In an era where the cost of living has fluctuated so much in such a short space of time, most homeowners are doing what they can to lower their energy bills, and a huge part of that is making sure that they are not wasting energy in their heating system.
We can help with this by providing an annual full boiler service that identifies potential issues, ensures that your boiler is not running hotter and more energy-intensive than it needs to, and makes sure that there are no blockages or trapped air pockets in your system that could leave some of your rooms cold.
However, there are other ways in which you can help to cut down on your energy bills, but whilst a lot of homeowners take simple steps such as regularly bleeding their radiators, there are other ways to deal with the issue of hot and cold radiators.
Perhaps the most important tip to know about is radiator balancing, a tweak you can make to your radiators to ensure that they all heat up and cool down at the same rate.
How does it work? What can it fix? And can it help cut your energy bills?
What Is Radiator Balancing?
In an ideal world, your radiators should all heat up at the same rate. However, the way in which heat flows from your boiler around your central heating system means that the radiators closest to your boiler will have access to hot water first.
This can sometimes simply mean that the rooms closest to the boiler, such as the bathroom, kitchen or living room, depending on boiler location, will be slightly warmer, slightly more quickly.
However, if your boiler is not supplying enough hot water for the heating demand, it can leave some rooms feeling much colder.
Usually, this means that one radiator, typically one close to the boiler, has a more open lockshield valve than it needs, meaning that more hot water is flowing in and out of it than required.
Signs To Look Out For That Might Indicate A Need For Radiator Balancing
- Radiators do not heat up at the same time.
- Some radiators further from the boiler do not heat up at all.
- You need to open the valve and turn up the radiator heat to reach a comfortable temperature.
- Radiators do not heat up to the same temperature.
Step-By-Step Guide To Balancing Your Radiators
Radiator balancing can be a time-consuming process; in total, it will generally take about three hours between turning off the heating, making the adjustments and turning it back on.
However, it is also a simple, safe process that anyone with a screwdriver and a lockshield valve key (or adjustable spanner) can do themselves.
If you do not want to deal with it yourself, it may be worth asking your plumber or gas engineer about radiator balancing during your next service.
Step One: Turn Off Your Heating
The first step is to turn your heating system off, either via a switch near the boiler or using your smart thermometer to put it into an anti-frost setting. In order to test the balance of your heating system, all of your radiators have to be cold.
This can be a good opportunity to bleed your radiators if you have not done so recently. Removing the trapped air from your radiators can also help to reduce strain on your boiler, make them more efficient and ultimately save you money.
Step Two: Open All Temperature Valves To The Highest Setting
Once the heating system is cold, open each thermostatic radiator valve (TRV) to its highest setting. The TRV is the valve that affects how hot each radiator gets, so for a proper test, all of them need to be set to the same setting.
As well as this, open each lockshield valve by removing the plastic cap and any screws holding the cap in place, before using an adjustable screwdriver to turn it anti-clockwise. Do this for all of your radiators.
Step Three: Rank How Long Each Radiator Takes To Get Warm
Once your radiators are ready, turn your heating system back on and check how long it takes for your radiators to warm up. Sometimes it can help to have other people check the upstairs and downstairs radiators if you have a large house.
Rank them in order and make a quick note of these. Once you have that running order, turn off your heating system and let the radiators cool down again.
Step Four: Tweak Lockshield Valves
Once you have your rankings, go to the radiator which warms up quickest (usually the one closest to the boiler) and close the lockshield valve completely by turning it clockwise. Next, open it a quarter-turn to create a baseline.
Then go to the next-fastest and open it slightly more, and so on until you get to the coolest. This should ideally ensure that they heat up at the same rate.
Can Radiator Balancing Save You Money?
In many cases, balancing the radiator helps the heating system work efficiently, reducing the cost to keep warm.
However, if you are still struggling with cold radiators, it could be that the boiler is no longer powerful enough to heat the entire system.