Bleeding A Radiator
Bleeding A Radiator
If your radiators aren’t heating up, read our guide to learn when and how to bleed your radiators.
Bleeding your radiators every so often keeps them working efficiently. That not only means a warmer home, but cheaper energy bills too. But if you don’t do it regularly, your radiators could start taking longer to warm up. Or they may not give out as much heat as they should. So, you could end up using more energy to heat your home, which is worse for the environment – and for your wallet.
If your home isn’t heating up like it used to, it could be time to bleed your radiators. But the good news is you might not need to bleed all of them to get things working as they should.
So, turn on your heating and wait for it to warm up – this should take around 5-10 minutes. Once it has, have a feel of your radiators to see which ones need bleeding. If your radiator’s hot at the top and cold at the bottom, it doesn’t need bleeding. But if it’s hot at the bottom and cold at the top, that’s a sure sign that it does.
To bleed your radiator, you’ll need a radiator key – these come in one standard size and are easily picked up at any hardware shop. You’ll also need a tissue or rag to catch any spills.
Bleeding your radiators reduces the pressure of the boiler system – which can make it less effective.
After bleeding your radiators, check the pressure gauge on the front of your boiler. If it’s below 1 bar, you’ll need to re-pressurise it – but don’t worry, it’s a simple job you can do yourself.