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What is balancing radiators?

All heating systems - particularly two-storey systems - need to be balanced. To balance a heating system simply means to distribute the flow from the boiler and the pump throughout all the radiators in your home. Balancing radiators can be carried out by redirecting the heat in your radiators to flow around each radiator, as opposed to just one and then back to the boiler. Sound complicated? Let’s break it down before we dive into the step-by-step process of balancing radiators...

How does a heating system work?

Before you can balance your radiator, you need to have a sound understanding of exactly how heat flows through your house. The diagram below shows how heat moves around your home.

The heat that warms your radiators and water comes from your boiler, where, through the pump, it passes through the diverting valve, which is where the heat goes in one of two directions. One side leads to your hot water tank - where you get your source of hot water for things like showers and washing up. The other side leads to your radiators, allowing you to have heat in all areas of your home.

For simplicity, we’ve only included two radiators on each floor, but of course, in reality, a home may have a radiator in every room. Radiators all have common returns, meaning that they’ll all return their heat back to your boiler. However, this is a problem, because of the way that heat moves throughout your home, and we want the heat to be distributed evenly throughout the house.

Why balancing radiators is important

We all know that heat rises, right? Well, that’s also the case with your heating system. Heat and hot water naturally want to stay at the top of your heating system, which can often mean upstairs. In other words, the radiators at the top of your heating system (most probably the radiators upstairs and closest to the boiler), will likely receive a lot of the heat flow, which can leave the other radiators in the system lacking in heat This doesn’t bode well, as we want heat in all areas of the house.

It’s all down to the way that heat tends to flow around the system. The radiators first in line will receive a great amount of heat, then simply return that heat back to the boiler, rather than onto the other radiators in the house.

Another reason you may need to balance your radiators is that one of your radiators isn't working. This radiator is often on the edge of your heating system, and it could be being starved of heat because heat isn’t being distributed evenly throughout your home.

Balancing your radiators includes using the lockshield ends of our radiators to push the flow of heat to the other radiators in the house. We can do this periodically with each radiator in the house, until the flow of heat is reaching each and every rad in your home. This process may seem daunting but it’s actually relatively easy to do. All you need is a simple and clear set of instructions.

To bleed or to balance?

When your radiators are not working you have two options: bleeding your radiators or balancing them. Bleeding your radiators is good for when a single radiator in your home has cold spots, or it doesn’t fully heat up, but balancing them is the right thing to do if one or more of your radiators doesn’t heat up at all when the heating is on. If you need to bleed your radiator, then you can find a simple step-by-step guide here. It’s also recommended that you bleed your radiators before balancing your system, as you’ll get a more accurate temperature reading from them.

What you’ll need

Before you start the process of balancing your radiators, there are a few things you need to have close by...

1. Radiator bleeding key 2. Lockshield valve adjuster or adjustable spanner 3. Screwdriver 4. Digital thermometer

How to balance radiators

1. Get to know your heating system

First things first, you need to get to know your heating system. When balancing radiators, you need to balance your rads from the closest to the boiler to the furthest away. The next few steps will help you to do so.

2. Turn off the heating

This step is necessary so you can work out which order your radiators heat up in. You’ll need to wait for all your radiators to cool down before moving onto the next step.

3. Open the valves

Open up all the valves in your house by turning them anti-clockwise. You may need your lockshield valve adjuster to open the lockshield valve, and a spanner to open any older style radiator valves (on the opposite side).

Many radiators nowadays come with thermostatic radiator valves, which are easily turned by hand.

4. Turn the heating back on

After you’ve opened the valves up, whack the heating back on and make note of which order the radiators heat up in. Usually, you’ll find that the radiators closer to the boiler will heat up first. Take note of which ones heat up first, as that’s the order you’ll be balancing in.

5. Turn the heating back off

You’ll need to wait for them all to cool down again before starting the balancing process. This is because you want to get an accurate temperature read on your rads as you balance them.

