A question about radiators

foreversummer

Hi

Many of the radiators in the house to which I've just moved do not have those little white caps on each end of the radiator where you normally turn them on and off.

Some of the radiators do not come on so I am assuming (and hoping) that they have been turned off.

My question is: How do you tell which side turns the radiator on and off? In my old house I had thermostatic valves which I used regularly but I never touched the other side.

I hope this makes sense.

Foreversummer

Alfrescodave

If I understand you correctly, - BOTH caps need to be open to allow hot water to flow through. If one is closed then water will not be allowed to enter or leave the radiator. As you say, usually the radiator is turned "off" or "on" by the one themostatic valve

uncle_buck_3

On the radiators that aren’t heating up open both ends & feel which end heats up first…this is the flow side & should be used to switch the radiator on & off. The other end is the return often called the lock shield valve & should be used to balance the central heating system in your house.

http://www.diydata.com/projects/centralheating/balancing/balancing.htm

foreversummer

Hi Guys

Thank you for your quick replies. So should I just open both ends up, and then if they come on just leave them. Do I need to worry about the lock shield valve? For some reason, I've had it in my mind that there is one side of a radiator that you should not touch.

I might be confused. Very often am.

Avoriaz

The little white caps are there to protect the valve and for cosmetic purposes. You can do without them though spares are probably cheap and easily available.

coolagarry

The idea of the two valves is that one side only allows in sufficient water to heat up the room to the required highest temperature (so if, for example, the radiator was too large for the room then it would be too hot so you would regulate it with the lockshield end.) Once that has been set the cover is put on and you forget it.
The other end should have an irregular shaped cover so that it can be turned up and down by hand so you can regulate it on a daily basis if you feel the need to.

uncle_buck_3

foreversummer wrote:

Hi Guys

Thank you for your quick replies. So should I just open both ends up, and then if they come on just leave them. Do I need to worry about the lock shield valve? For some reason, I've had it in my mind that there is one side of a radiator that you should not touch.

I might be confused. Very often am.

Yeah open both ends up & see if the radiators that arn't working heat up....if they do & all of the other radiators are also hot just leave them open. But if some of the other radiators don't seem to be as hot as they used to be you will have to try & ballance the central heating system.