removing rads for plastering/painting

[benpost]

i dont know a lot about rads, and cant make sense of how the valves stop the water circulating the rad. how does the flow of water get to the 'out' pipe? the vale seems to be outside the rad so i cant see how it stops it.

anyway main question is, is it easy to remove a rad off the wall so that i can get behind it, as it will need replastering? do i need to stop the water supply completely and drain the system or anything?

i have a main water stop tap and this supplies a combi condensing boiler which heats the water and central heating.

[Slider]

Turn off valves at each end. Count how many turns it takes to turn off the LSV so you can put it back to it's original position when re-fitting (otherwise the balancing of the system will be out). Undo the nut holding one of the valve onto the rad and have a bucket / container ready to catch all the water. Once it's started flowing open the rad bleed valve (on the top of the rad) to allow the rad to drain faster. Once empty, remove from all brackets - best to carry upside down to stop all the black dirty water dropping on your carpets!!!!

[NOSPAMnet]

But you forgot to mention that the TRV might have a "frost" setting so although it seems to be shut it might not be ...I know its summer but still . Thats where a decorators cap comes in useful .These links might help the OP

[Slider]

not to the frost setting. Or as above, find the decorators cap and screw that on.

[NOSPAMnet]

Doesn't say he doesn't either ..LOL

[benpost]

hi just checking out those links, thanks. yes i have trv's fitted and they do have a frost setting.

[benpost]

i just read an article about TRV's from the google link....

it does not recommend TRV's with a condensing boiler. however when i had a new condensing boiler the plumber actually replaced all the rad valves (except one-bathroom) with TRV's?!?

i do not currently have a proper room thermostat, just a basic timer that turns the boiler on or off.

so it sounds like i'm not making the most of the efficient boiler. any advice on what i should do? would it be worth getting a thermostat installed and having the TRVs removed?

any idea on cost of this? cheers

[David Hansen]

On Wed, 23 Jul 2008 08:35:13 -0700 (PDT) someone who may be benpost wrote this:-

Find the room which warms up most slowly, cools down most quickly, is not affected too much by direct sunlight and does not have other forms of heating in it. This is likely to be a room with a north facing window, but little else can be said about it as it as it will vary from house to house.

Fit a plain valve to the radiator in this room and fit a properly connected thermostat in this room. Then the thermostatic valves in the other rooms will limit the temperatures there and the thermostat will bring the boiler/heating pump on and off as necessary.

[stuart noble]

If the rads are staying in the same place, why take them off at all? It's pretty easy to plaster/paper/paint up to the brackets, and no one will see the rest.

[benpost]

thanks for the tips. maybe i dont need to remove them then, i'll see what the plasterer reckons. i think a thermostat in the lounge sounds like a good idea (outside wall, main living area), any ideas on cost? i guess i would be replacing the current drayton timer with a different one? could i still use the TRV's on the 'always on' setting so they would act as standard open valves?

[NOSPAMnet]

I got my boiler replaced with a condensing combi and the guy didn't comment on the fact I had TRV's on all rads except that the one in the Hall had the thermostatic head missing as it was broken so he said just to leave it as it was fully open and he fitted a wireless programmer in the Hall with the accompanying box connected to the boiler . It was easier doing that than taking a wire under floors ,up walls etc . It's the RT500RF shown here at £48

[benpost]

thanks for the thermostat link!

just before i go ahead and buy one, do you know the best place to install a thermostat?

in terms of location of radiators, windows, outside walls, main living areas? ??

i could probably save money and get a wired one if i had it in the lounge by the kitchen door, as the other side of the wall is the timer unit, next to the boiler.

[NOSPAMnet]

Pass...lol

If it's a mecahnical unit will it not be redundant tho'?

[Andy Hall]

Main living area is the typical one, provided that:

- No additional source of heat such as a gas fire in the living room or the rest of the house will get cold as the thermostat works to maintain the set temperature.

- Not over radiators

- No thermostatic radiator valves used in living room. They will "fight" with the thermostat

- Not near draughty windows

If you can't achieve that, then placing it in the hall is the other choice - same rules. Kitchens are not a good location.

[RW]

If they are hung on normal brackets and you have enough "slack" in the pipes feeding them just slacken gently the gland nuts on the rad and lift gently to clear the brackets then lay the rad horizontal. Support it on something if you don't want it on the floor.

That way there's minimal disruption, no bleeding to speak of, and no faffing around with black stains everywhere on the carpets elsewhere

[PM]

You can take the head off the TRV valve, the valve will then be always on. Undo the large ring under the valve head - you don't have to drain down to do this.

[PM]

See David Hansen's post. Where he says to fit a plain valve you can just take the TRV head off.

[Ian_m]

Thats what I do. Lean and tie the radiator against my workmate, remove wall fixings, plaster paint wall. attach fixings back properly (my last house had the radiator fixings attached top the wall using a combination of 6" nails and floorboard nails....), rehang radiator.