The 5 Steps to bleed your radiators

Are your radiators not as warm as they should be? Are they cold at the top and warm at the bottom? If you answered yes to either of these questions, there is likely air trapped inside. To ensure your home can stay warm and toasty, you will need to “bleed” your radiators.

Bleeding your radiators is a relatively quick process, it simply involves opening a valve at the top of the radiator allowing the trapped air to escape.

Providing your radiators aren’t faulty, you shouldn’t need the help of a plumber – Here’s how you can bleed your radiators in 5 simple steps:

 

1. Turn off your heating

To prevent any additional air from getting into your radiators, ensure you turn off your central heating before you start bleeding your radiators.

2. Find the bleed valve and a radiator key

You’ll first need to locate the bleed valve on your radiator, this can usually be found at the top of the radiator or on the back depending on the manufacturer.

Your radiators will have been supplied with a radiator bleed key that you will need to use to bleed the radiator. If you’ve misplaced the key, don’t worry, you can quite easily find a replacement on our website!

3. Opening the Bleed Valve

Insert the key into the valve and turn it anti-clockwise. It shouldn’t need a full turn so ensure to turn the key slowly and gently.

You should start to hear air escaping from your radiator, once you see the water begin to trickle out from the valve, you will know all the air is out.

Tip: Have a small cup or bowl ready to catch any water that escapes from your radiator and cloth at hand as the water can be dark in colour and stain carpets if it hits the floor. If you’ve had your heating turned on recently you should also keep a cloth wrapped around your hand as the fluid inside your radiators may still be hot.

4. Close the Bleed Valve

Once the water begins to flow from the valve, you’ve successfully bled your radiator. Use your key to tighten the bleed valve and wipe up any spilt water.

5. Turn it on

After you’ve bled your radiators, you should turn your central heating back on to ensure everything is working.

Before you turn your heating back on, ensure to check the water pressure gauge on your boiler is at the required pressure as recommended by the manufacturer this is usually around 1.0bar If the pressure needs to be topped up, you can do this according to your boiler’s instructions.

After a little while, come back to your radiator and you should find that the temperature is now more even and that there is no leaking water from the bleed valve.

 

Are your radiators back to normal?

If your radiators are now back in working order and there is no water trickling from the valve, then you’re good to go, but if your radiators are still not working correctly then you will need to seek the assistance of a professional plumber.