RobsyUK

iTrader: (2)

Our heating works but there’s one niggle I can’t figure out.

The boiler is in the garage, water tank in the master room.
We have 4 bed rooms, and a bathroom radiator
Downstairs we have 2 large radiators in the living room, 1 in the kitchen, hallway and dining room. The pipes warm the downstairs toilet.

Other then taking a while to get to temp we find that the 2nd room in the house
Either gets too hot or off.
We have a 5 month old and trying to keep her room at around 20c is proving difficult.

I’ve got the thermostat side literally one click on (ignoring numbers and symbols on the tap). If I go 2 clicks the radiator gets hot but about 23c and no clicks the radiator is off.

Here’s the madness.

I’ll leave the thermostat side (tap with numbers) at one click and then adjust the lock shield valve wide open and it will get to the 23c
I’ll close it a little, a little more, a little more and it’s still 23c until it’s completlyl closed.

Regulating my 5 month olds room temp isn’t the end of the world at the minute but wonder if she will complain when older.
When it’s completly closed it stops the downstairs radiators from heating up!

I can only assume the way the radiators have been plumbed in is wrong.

Her room also suffers from needing bleeding a lot. If I close the shield valve for a few days and then open it turns can hear the air glugging into the radiator!


My plumber said the air problem is because the air vent in the boiler cupboard is too close to the pump and water pipe (10cm) but there isn’t really much more room to move it.

Any ideas why closing one upstairs stops downstairs?

alcazar

iTrader: (2)

Unless it's been plumbed in series, no reason for it to do so.

If you switch it off at the 'stat valve, does it do the same?

ALi-B

iTrader: (1)

Faulty or cheap TRV could be the one issue (thermostatic rad valve). The only TRVs I know that work and last are Drayton TRV4s.

That said many TRVs do have an over-pressure Spring, so they are forced open if the pressure differential is too high, so is somehow this radiator is indeed "feeding" all the downstairs then this would make the TRV act up as the pump would have nowhere to push the water.

Downstairs radiators could be a sludge/blockage issue. Water will alway flow through the path of least resistance. That said there could be some crazy plumbing going on; I've seen some whacky pipework in my time done by so called professionals.

You don't say if it's a pressurised system or has a header tank in the attic; If it's the latter air can be introduced if the tank is not filling, or if it's "pumping over" via the vent pipe....assuming the air in the rad is air...put a lighter to it next time you bleed (keep combustibles like curtains out the way)....if you get flames it's hydrogen due to corrosion.

bobby chang

You need to balance your radiators, just go on youtube and search for " how to balance the radiators", its very easy. Hope it will help.

RobsyUK

iTrader: (2)

If I turn the stat side off and leave the other side open the radiators all downstairs work ok.

RobsyUK

iTrader: (2)

We have a header tank in the loft. I’ll try the lighter and BOOM knowing my luck.
IIRC I want to say the vent pipe is quite a bit above the water level in the tank but I’ll deffo check the level in the tank.

I did wonder if the stat valve was faulty. We only started using it 3yrs ago and couldn’t tell weather the old folk before did. (Entire house did need bleeding when we moved in!)

The whole system was put in in 2008 before we moved in and every radiator does get hot around the house so I don’t think there’s any sludge anywhere.

RobsyUK

iTrader: (2)

This was one of the first things I did. When we first moved in downstairs never got hot at all. Our room and my sons room would get crazy hot and yet the others were all over the place. Every valve was wide open so closed all and opened all half a turn.

They are all pretty bang on now except my daughters room