The radiators in your house can become cold even when the heating is on. This is usually down to trapped air that is obstructing the normal flow of the radiator but this can be fixed easily by bleeding the radiator. A radiator that requires bleeding will have cool trapped air around the top portions but it may of course be other problems too. However, as bleeding your radiators is the easiest and most cost effective methods, its always advised to try it.

Radiator Key

In order to bleed your radiators, you will require a radiator key to open the bleed valve of the radiator. The bleed valve is square shaped but some modern radiators may even be turned by using a flat blade screwdriver.

If you have lost a radiator key, almost every hardware store will have one. Below is an example of a radiator key for bleeding radiators.

Radiator Key

How To Bleed A Radiator

Once you have a radiator key to hand, you are ready to bleed your radiator. Below is a brief guide to bleeding your radiator in your house:

  1. Turn off the radiator
  2. Place the radiator key in the bleed valve
  3. Find a towel or cloth to catch the water
  4. Slowly turn the bleed valve until water starts to squirt out
  5. Re-tighten the bleed valve clockwise
  6. Repeat the process on all radiators in the house
  7. Check the boiler pressure and ensure its between 1.0 and 2.0 bar

It is as simple as that and in 7 steps you may have solved your radiator heating problems. However, if the radiator is still not heating up properly, you may have other problems, which are discussed below.

Diagnose Other Radiator Problems

If bleeding the radiators did not solve your problem, there may be a number of other issues that is effecting your central heating. These may include:

  1. Malfunctioning boiler – If multiple radiators around the house are not heating up, this would point towards an issue with your boiler. We advise that you seek a boiler repair engineer to check the boiler for any issues.
  2. Power flushing – If the boiler is working perfectly, you may have a buildup of sludge in the heating system, which will need to be power flushed.
  3. Leak – A leaking radiator will not be able to heat properly and can cause numerous issues.
  4. Low water pressure – If the radiators at the ground floor are heating up but not the upper floors, this may be a water pressure issue.