When we had our kitchen refitted some years ago a Myson kick-space fan heater was installed.
Recently I planned to balance the radiators in the house and I discovered that the Myson doesn't have any sort of valve on either side.
Is this normal ? It sounds wrong to me.
On the face of it, it's just a short circuit across the rest of the heating system.
What's the correct procedure ?
I installed ball valves on the pipework going to my (smiths) fan heaters.
Heat output from those is controlled by the onboard electric control that runs the fan. All radiators are almost short circuits :) So there shouldnt be any need to do anything, just make sure your most wanted heat source has its valve fully open, just as the myson has.
NT
This did not work for me. Distant fan ghetaers were totally starved.
Unlike TRV's which control water flow, these ran blown things simply let hot warter circulate irrespective of whether heat is called for - the fan is what is controlled.
The ball valves were definitely needed to get remote units up to temp.
"The ball valves were definitely needed to get remote units up to temp. "
That's exactly what I imagined.
So what sort of ball valves did you use ?
Do you mean those cheap in-line jobbies that are used to shut off items for maintenance ?
Or do you mean something more specialised ?
Yes, when it was installed, balancing valves should also have been put in. However, some models may have isolating valves on the input, which might be useful for balancing.
Fan convectors work best on their own zone. Turning off the fan is not enough to stop them eating the hot water, so they should have an external zone valve.
Christian.
Indeed the heat output is controlled by a thermostat that turns the fan on and off. That, however, has nothing to do with balancing which is all to do with getting a balanced water flow to all radiators. If any radiator, Myson kick-spaces included, has no water valves at all it will indeed be a short circuit which will rob water pressure from distant radiators.
In short the OP is right - it is wrong and can be rectified by the addition of an adjustable restricting valve i.e. a lock-shield valve (LSV) on one side. Putting a control valve on the opposite side while your at it will enable isolation of the Myson should it need to be removed in the future. Conventional LSVs are screwed into the radiator tails themselves, but a ball* valve anywhere in the pipework feeding (or returning from) the Myson will serve equally well.
Having done that, balance the system according to the FAQ.
From the way this kick-space rad has been installed there is a very good chance that the rest of the system was never balanced either. You might be surprised at the improvement in evenness of heating once you have it all balanced.
Phil The uk.d-i-y FAQ is at
Those "cheap in-line jobbies" are meant for high pressure cold feeds and have quite a narrow aperture. Consequently they might restrict the flow more than is wanted for balancing, resulting in inadequate flow to that radiator. The alternative is a full bore design.
Phil The uk.d-i-y FAQ is at
HomeOwnersHub website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.