Turning off or lowering temperature on a Heated Towel Rail Rad.

anotherquestion

Hi folks, 

I wonder what's the best way to turn off or lower the temperature on a large heated towel rail rad, must be about 7 feet talk.
Its in upstairs bathroom, and it is really hot when oil central heating is on, so want to save on energy costs.
The valve to release air is  on top of left side, but those horizontal valves at bottom both side don't want to turn.

The is that little screw at bottom on each side, can I just turn one or both to stop the water heating in rad, well I'd probably like a little heat there?

Thanks a  lot for any advice.

nofoollikeold

1. The "little screw at the bottom on each side" is an isolation valve.  They should not be used on central heating as they are generally not designed to take the continuous high temperatures.  Keep an eye on them in case they leak.  The "screwdriver" slot in the centre of each should be parallel with the pipe, which has the valves open.
2. It is the horizontal valves at the base on each side which control the flow of water though the radiator, and thus the heat it gives out.  
2a. One is what is known as a lock shield valve.  This is used to balance the radiator as part of balancing the entire heating system.  Once set it should not be touched.
2b. The other is what is known as a wheel head valve.  This is a user control which can be fully open, fully closed or somewhere in between.  It regulates the flow of water through the radiator which in turn controls the heat the radiator gives out.  Turn it off and the radiator will go cold, open it fully and radiator will give out its maximum heat.
2c. Traditionally, the wheel head valve was fitted to the flow pipe into the radiator and the lock shield was fitted to the return pipe coming out of the radiator.  The flow pipe is the one which gets hot first.  
2d. However, it doesn't really matter which is fitted to which pipe, so unfortunately you have no way of knowing which is the lock shield and which the wheel head.  For this reason, whenever you alter the valves make a not of the number of 1/8 turns necessary to fully close it, and fully close it and open back the same number of 1/8 turns before making any adjustments.
2e. It should be possible to turn one of the round chrome handles to open / close the valve.  
2f. If it can't be turned, that type of valve normally has a chrome disc at the end of the round handle.  This can be unscrewed (often with difficulty) and the whole round handle will come off.  This reveals a round brass spindle with flats or a square on the end.  A spanner on the flats can be used to turn the valve on or off.
2g. Once you find a comfortable setting, leave it alone.  Those valves don't like constant use, and will eventually leak.
3. The best solution would be to replace the wheel head valve with a thermostatic radiator valve (TRV) which will control the bathroom temperature to whatever you set it to be, without further interference.  However, don't do this if this is the only radiator in the house without a TRV, as it is possible the system relies on this radiator to maintain a flow when all TRVs have closed.  If this is the case, you should also not close the existing wheel head valve.  

theoretica

Some heating systems need one radiator which is permanently on - or the system gets upset if it is trying to run and all radiators are switched off so there is no water flow.   Best to confirm if this is what you have before shutting it off and if it is, can you switch the permanently on one to somewhere else.

Alderbank

The permanently on radiator should be the hallway or landing one.
Bathroom radiators, like those in other rooms, should really have a thermostatic valve (TRV) to set the room temperature.
But this is a towel rail so drape towels over it (clue is in the name). They will insulate the radiator so you will get a comfortable bathroom, reasonable bills and cosy towels.
What's not to like?

daveyjp

Is it possible to lower the temperature of the heating circuit water? 

Chickereeeee

It looks like the valve/handle on the right has leaked quite a bit in the past. I would say it is likely that it is the one that is usually adjustable, but that limescale build-up from the leak has a) stopped the leak and b) made it very difficult to turn. You may find that if you do manage to turn it, it will leak again. I would (for now) adjust the flow at the other end, before getting a more permanent fix.

shiraz99

Alderbank said:

The permanently on radiator should be the hallway or landing one.
Bathroom radiators, like those in other rooms, should really have a thermostatic valve (TRV) to set the room temperature.
But this is a towel rail so drape towels over it (clue is in the name). They will insulate the radiator so you will get a comfortable bathroom, reasonable bills and cosy towels.
What's not to like?

Is this your personal opinion or is it backed up by any documentation? As far as I'm aware the common practice within the plumbing world is for the bathroom towel rail to be the one without a TRV, is this wrong?

BikingBud

shiraz99 said:

Alderbank said:

The permanently on radiator should be the hallway or landing one.
Bathroom radiators, like those in other rooms, should really have a thermostatic valve (TRV) to set the room temperature.
But this is a towel rail so drape towels over it (clue is in the name). They will insulate the radiator so you will get a comfortable bathroom, reasonable bills and cosy towels.
What's not to like?

Is this your personal opinion or is it backed up by any documentation? As far as I'm aware the common practice within the plumbing world is for the bathroom towel rail to be the one without a TRV, is this wrong?

How does the system know where the always on emitter is?

The only advice I understood was not to have TRV and room stat in the same room.

Bathroom on to keep towels aired and temp above dew point would always be my preference. 

But it might be the boiler could be tweaked back a little if it's scorchio!

nofoollikeold

1. Modern plumbing practice is not to have an "always open" (bypass) radiator (no TRV) but to fit an automatic bypass after the pump.  This opens automatically if the pressure exceeds a pre-determined value which can happen when all valves are closed.  Some combi and system boilers have this bypass built into them.  
2. There are no rules as to which room should have the bypass radiator if used, but it was common practice to fit it in the hall.
3. Bathroom radiators were often piped into the hot water primary circuit, so that they were on while the hot water cylinder was eating, rather than with the central heating.  This meant there were warm towels in summer when the heating was off. 

plumb1_2

shiraz99 said:

Alderbank said:

The permanently on radiator should be the hallway or landing one.
Bathroom radiators, like those in other rooms, should really have a thermostatic valve (TRV) to set the room temperature.
But this is a towel rail so drape towels over it (clue is in the name). They will insulate the radiator so you will get a comfortable bathroom, reasonable bills and cosy towels.
What's not to like?

Is this your personal opinion or is it backed up by any documentation? As far as I'm aware the common practice within the plumbing world is for the bathroom towel rail to be the one without a TRV, is this wrong?

This stems from the old days when we used coal fires with a back boiler to heat the hot water.
And fitting a rad in the bathroom was to disapate heat, as where wasn’t much control over a coal fire. Close the damper or open.
Most modern boilers now have a auto bypass so no need for a heat sink.
But always best to have any such rad in the bathroom rather than the hall.