6. Turn the heating on, again

This is where things get moving a little. With your heating back on and the valves all open from before, head to the first radiator (the one closest to the boiler) and get your balance on.

7. Turn the lockshield end to balance the radiator

For this step, you need to completely turn the lockshield valve off using the lockshield valve adjuster or spanner, turning it clockwise. Once it’s completely shut, you can then turn it a quarter or half-turn back. It will then heat back up again, and once it reaches your desired temperature, you can move on to the next.

What this does is distributes the flow between this radiator and the next one in line. Where usually the heat would return to the boiler, using the lockshield valve pushes the heat through to the next radiator.

8. Check the temperature

To ensure that the radiator has been balanced, you need to check the temperature. First, using your thermometer, take the temperature at the pipework near the lockshield valve, then take the temperature at the pipework at the other end of the rad near the thermostatic valve. As long as there is exactly a 12-degree temperature difference between the two sides, you’re good to go. If not, you may need to adjust the position of the lockshield valve you turned before to achieve this.

9. Continue this process on each radiator

Repeat the steps on each radiator until you reach the radiator at the end of the heating system. Once this has been balanced, give yourself a pat on the back, because you’ve just successfully completed the balancing radiators challenge!

There are many reasons why your pipes may knock in your house. For example whether it is a pipe that carries hot water or cold water making the knocking sound can make a big difference. A hot water pipe would make noise due to thermal expansion, though either a hot or cold water pipe may make noise due to improper fastening. Likewise, improper pressure in your water distribution system could also cause your pipes to knock. Usually, your water pressure is too high.

Another reason you may hear a banging noise could come from the toilet and its fill valve. The fill valve regulates the water level in the toilet tank. Newer models of this valve tend to close very abruptly. When this happens, it sometimes causes what we call a "water hammer" and can lead to banging noises. In fact, any fast closing valve could potentially cause a water hammer situation, even those found in your dishwashers, washing machines, and ice makers.

If you hear sounds like a loud chattering or clattering noise coming from the toilet when you flush, that's usually caused by a loose washer in the shutoff valve. When the water flows over that washer, it opens and closes making a loud noise but usually stops as soon as the water flow stops.

Finally, you may hear a high pitched squeal that comes on suddenly as if your bathroom is haunted! That is caused by a slow leak in the toilet that causes the water metering valve to come on unexpectedly to fill the toilet. This is usually caused by the flapper not sealing properly.

The most common reason for cloudiness in tap water is very simple: AIR!

Tiny air bubbles can form inside your water distribution system in your home, giving the appearance of cloudy water. During the colder months, it can become more common as cold water traps air more easily than warm water.

Other reasons for cloudy water could be sediment or particulates in your water. While homes on well-fed water supply are more prone to sediment in the water, city-fed water supplies can also fall victim to sediment and particulates.

A yearly water quality test is suggested to make sure you are on the right track to clean, safe drinking water. It tests for water hardness, TDS (Total Dissolved Solids), chlorine, and many other factors that can have a direct impact on your water quality. Products such as whole-home water filtration systems, water conditioning systems, and point-of-use filtration are a great way to ensure that your home is providing you with the best water quality.

How to find your inside stop valve

Your inside stop valve is inside your house and is normally located just after the water pipe enters the house. This is often under the kitchen sink, but can also be:

• In an airing cupboard

• Under the stairs

• Under the floorboards

• Near the front door

• In the garage, utility room, bathroom or cellar

For flats, you may have a communal inside stop valve if your water supply is shared with your neighbours. This is normally located where your water supply enters the building. Sometimes an additional inside stop valve can be found where the water supply enters your flat. If you can't find your inside stop valve or it's broken, there are other ways to turn your water off. You can find these at the bottom of this page.

How to turn your water off using the inside stop valve

Turn the valve clockwise.

It may take a few turns to stop the water. You'll usually get to a point where you can’t turn it anymore. You shouldn’t need to use excessive force to turn it further.

It may also take a few minutes for the water to stop running from your taps, as there will be some water left in the pipes from before you turned the water off.

