Sorry I dont have more details of the actual central heating system - all I know is that it is 'pressurised'... (new build - Bovis - moving in in a few weeks) Anyone know if it will be easy/possible to remove and replace radiators (painting the walls behind etc)
Of course it is possible. Easy is a matter of opinion! You'll probably have to drain down the system, remove the radiator and refill. That's a matter of locating the draincock which should be somewhere near the lowest part of the system, connecting a hose to it and opening it. (Obviously the boiler should be turned off at that point).
Another possibility is to get a pipe freezing kit and freeze the radiator tails. You then have a few minutes to remove the radiator and put some stop-ends on the pipes (probably compression stop ends are easiest to get on and off - push fit seems to take a lot of force to remove).
Mr F.
You should be able to - one kind of valves are on each end? Lock shields valves should be turned fully off and thermostatic radiator valves should have "decorating caps" which you replace the head of the valve with to ensure the valve reamains off (it is doubtful that Bovis will have left these for you though!)
One both valves are off you can remove the radiator by undoing the radiator sides of the valve. Bear in mind that the radiator will be full of water though and that you'll have to empty it!
hmm.. maybe I should be calling my friendly plumber to help out ! I dot fancy murdering the new house before we've even unpacked .. :)
On Wed, 21 Sep 2005 10:31:46 +0100, Mr Fizzion scrawled:
Somewhat excessive. You only need to drain down the rad you want to remove, not the whole system.
Well, on a new system, I'd expect the lockshield and TRV both to work. You fit a cap in place of the TRV 'head' which keeps the valve closed. Count the number of turns the lockshield needs to shut off too so you can get back to this - in the vague hope the system has been balanced.
Then it only remains to find some way of catching the water from the rad.
However, it's sometimes possible to slightly slacken the joints and lift the rad off its brackets and hinge it down onto the floor to allow decorating behind. But make sure it's supported at the pipe end to avoid straining them.
A stopgap solution is to remove the TRV head, stick a 5p under it and screw it back on. That should do the same job of ensuring it stays off regardless of the temperature.
Note also that some valves like the Pegler Terrier have a real "off" position that does the same job.
Remember also that the threadded nut is attached to the radiator and screws onto the valve rather than the other way round.
Thanks for the all the replies. In the bathroom, I will be looking to remove the radiator and replace with a heater towel rail. Do a need a specific type for it to connect up and work OK witjh a closed system ?
No - they'll all work with sealed systems. Bear in mind though that most heated towel rails provide diddly squat in the way of heat output - particularly when insulated by towels. Find out the heat output of your existing rad, and try to get a rail with at least the same - if not a higher - heat output. Otherwise you could have a very cold bathroom in the winter.
You may well find that the existing valves are not in the right position for your rail so that some re-plumbing - and a partial drain-down - will be needed.
......so the heat just gets absorbed into the towels and disappears into a black hole? An amazing miracle of thermodynamic engineering happening in bathrooms all over the UK ;-)
For half decent towel rail output you really need to take the usual radiator requirements and add a minimum of 50%. Then find a towel rail that hasn't had its output fudged by manipulating the flow and return temps to seem higher than it really is. (the sheds and most non UK manufacturers are notorious for this) Then you might be approaching keeping warm in winter *and* drying your towels.
Remember, hot water is being pumped around the heating circuit. If the towels are preventing heat from being transferred from the water to the room, the water will simply leave the radiator at the other side at the same temperature.
A similar "miracle" of thermodynamic engineering happens all the time in people's airing cupboards in the form of insulated hot water cylinders.
With wet towels the heat will be wafted away as water vapour. In effect reversing the benefit of a condensing boiler.
How so? Do condensing boilers vent to the interior?
See an excellent explantion of how condensing boilers work on the very ng ut a few days ago. Condensing boilers recover the heat that would otherwise go up the flue locked in water vapour. Evaporation, as from a wet towel, is the reverse process.
Ah, I thought you were suggesting that the evaporation from the wet towels was replacing moisture removed from the air by the boiler. That was why I posed my (rhetorical) question. Sorry.
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