There will surely come a time when your radiators do not heat well as they did in the beginning. This can happen since air usually accumulates inside the entire heating system and begins to hinder the circulation of water that is responsible for heating the radiators. To solve this problem you have to learn to bleed the radiators. This is to prevent the radiator from emitting heat in a heterogeneous way. It is usually recommended before each cold season to bleed radiators to avoid this problem.
For this reason, we are going to dedicate this article to tell you how to purge radiators and what is the importance of it.
Importance of bleeding radiators
As we mentioned at the beginning of the article, it is possible that the radiators begin to accumulate air and hinder the circulation of the water that heats the radiators. This causes that it does not emit heat evenly, so it is advisable to start bleeding radiators. Doing this consists mainly of eliminating the air that is the work of the entire radiator circuit. In this way, it manages to improve the energy efficiency of the heating installation and improve electricity consumption.
The energy efficiency is increased in the heating installation and the reduction of extraneous noises. It is common when there is accumulated air from heating systems to hear strange noises when turning on the heating. These noises are often heard as gurgling sounds that are caused by accumulated air bubbles throughout the heating system. This is the symptom that points out that it is necessary to bleed the radiators before the heating season starts.
When the radiator begins to heat up poorly, the thermostat does not pop but the quarry continues to function. This happens because it cannot reach the programmed temperature. This makes the boiler work twice as much and causes a higher energy consumption since the heating system is not working efficiently. In these cases, it is important to make sure that our heating installation works correctly. The efficient heating system avoids wasting energy saving a lot in consumption.
When and how to bleed radiators
The best months to ventilate the radiator are September and October, just before the start of the strong heating season. It is very convenient that we need to heat it without waiting for the temperature to drop, because if we have not purified it before, it will work "with half the gas", thus wasting energy and money. Let's see what are the steps to learn how to bleed the radiators. It is a relatively simple process and you just have to follow these tips:
- Check if you need to bleed your radiators: To do this, you have to turn on the heating and pass your hand over the top. If this part is colder than the lower one, it means that there is air that has to rise and that is blocking the circuit.
- You have to start with the radiator closest to the boiler. All operations begin with this radiator closer to the boiler since the natural flow of water must be followed.
- Place a container under the stopcock: it is best to choose a glass of water and place it under the tap. This is how we can prevent the soil from getting wet when the water starts to come out.
- The key is turned with a screwdriver: A coin can also be used to open the valve tap. At first the air that comes out once we have opened the tap is smelly. From here we can also see some of the water from the jet still not going to be uniform.
- The tap must be closed when the jet is fluid: When the jet of water comes out completely fluid and homogeneous, we must close the tap, since it will mean that the air has already come out, so you just have to close the tap in the opposite direction.
- The operation must be repeated for all radiators: Remember that it is important to follow radiator by radiator of the water flow naturally. If any of the radiators is bypassed, it is not necessary to carry out the operation.
- Finally, it is convenient to check the pressure of the boiler. It must be at values of 1-1.5 bar since after purging the pressure level tends to drop. It is important that the pressure level is at these levels.
If you do not want to carry out all these operations by yourself or on your own, you can call a professional who gets to work and can also take care of purging the entire radiator system and leaving it ready for the high heating season.
Automatic valves and hydraulic balancing
Modern heating systems may have an automatic valve with an automatic exhaust system. This type of valve discharges the air automatically, so it is not necessary to bleed it manually. If even with these types of valves, you have noticed that the radiator does not heat well, for safety reasons, it is best to consult a professional to check the system.
When the radiator is not 100% heated, it means that the heating system cannot work effectively, which causes unnecessary energy waste. An efficient heating system can avoid wasting energy and therefore save energy. In addition to cleaning the radiators, other measures can be taken to get the best performance from these radiators.
When we talk about central heating installations, there is a program that can be easily executed to ensure that all radiators obtain the water necessary for their operation, this is called hydraulic balancing. This is a process that must be performed by qualified technical installers, otherwise various problems may occur during the installation process.
There are several benefits of hydraulic balance:
- On the one hand, it allows a sufficient flow of water to reach all the radiators.
- Get thermostatic valves to regulate the temperature
- Finally, the correct hydraulic balance can avoid annoying noises during installation.
I hope that with this information you can learn more about how and when to bleed radiators.