Been meaning to balance my radiators for years. Gave it a go once but messing about with fiddly thermometers did my head in. I tried a digital one and clip on ones. Anyway while in the bath last night I came up with a new method.
Why not by one thermometer, common or garden variety, for each radiator. Place one thermometer on top of each radiator. Wait 15mins then do the normal lock shield valve adjustment cycle until all thermometers read the same.
Do flow and return temps really matter that much? Surely if the radiators are the correct size for the room and they are all giving off the same temp then they must be balanced!
Intriguing idea! You'd have to make sure that the thermal contact between each thermometer and its radiator was the same- same position, same clip, same conductive material etc. You can't rely just on radiated or convected heat to give a reliable temp. Remember the inverse square law! Small differences in separation distance can make a large difference in apparent temp. The 'true' doesn't matter of course. You just want them all reading the same. Alternatively you could get *one* infrared thermometer. These respond quickly, though perhaps the radiator colour might affect the readings?
Presumably with the thermometers at the top so you don't need to bend over to read them ;-?
Unfortunately, any hot water coming into the rad at all (LSV full open or nearly shut) will rise to the top making it hot and giving you a false impression of how well your rad is heating the room. You are looking for a feel of how much your rads are actually losing to the room (ie heating it), so it is the exit temperature you need to be looking at. Fortunately you can get a near guess to this by placing your thermometers near the bottom of the rad near the exit valve (which may be the LSV or not). An extra thermometer on the flow pipe somewhere in the system will make it all a bit less of a bodge. A 10, 15 or 20 degree drop, depending on your boiler type, between that single flow reading and your rad bottom temps should give you a 'good enough' balance. Balancing means the system will work at greatest efficiency and stand the best chance of reaching demand temperature in all rooms on the coldest of days.
Sadly having the thermometers at the bottom of the rads will mean that you need to bend down to read the temperatures ;-).
Yes, the drop does, it is a measure of how much heat each radiator is passing to the room.
Nope, a 500w rad with an open lockshield near the boiler (read pump) will steal all the water (flow, heat) from a 3kw one 10m away no problem. It is up to you to control the flow and therefore the heat output from each.
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