How To Bleed Your Own Radiator

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Are you suffering from radiators that feel cold at the top with any warmth only settling around the bottom? Well, with just a little knowledge, there’s every possibility you’ll be able to tackle this problem yourself.

Of course, if you are worried about bleeding your own radiator so that it becomes warm all over, you should contact us and we’ll be pleased to visit and help you. Nevertheless, these few tips may help reduce your plumbing bills and provide you with instant warmth to your home.

You can save money by learning how to bleed your own radiators and while this is not an uncommon problem, you may have to tackle it regularly when you first turn your radiators on in October or November each year.

Quick results are possible

For many people, once you have found out how to bleed a radiator, you will understand that it isn’t a difficult task; it’s easy to carry out and it won’t take you very long.

You will be opening a very small valve that is attached to your radiator. This will allow any trapped air to escape so the space can be filled by warm water.

Your first task is to turn off your central heating system by using the main controls. What this does is prevent more air from going into your system to perpetuate the problem.

Locate the bleed valve

By using a bleed key, also known as a radiator key, you will need to attach it to the bleed valve. Where you don’t know what a bleed valve looks like, it’s a small protrusion at the top of one side of your radiator.

You should put a bucket under the bleed valve because water may come out of the hole at some stage. Some people choose to place a dry rag around the bleed valve as you open it to mop up the first signs of any water.

Any air that is trapped in your radiator will leak out with a small hissing sound as you turn the valve anticlockwise. The whole process will be cleaner if you turn the valve slightly and slowly, perhaps a quarter of a turn at a time, until the hissing sound is heard.

You will have released all of the air from the radiator when the first signs of water start to dribble out of the valve. That’s the time to turn the valve back to its original position, wipe up any water spills and your problem should be solved.

You should be cautious throughout this exercise as the water can be extremely hot and might burn you, especially when it comes out too quickly.

You can turn your central heating back on once you finish bleeding all of the radiators that required attention and when you check the surface of each radiator they should be heated evenly and the colder areas should have disappeared.

Where you still have a problem with your radiators after this short exercise, you can contact us and our plumber in Saffron Waldron, Braintree or anywhere else around the M11 will be pleased to visit you to find the source of the problem and solve it.