heat up or there are cold spots then it is likely there is trapped air.
This is preventing the hot water from filling the radiator; you will need to bleed that radiator. Remember: The radiators will be hot, so take extra care with this step. We advise wearing a pair of thin gloves so you do not burn yourself. Do not forget : You need to switch off your central heating before you bleed a radiator. Water may be discoloured when bleeding an old radiator, by putting old towels down you can save a cleaning job later, especially if you have light carpets!
Often the bleed valve or nipple is found at the top of the radiator, to the side. It looks like a round hole with a square inside. When you insert the radiator key into the bleed valve, you will feel them lock together. Be careful, the escaping air could be hot, keep sufficient distance. Tip: If you do not have a radiator vent key it is sometimes possible to use a flat-headed screwdriver on modern radiators.
A quarter to half a turn will be enough, never open the valve fully because once you bleed air from the radiator water will come rushing out. Continue this process, holding the radiator bleed key until the air stops coming out. When only water is dripping from your radiator, then you have completed the bleeding process. Turning the bleed valve clockwise will seal the radiator; take care not to over tighten. Turn your bleed valve key with care, and be prepared to quickly close the bleed valve.
You will need to bleed all the radiators in your property. We suggest starting on the ground floor and working your way up your property because the air rises through the system. Once you have completed the task of bleeding all your radiators, you will need to re-pressurise your heating system. When you bleed a boiler heating system you always lose some water. If the water pressure in your system is correct, the needle gauge on your boiler will be facing green.
It looks like a tap and is connected to your main water supply; for reference, the pressure in a typical family home is usually between 1. Always turn the tap and slowly adjust the pressure. But why do you bleed radiators? Trapped air in a radiator can result in it having cold patches even when turned up full, taking considerably longer to heat the area around it and even not heating up at all, as it blocks the hot water from reaching all areas of the appliance.
All result in sub-par heating performance, higher-costing energy bills and eventually, the requirement for a whole new radiator to be purchased as it may no longer function. As such, when incorporating the job into a household routine, people often wonder which radiator to bleed first and whether or not you should bleed radiators in a certain order. If you are bleeding more than one radiator at a time, ensure your central heating is fully switched off before proceeding.
In a standard house with more than one floor, the first radiator to bleed should be the radiator downstairs on the lowest floor and the furthest away from the boiler. Then, work closer toward the boiler before moving up to other floors of the home and repeating the same pattern.
In a bungalow, flat or apartment with just one floor, start by bleeding the radiator furthest away from the boiler and then work through to the closest. If bleeding just one, simply turn that radiator off individually and wait for it to cool. In order to avoid radiators developing an obvious fault because of trapped air, and then bleeding it to resolve the issue, you can build a full-home radiator bleeding session into an annual routine.
If you get a particularly warm day in spring, use the opportunity when the radiators are all off to bleed all of them. Bleeding radiators as part of annual routine maintenance can help avoid issues happening and prolong the longevity of your radiators.
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