Home » Radiators

When it comes to heating your home radiators play a vital role, and maximising their efficiency is important. It’s good practice to give your radiators a once over when you turn your heating system back on after summer, or give them a yearly MOT like you would like a car. 

Clean your radiators 

Keeping your radiators clean may seem like a no-brainer, as it’s not uncommon to give your radiators a quick once over when cleaning but it’s important to get into the centre panels when cleaning also. Dust that builds up on the inside of your radiators can stop the heat escaping. The build up causes an insulating layer that stops heat escaping, which makes your radiators work less efficiently and cost you more money. 

You can use feather dusters, radiator cleaning brushes or a hair dryer to remove the dust from the fins. 

The hair dryer hack 

1. Place an old sheet or towel below the radiator to collect falling dust. 
2. Set the hair dryer to the coolest setting and point the nozzle of the hair dryer down the back of the radiator (the space between the wall and the radiator).
3. Turn the hair dryer on to force out the dust. 
4. Once clean, pick up your sheet or towel and shade the dust off outside. 

Don’t block your radiators 

Whether it’s a sofa, curtains or a radiator cover, blocking your radiators is sure to limit their performance. Radiator covers and furniture can prevent TRV’s from getting accurate temperature readings. Warm air heated by the radiator can get trapped and the TRV can read this as a higher temperature, therefore it would be best practice to not block radiators. 

You can read more about insulation behind your radiators here.

Bleed your radiators

It’s common practice to bleed radiators once a year. Ideally it should be done when it starts to get colder, and before the heating system is in regular use again. Even if you feel your radiators seem to be working fine and you don’t have any evident issues, routinely bleeding them will help with efficiency and mean that you’re not spending any extra money on heating in the long run. 

How to know if your radiator needs bleeding? 

• Your radiators take longer than normal to heat up.
• Don’t seem to be getting as warm as they should – they are colder at the top and warmer at the bottom. 
• Are making gurgling noises. 

Bleeding a radiator can be a simple and straightforward task, however if you are unsure please speak with a professional. 

You can watch this short video here which shows how to bleed a radiator.

Balancing, flushing and checking your boiler pressure

Ensuring your heating system is well balanced is vital to optimise your heating, you can read this guide here or consult a professional.

Share this article