# Help With Your Radiators This Winter



## Peasant

I've read things saying you should put aluminum foil on the wall behind a radiator to reflect the heat into the room and increase its efficiency.
I had another idea yesterday that might make things a bit easier.
Photographers have had these collapsible reflectors for decades that sort-of work like the collapsible/pop-up tents you see around.
Put it between the radiator and the wall with a shiny side toward the radiator.
I bought one of them (an example being Walimex pro Fold. Reflector gd/si 102x168) and it should be here tomorrow.
You can go to Amazon and search "photo reflectors" and find a lot of various sizes and prices. Find one that fits your need.
In the spring just collapse it, put in in its bag, and save it for next winter.


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## Clic Clac

And you can take a photo of your radiator at the same time.  😊

I've just this minute been fighting with our upstairs radiators.
Stone-cold, so 'two minutes to bleed them', said I. Two days later ...

They're the 'new' hot water convector radiators (not sure how long they've been around;
didn't even know that's what they were until Saturday).

Whereas the old ones got hot from the bottom, and you could quickly bleed the air out, and feel the heat rising until the water started to leak out.
These feed in from the left, and the internal pipework must go 'up & down' as they start to heat up from the left, but only very slowly.

Is there a different 'trick' to bleeding them?


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## Clic Clac

p.s. I want some of the heat to go into our walls.
We had a very wet, but not cold, November. We had been rationing the logs and I just noticed last week that there are damp patches on our inside walls,
just below the windows.
It's obviously down to the rain getting under the window units in some places.
I'm rushing to dry these walls before any wet weather returns, luckily it is cold and dry all this week.


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## BackinFrance

Clic Clac said:


> And you can take a photo of your radiator at the same time.  😊
> 
> I've just this minute been fighting with our upstairs radiators.
> Stone-cold, so 'two minutes to bleed them', said I. Two days later ...
> 
> They're the 'new' hot water convector radiators (not sure how long they've been around;
> didn't even know that's what they were until Saturday).
> 
> Whereas the old ones got hot from the bottom, and you could quickly bleed the air out, and feel the heat rising until the water started to leak out.
> These feed in from the left, and the internal pipework must go 'up & down' as they start to heat up from the left, but only very slowly.
> 
> Is there a different 'trick' to bleeding them?


You may need to call in a plumber to sort this out.


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## BackinFrance

Clic Clac said:


> p.s. I want some of the heat to go into our walls.
> We had a very wet, but not cold, November. We had been rationing the logs and I just noticed last week that there are damp patches on our inside walls,
> just below the windows.
> It's obviously down to the rain getting under the window units in some places.
> I'm rushing to dry these walls before any wet weather returns, luckily it is cold and dry all this week.


If you are renting your landlord is responsible for leaking windows. (Also, it is highly unlikely that the walls will dry out naturally if the weather is very cold.)


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## rynd2it

Clic Clac said:


> And you can take a photo of your radiator at the same time.  😊
> 
> I've just this minute been fighting with our upstairs radiators.
> Stone-cold, so 'two minutes to bleed them', said I. Two days later ...
> 
> They're the 'new' hot water convector radiators (not sure how long they've been around;
> didn't even know that's what they were until Saturday).
> 
> Whereas the old ones got hot from the bottom, and you could quickly bleed the air out, and feel the heat rising until the water started to leak out.
> These feed in from the left, and the internal pipework must go 'up & down' as they start to heat up from the left, but only very slowly.
> 
> Is there a different 'trick' to bleeding them?


Our old cast iron radiators are fed from the top and exit from the opposite side bottom. Makes no sense to me but they do work. I have noticed that the two new (modern steel) ones although plumbed the same way seem reluctant to heat fully right across the radiator. 
However, I've not had any issues with bleeding air out - the valve is at the top opposite the feed, so if yours are not bleeding properly you may need to call the plumber


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## Clic Clac

BackinFrance said:


> If you are renting your landlord is responsible for leaking windows. (Also, it is highly unlikely that the walls will dry out naturally if the weather is very cold.)


The walls are much better after five days of heat (two with the windows open ).
I'll close all the shutters next time we get a downfall.



rynd2it said:


> Our old cast iron radiators are fed from the top and exit from the opposite side bottom. Makes no sense to me but they do work. I have noticed that the two new (modern steel) ones although plumbed the same way seem reluctant to heat fully right across the radiator.
> However, I've not had any issues with bleeding air out - the valve is at the top opposite the feed, so if yours are not bleeding properly you may need to call the plumber


The two upstairs rads have both pipes coming from the left, feeding in from the top, out at the bottom.
I've got one rad hot right across, and the second one is a bit better.
Reading up it seems I should bleed them with the system cold, but I was thinking that I needed the pump to push the water through...

I'll try the second rad & the towel rail 'cold' in the morning.

Thanks all. Sorry to jump in Pheasy 😁


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## Poloss

rynd2it said:


> Our old cast iron radiators are fed from the top and exit from the opposite side bottom. Makes no sense to me but they do work.


Heat rises and colder water falls to the bottom - when your bottom outlet pipe is warm/hot that means your circuit is working. The Gulf Stream behaves the same way ... for the moment


Clic Clac said:


> The two upstairs rads have both pipes coming from the left, feeding in from the top, out at the bottom.
> I've got one rad hot right across, and the second one is a bit better.
> Reading up it seems I should bleed them with the system cold, but I was thinking that I needed the pump to push the water through...