Important: Pop a monthly reminder in your calendar to check your inside stop valve is working correctly. This way you’ll be confident you can turn off your water in an emergency.

How to turn your water on using the inside stop valve Turn the valve anti-clockwise. It may take a few turns to turn the water on. It may also take a few minutes for the water to start running from your taps, as it will need to run through the pipes again. Watch the video to find out more.

Replace. A repair can sometimes be as expensive as a brand new boiler. And you could easily have more problems with a repaired boiler further down the line.

A boiler replacement is usually more efficient and more reliable.

Your new boiler will be covered by warranty too – so if it breaks, the manufacturer will repair it with no extra charge.

We can provide a A rated boiler on 0% finance!

The costs for:

• a brand new A-rated boiler

• a brand new flue

• all the right fixtures, fittings and safety attachments

• installation from a Gas Safe Registered engineer

would traditionally set you back between £2500 and £4,000.

We can offer you exactly the same A-rated boiler, flue, attachments and Gas Safe registered installation from £1000.

Combi boilers, or Combination boilers, are the most popular type of boiler in the UK. They're used by 74% of households.

They're named ‘Combination' because they combine a high-efficiency water heater and a central heating boiler all in one package.

Combi boilers are efficient and cost less in heating bills.

That's because:

• They only heat water when you need it, rather than storing hot water up

• They're small and compact, as they don't use an external hot water tank

Thermostatic Radiator Valves – or TRVs – are controls for your radiators. They regulate how much hot water flows into the radiator so you can adjust its temperature.

TRVs also let you turn some radiators off (for example, in a room you're not using) without turning off the heating.

Why do I need TRVs?

The Government recommends that every household has Thermostatic Radiator Valves because they:

• save you money on heating bills

• use less energy

• are better for the environment

but they are not mandatory.

A flue is a pipe, like a chimney, that carries waste from the boiler outside. You can see your flue exit (the part of the flue that comes out of your house) on the wall or roof of your home.

Flues can either be square or round in shape.

If the flue is less than two metres off the ground, or underneath a carport or shelter, it'll be covered by a guard. This looks like a piece of wire mesh covering the end of the flu.

Yes. As part of the work your engineer will carry out a MagnaCleanse flush on your whole system using a specially formulated cleaner manufactured by Adey. The MagnaCleanse system has been developed by Adey and uses powerful magnets to extract rust debis from your system.

Once the flush is complete and your system is refilled with fresh water, the engineer will add Adey MC1+ system protector. Adey MC1+ is formulated to protect against both system corrosion and limescale deposition.

No. After years of experience, we've found that using a Powerflush machine on an older system simply causes more problems.

Instead, we carry out a Chemical Flush – which is a highly effective way to keep your system protected, approved by our manufacturer partners.

A magnetic filter, which we'll provide and install with most boilers. It's fitted to the boiler on the return flow. This catches any debris from your system and stops it getting into your new boiler.

A Plume Management Kit directs 'products of combustion' away from openings or vents into your property. This keeps you and your family safe.

System boilers heat your radiators directly and store hot water in a storage cylinder. They're usually installed in an airing cupboard or garage. They heat a large volume of water and then store it until you use it. This means they're less efficient than Combi boilers, which heat water only when you use it.

Standard boilers are also known as Regular, or Conventional Boilers. They store hot water in a storage cylinder, like System boilers, but they're fed by a separate cold water tank – usually in the loft. There's another separate tank, called a ‘feed and expansion cistern', usually in the loft too. Standard boilers are the largest type of boiler.

The Erp – Energy related products – Label tells you how efficiently a boiler (or another appliance like a fridge or a washing machine) uses energy. It's designed to help you choose the right appliance and pay less in energy bills. The label rates products from A+++ to G.

A+++ is the most efficient boiler you can get.

It also tells you how loud the appliance is in decibels and how much heat it outputs in kilowatts.

All of the boilers Taylor Plumbing and Heating sells are rated A for efficiency.