Cold Radiators?
Just moved into my brownstone and have noticed that a few radiators stay cold even when the heat is on and the others are warm. Someone suggested that the radiators need to be “bled†to get the water out, which could be stopping the steam, or the air valves could be clogged and need to…
Just moved into my brownstone and have noticed that a few radiators stay cold even when the heat is on and the others are warm. Someone suggested that the radiators need to be “bled†to get the water out, which could be stopping the steam, or the air valves could be clogged and need to be changed. Any ideas? Who should I call to check this? Cost?
If you have tried all of the above and the radiator still doesn’t work, try the following:
1. Follow the steam pipe from the radiator back down to the boiler and see if there are any shut-off valves along the way. If there are, ensure that they are turned on. In my house, some radiators have this type of valve and some don’t.
2. Not only the radiator, but ALL horizontal pipes leading to the radiator must be pitched to the boiler. If they are pitched the wrong way, water can build up inside the pipe and prevent steam from getting through. I know this can happen because it happened to me. The plumbers were stumped, but I solved the problem myself.
If its a steam system.
Follow the pipes
Check to make sure the return pipes all lead back to your furnace and are not disconnected etc in the basement from the side of the house that is not heating up
Check out http://www.heatinghelp.com
It’s a great site for info about steam and hotwater heating.
Wow, thanks for your time and expertise.
Steam radiators do not need to be bled.
A ciculating hot water system is bled, not of water but of air which is not letting the water fill the radiator completly. Check to see that the supply vavle is open to the boiler. Backflow preventer installed?
If you have a water system open the tiny valve at the top with the special key(available at the hardware store) let out the air until water squirts out and re tighten.
If you have steam, check to see if the pipe is hot before the valve. Yes? Open the valve. People mistakenly think they can regulate a radiator by opening or closing the valve a little. This is wrong and contributes to the problem. Either all open or all closed.
If still no heat after opening the valve the valve may be defective and stuck in the closed position. $200 to change the valve.
Check the relief valve first. Is the tiny hole painted over? Yes? Clear the obstruction. Is the valve sputtering water? Replace the valve $7 (use the same number valve it’s too complicated to discuss how the valves are rated and placed in your house without seeing a schematic of the system.
Take a level and place it on top of the radiator. On a single piped system it should be pitched towards the valve slightly. This allows the cooling steam as it turns back into water to flow back down the pipe and into the boiler. Steam on the top water on the bottom. Have alot of banging sounds? Thats the hot steam smashing into the cold water as it returns in the oposite direction. Wrong pitch somewhere. Sagging pipes?
Hey might be worth having a plumber come out and explain the way the whole system works and to show you how to maintain the system.
There are any number of reasons why some radiators may be getting hot and others are not.
In a steam heating system, yes, it is most often a “venting” issue.
Those “cylindrical” or “bullet-shaped” things allow air to escape and make room inside the radiator for a new batch of steam.
If the vents are not functioning properly they may not open, or worse yet, not close. If they don’t close, they will eventually leak water.
Those vents come in different sizes and vent air at different rates.
There are several theories on how to determine a venting rate for a specific radiator. Just make sure you have something there that works and doesn’t leak.
On a hot water(or hydronic) system, the air in the radiators is let out manually (by bleeding) or the entire system is bled down at the boiler through automatic air vents, which are not always present, or operational, but should be.
Hope this helps.
good point, it would prevent the steam from circulating. I guess it would be akin to bleeding a water system radiator?
Any chance the hole at the top of the bullet shaped thing has been painted shut? We had to poke nails through ours.
Yes, the cylindrical bullet shaped thing is vertical.