Although there is still more than a month left until winter, the cold is already here and with it, many people turn to heating. If it is the first time that you are going to turn it on this year, the truth is that before doing so you must take into account an important point: the air inside the radiator circuit. This causes them to not heat well and consume more. For this reason, you have to bleed the radiators.
You may not need to do it every year or ever, everything will depend on the models you have installed, since there are some that purge themselves. But, it is true that over time it is more common for heating radiators to accumulate air bubbles. In this way, interior spaces are generated in which there is no water, so they do not heat as well as always.
For this reason, all excess air must be removed from the heating circuit. And the best of all is that you will only need a container, a screwdriver and open a small valve on each radiator.
How to bleed radiators
If you have never done it and you are starting to notice that the radiators are not heating as well, it is time to get to work. They won’t give you many tools, just a screwdriver, in addition to knowing where your radiator valve is and a small container because it will release water and air.
On the other hand, in this case you do not have to turn on the heating. The radiator must be cold, as bleeding is easier. Therefore, once they are hot, you will have to start bleeding the radiators. As we said, each of these has a valve, which is a kind of small key, which can be activated with a flat screwdriver. And if you don’t have one at home, a 2 or 5 cent coin can help you get by.
Therefore, you must press the valve and turn it. From there you will hear how the air comes out. Once the water starts coming out well, then you should tighten the screw again until the valve closes. This will mean that you have already removed excess air from the circuit. Also, keep in mind that this will only take you a few seconds. And the most advisable thing is that you repeat this same thing on each of the radiators that you are going to use in your house.
What happens if a radiator is not heated properly?
Although more heating systems have an auto-purge function, the truth is that this may not be the case for you. Therefore, this is something that you will have to do manually if you have noticed how they do not heat well this year. But what happens if the radiators don’t heat well? There are different consequences:
- The thermostat does not trip.
- The heating continues to work.
- More energy is consumed.
For this reason, it is necessary to check annually that they heat correctly so that, when you receive the invoice, you are not surprised. In addition, it must also be taken into account that, if when you turn on the heating, you notice that it is still cold, the most common thing is to increase the temperature so that it continues to rise. However, by not heating well this will mean that the boiler will consume more to heat the radiators and, the truth is that you will not notice much change, only that you will pay more at the end of the month. So, if you are going to turn on the heating for the first time, it is time to do this.
