How to bleed radiators and why it is important
Bleeding your radiators in your home is recommended once a year even if your radiators are working properly. The recommended time to do this is around autumn time, so you can ensure your system is working correctly just before the temperature drops in wintertime and you start to use your central heating a lot more.
However, you will know if you need to bleed your radiators if it is cold at the top but still warm at the bottom. This indicates that they have air trapped inside them. Having air trapped inside the radiator stops warm air circulating around causing patches to go cold meaning they are not radiating enough heat. You may also need to let trapped air out if your radiators are making banging, clanking and gurgling noises. When your radiators need bleeding, it means your central heating system isn’t working to its best ability resulting in the rooms of the property taking longer to heat up and can also cost you money as your bills can be higher. By bleeding your radiators, it will let the trapped air escape and allow the hot water to circulate again.
Bleeding your radiators in your home is a very quick and easy task for anyone to do. All you will need to do this is a radiator key and a cloth to catch any water which may drip. Make sure to start with the furthest one away from the boiler in the downstairs of your home and then go on to repeat the process upstairs.
- First, ensure your heating is turned off as you can not bleed a radiator when the heating is turned on as it may be too hot to touch, and you may also get hot water spray out at you. It is important to make sure all radiators are cold before starting the process.
- Next, hold your cloth or a jug under the bleed valve at the top of the radiator and use your radiator key to slowly turn the valve anticlockwise. You should hear a hissing noise; this is just the air trapped inside the radiator being released. Use your cloth or jug to catch any water that comes out.
- When the hissing sounds stops and only water is coming out this is when you need to retighten the valve. To retighten the valve turn it clockwise, ensure this is done quickly to prevent took much water escaping.
- Repeat on all other radiators, working your way back towards the boiler.
- After all radiators are done you can then turn your central heating back on checking all radiators are now working effectively.
- Finally, ensure you check the pressure on your boiler by looking at the pressure gauge. Sometimes when bleeding your radiators, it can cause the pressure on the boiler to drop. If the pressure has dropped and appears too low, all you will need to do is re-pressurise the system by topping the pressure up, this can be done using the lever or tap on your boiler. After following all the steps provided your home should quickly start to warm up again and all radiators should be hot again.
