Do you need to run all radiators to avoid frozen pipes?

JC1440

With how cold it's been recently I've been conscious of making sure every radiator in my house is used at some point in the day when I run the central heating, whereas normally I turn some of them off in rooms I'm not planning on being in. Is this necessary to help avoid frozen pipes, or is just running the boiler enough to do the job?

Cardew

Unnecessary.


Even in an unoccupied house it would take a long while at colder temperatures than we have experienced this winter for the internal temperature to drop to freezing point.

matelodave

Have you got thermostatic radiator valves - they usually have a frost settng (usually looks like a snowflake). Just set it to that otherwise just crack the valve open slightly.


Generally though if you are living in the house and the heating is in use then there's enough warmth around to stop it freezing - it's when you go away and shut off the heating that causes problems.

Robwiz

An important consideration is where the boiler is installed. For example, if it's in a garage or similar uninsulated space, then it should be fitted with a frost stat. This should turns the boiler on when it senses a low temperature. Radiators and pipe runs inside a home shouldn't normally be at risk of freezing unless the heating is left off for a number of days.

JC1440

Thanks, all.

Two of the four radiators have that snowflake symbol (I always wondered what it was), but the boiler itself has one too.