Only by having *pressure* in your circuit will you be able to bleed the air bubbles from your radiators C-C
Pressure is obtained by having the pump running and additionally by heat.
Of course if a radiator is blocked by air bubbles, the hot water won't be coming in.

Check your piping feeding in from the left - is it hot or warm just before the radiator?
Sometimes piping is hidden and you simply can't follow it with your fingers to feel where it's hot and where it's not.
One thing is sure, if your feeding-in circuit goes from hot to hardly warm at a certain point in the circuit,
that's where the problem is.

I've found that sometimes the regulator (big white thing you turn with numbers on it where the hot water goes in)
can be the problem; there's a possibility that the air bubble is right there and slightly unscrewing the piping just before can bleed it. 
Also it can be broken closed or jammed with lime deposite and no amount of bleeding makes any difference.
Then it's hell to unscrew it completely (blowtorch, spanners, blood, sweat and tears ...)

That's all I can propose, C-C, now I'm off to the kitchen to do spaghetti bolognaise


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## conky2

Poloss said:


> That's all I can propose, C-C, now I'm off to the kitchen to do spaghetti bolognaise


Please Poloss, a ragu bolognese should be served with any pasta BUT spaghetti .......


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## Poloss

conky2 said:


> Please Poloss, a ragu bolognese should be served with any pasta BUT spaghetti .......


I voted tagliatelle - I was outnumbered - madame's vote counts double


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## conky2

Ensure she reads this Poloss. I highly recommend this lady.....









How to make perfect bolognese


It’s a dish surrounded by heartfelt and conflicting advice – most recently from Mary Berry, who uses white wine and cream – but with no definitive recipe. How do you make bolognese sauce, and what do you serve it with?




www.theguardian.com


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## conky2

Sorry, back on topicish. Never try to run your radiators on bolognese sauce.


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## Clic Clac

Poloss said:


> *Only by having pressure in your circuit will you be able to bleed the air bubbles from your radiators C-C*
> 
> Pressure is obtained by having the pump running and additionally by heat.
> Of course if a radiator is blocked by air bubbles, the hot water won't be coming in.


Hi M.Polo.

That's what I thought - but the two sites I looked at both disagree :









How to Bleed A Radiator: A Step by Step guide


Find out here at Just Radiators how to bleed a radiator, including a step-by-step guide & why it’s an important part of radiator maintenance.




www.justradiators.co.uk







The guide on how to bleed a radiator



I'll try it 'cold' in the morning, otherwise I'll just keep plodding away.
They are starting to get there, but very slowly.


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## Clic Clac

Clic Clac said:


> I'll try it 'cold' in the morning, otherwise I'll just keep plodding away.


Well, it is certainly 'cold' this morning. 
Woke at 5am to find it was -6 deg so I had to light the log burner early.

I got a lot of air out of the second radiator, and nothing from the 3/4 cold towel rail...

Now I'm waiting. I bet Pheasy is waiting for the postie.

It's an exciting life we lead.


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## Poloss

Clic Clac said:


> 🇫🇷Hi M.Polo 🇫🇷
> That's what I thought - but the two sites I looked at both disagree
> I'll try it 'cold' in the morning, otherwise I'll just keep plodding away.
> They are starting to get there, but very slowly.


All the air that you're bleeding out must be replaced - so don't forget to top up the water in your circuit from the mains.


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## Clic Clac

Poloss said:


> All the air that you're bleeding out must be replaced - so don't forget to top up the water in your circuit from the mains.


I did wonder about that.
Apparently some of the modern systems are auto top-up.
Not sure where everything is on ours. It's a big boiler/log burner which heats up a 500 litre water tank, which may be the reason
why it takes ages for any of the rads to get hot.

I'll go and investigate in the boiler room.
It's turning into a full time job.


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## Poloss

Ah, if Boilerman was still among us he'd surely dispense valuable advice but he's left for his footy forum ...


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## BackinFrance

Clic Clac said:


> I did wonder about that.
> Apparently some of the modern systems are auto top-up.
> Not sure where everything is on ours. It's a big boiler/log burner which heats up a 500 litre water tank, which may be the reason
> why it takes ages for any of the rads to get hot.
> 
> I'll go and investigate in the boiler room.
> It's turning into a full time job.


Are you warm now?


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## Poloss

BackinFrance said:


> Are you warm now?


And still haunting ex-mme's house?


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## Clic Clac

BackinFrance said:


> Are you warm now?


Compared to last winter, yes, but I'm still not getting far with the rads.



Poloss said:


> And still haunting ex-mme's house?


Yes 👻 until after the Christmas hols.
Presuming the snow lifts, or the trains are running.

Just awaiting an interview then, hopefully, heading north-west.


Re the rads. I took a ton of air out of the towel-rail (10+ minutes), but still no joy.
No sign of anywhere around the burner/water tank to manually top up the water.
If it doesn't refill what will happen - anything worse than a drop in pump pressure?


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## Poloss

Clic Clac said:


> Re the rads. I took a ton of air out of the towel-rail (10+ minutes), but still no joy.
> No sign of anywhere around the burner/water tank to manually top up the water.
> If it doesn't refill what will happen - anything worse than a drop in pump pressure?


No danger just cold radiators ❄☃❄☃❄


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