How to check radiator efficiency

Now the weather is starting to get cold and temperatures are starting to plummet soon it will be below freezing at night. It’s time to make sure you are getting an efficient amount of heat from your radiators.

Do you have air in your radiator?

A quick and easy way to check if your radiators have any air in, is to place your hand on or near the radiator (careful don’t burn yourself) and check for any cold spots. If you feel a difference in temperatures, you will need to consider bleeding your radiator to allow any air to escape.

To do this, place a radiator key or small screwdriver into the radiator bleeding valve, turn the valve to the left to open the valve. You will hear air rushing out. For best practise, place a cloth or rag over the valve to stop water rushing out which will help prevent spilling. When water starts to pour out of the bleed valve, you will then know that all air is out of that one radiator

You should go round the full system and bleed each radiator individually starting at the radiator furthest away from your boiler.

Is your radiator in the correct position?

Generally, you will find most radiators are located underneath windows. You need to be careful with positioning of the radiator not to block heat emitting from the top with draped over the radiator. This would cause heat to be pushed into the window void behind your curtains cooling the hot air against the cold glass. For better results, fit foil behind your radiators when fitting them, this will push the heat away from the window and into the room.

Is your heating system old?

An old heating system can affect the output of heat from your radiators due to insufficient controls. The reason for this, is the valves will become corroded if the system hasn’t been flushed and maintained causing them to fail or breakdown. If the radiator sensor are old, it will have an impact on the regulation of hot water flow.

You will also need to look at the boiler controls, are these maybe out dated and preventing you from controlling your boiler in an efficient way. Look at upgrading your radiator thermostats and boiler controls so you have full up to date control over your full heating system.

Adding or renewing your radiators, is it possible?

If you have tried all of our other suggestions and your rooms are still cold, you may want to look into replacing or adding additional radiators in those cold rooms. Before taking this step, make sure you have done the above. If you have discovered any issues. You will then need to check with a heating engineer to see if your boiler has the capacity to serve extra heat emitters. When purchasing a new radiator you need to look at what BTU’s it pushes out instead of size. Modern radiators on the market today are now designed with efficiency in mind as well as being compact in size.

We hope by answering the above questions and carrying out what we have advised has helped you discover any issues with your boiler. If you need further help, one of our helpful heating engineers www.southernhvac.co.uk/plumbing can be of service.