How To Bleed a Radiator

After a summer of inactivity radiators often fail to provide the heat they should. If your radiators are warm at the base and cool at the top, you need to bleed your radiator.  Occasionally air gets trapped inside keeping the hot water from providing the heat throughout.

Bleeding a radiator is easy to do, all you’ll need is a radiator key and a piece of tissue/cloth.

1. Locate the radiator value
2. Place the tissue/cloth just below the valve
3. Open the value with a quarter turn anti-clockwise
4. Wait until water drips on the cloth; the air is now out
5. Turn the key clockwise to close

It is worth checking periodically if your radiators need bleeding, simply feel for a difference in heat between the top and the bottom when the heating is switched on.  If there’s a difference you know what to do.

After bleeding the radiator is cold

If you have thermostatic radiator valves and you find that one radiator is completely cold when the rest of your radiators are on, it could be that the pin on the radiator valve has become stuck.

Unscrew the head of the valve with the temperature controls - you should be able to do this by hand.  Once removed you will see a small pin, take a pin-head hammer and give the pin a small tap which should release the blockage and let water into the radiator.  You may be able to hear the water entering the radiator, wait a few minutes and the radiator should start heating up.

If you radiator is still not warming up contact your local London Plumber.  Affleck’s friendly and qualified plumbers are available 24 hours a day on 0800 316 9595 / 020 8059 8113.