You don’t need to be a plumber to know when a radiator has seen better days or is going to start causing problems. While they may be these large items hung on the wall we tend not to take much notice of, a radiator on the fritz can be troublesome, especially if one starts causing trouble in the dead of winter.
So what can anyone, without one iota of radiator knowledge, take notice of to see if their radiators have indeed seen better days? Here are 4 signs you might need a new radiator.
Page Contents
1. An Overheating Radiator
Firstly, I want to highlight a serious problem which is rare but can cause a lot of trouble if left alone. If you have a radiator which is very hot to the touch and remains so even when the radiator is on its lowest setting, you should get it checked immediately. An overheating radiator can happen when the flow valve, where water leaves the radiator to go back in the pipes, gets blocked. A blockage can lead to a build-up in pressure which may see cracks in the radiator or the radiator buckling.
Avoid this by getting a professional to check it as soon as possible, having turned the radiator off first so it can’t let any more water in. Alternatively, you can just buy radiators online at Radiator Outlet.
2. A Cold Radiator
On the opposite side of things, when a radiator is cold to the touch and won’t show signs of heating no matter how hard you try, it may need to go. Now, the radiator could be cold due to sludge inside or pipes corroding over time, but it may be worth double-checking that it isn’t your valve which is the problem.
Have a professional check the radiator out on its own, isolating it from the system, to see if it is taking water in normally when the valve is off.
3. Bills Are Up, But Radiators Aren’t
Older systems need a little nudge to get things going. If you radiators have been in your home for years, they will naturally take longer to heat up. If you notice that heating bills are going up, but you haven’t changed, or even reduced, the length of time radiators are on, your system may be using too much hot water.
In some instances, it may be indicative of a problem with the boiler, so keep that in mind.
4. Regular Bleeding
Noticing cold patches at the top of radiators and bleeding them to let the air out is something you should only need to do once a year. If you find that radiators need air let out every few months, you have a problem. If it is every few weeks, then you really need a new radiator.
The sticky issue with regular bleeding is that the air getting trapped could be coming from a nearby radiator and not the one you’re constantly checking out. As our radiators share a connection, air getting into one could be moving to another before getting trapped.
If a plumber checks it out and doesn’t suggest flushing the whole system, they would recommend getting new radiators.
So, think you need a new radiator?
Have any of the points above raised a few alarm bells that maybe you need a new radiator? Get a better deal when shopping for a radiator by visiting Trade Radiators here. As an online-only radiator store, there is no middle man or physical store so that savings can be passed on to customers.
Want to see if your home heating is in good order?
Get tips on improving how you can heat your home by checking out the latest HVAC articles on the site.
