If you’re noticing issues with your radiators or other parts of your central heating system not being as hot as they should be, you may need to bleed the radiators. This problem occurs when air has become trapped in the pipes, which should contain nothing but water, reducing their efficiency. Thankfully, bleeding heaters is a simple, straightforward procedure. Read on to find out how to do it.

Before you begin anything,  make sure you have a bleed screw (or ‘radiator key’). Firstly, you’ll need to turn your heating on and let the radiators fully heat up. This is so that adequate pressure has built up, which will force the air out.

Once they’re fully heated, check each radiator to see if all of the parts of each one are warming up. Make sure you’re careful when doing this, as the radiators will be very hot. When checking each one, cold spots (especially towards the top) will mean that there is air trapped inside.

Once you’ve checked and determined which radiators have trapped air, you’ll need to turn the central heating off – you don’t want to either burn yourself or leak water all over the floor.

When they’ve cooled down, locate the valve which will be on one end of the top of the radiator. Hold the key in place in the valve with a cloth to catch any dripping water, and slowly turn the valve. You should hear a hissing sound of the trapped air escaping; once this stops, quickly tighten the valve back up to minimise the amount of water lost.

We hope you’ve found this guide helpful with bleeding your radiators yourself. For any more plumbing and heating needs, Ignis Heating are happy to help. Based in Stowmarket, we offer a range of plumbing services from small jobs such as tap replacement to completely new bathroom installations, all across Suffolk. To find out more about our services or to get started with a quote, give us a call on 07738 429611, or send us a message and we will get back to you as soon as possible.