dodgy plumbing?

wishiwasarichgirl

bought house last nov, realised this summer that when i turn on immersion (water) heater the bathroom radiator also heats up. didn't notice earlier cos i generally had the heating on most of the time.:rolleyes:
none of the other radiators are affected and i presume its cos the previous owners extended the bathroom a few yrs ago & therefor mucked about with the plumbing. doesn't bother me (cos i just leave that radiator turned off) but just wondered if any plumbers could tell me whether it could cause any problems in the future( eg when i want to sell up).
thanks for any advice

alanobrien

This is because the radiator is on the same circuit as the hot water loop - its very common mine is like that.

Debt_Free_Chick

Mine is the same. The radiator is acting as a vent (?) for the immersion heater. It prevents the water overheating by allowing the heat to escape to the radiator. The bonus is that you have a warm radiator to dry the towels on

In fact, my radiator is permanently warm, as our hot water tank is fed by the Aga which is always on (otherwise, we don't get to eat!).

david29dpo

the radiator is not a vent, many towel rails are plumbed in to the hot water circuit so you dont need to have the heating on in the summer. just turn it off if you dont want it on.

alanobrien

Debt_Free_Chick wrote:

Mine is the same. The radiator is acting as a vent (?) for the immersion heater. It prevents the water overheating by allowing the heat to escape to the radiator. The bonus is that you have a warm radiator to dry the towels on

In fact, my radiator is permanently warm, as our hot water tank is fed by the Aga which is always on (otherwise, we don't get to eat!).

No not a vent, the original idea and this goes back a long way was that the radiator acted as a conductor to remove excess heat from the system. The idea was that if your heating element went crazy and started boiling the water the heat would dissipate and stop your tank from blowing up......which is nice

Skiduck

alanobrien wrote:

No not a vent, the original idea and this goes back a long way was that the radiator acted as a conductor to remove excess heat from the system. The idea was that if your heating element went crazy and started boiling the water the heat would dissipate and stop your tank from blowing up......which is nice

nothing worse than a cylinder blowing, can take the whole side of a house off.

plumb1_2

The rad would have been used as a Heat Sink, in the days of solid fuel.

coolagarry

Fitting a radiator thermostat would solve the problem?
http://www.discountedheating.co.uk/shop/acatalog/Online_Catalogue_Danfoss_Randall_Thermostat_Radiator_Valves_175.html

wishiwasarichgirl

thanks everyone, it doesn't cause any probs as i just leave the radiator turned off if i don't want it heating up. i just wasn't sure if it was normal or not!