One month ago I hadn’t a clue about radiators. This evening I bled our apartment’s radiators all by myself! Whoo-hoo for girl home improvements!
Radiators aren’t a popular form of heating on the west coast, thus I haven’t had a proper radiator encounter until now. According to WiseGeek radiators work by heating water that runs through a series of coils. When air comes into contact with the hot metal surfaces of a radiator it too becomes warmed. [Side note, not warm enough imho.] Over time, air can get into the radiator, which displaces the water. This unwelcome air does not heat as well as the water would and now you have a colder-than-cold radiator situation on your hands.
If you've lost yours, possibly you can snag one of these wind-up looking twists from Santa! (or just use a screwdriver)
Lucky for you, radiators come with a magic key and bleeding a radiator means to let out the unwelcome air. It barely takes a quarter of a turn on the valve of your radiator before you hear the hissing air escape, followed by some water as well. It is recommended to have a towel or rag ready. If you don’t turn off the radiators and let them cool a bit, you should be prepared for the water coming out to be muy caliente. As soon as the water starts leaking you should close the valve back up.
It is recommended that radiators should be bled at least twice a year, more often if you use them frequently throughout the winter. Because who’d have radiators and turn them off for the winter…
Happy radiator bleeding everyone and keep warm this holiday season!
I want to know who in history decided, proportionally, this would adequately heat a large living room?
Terrific work! This is the type of information that should be shared around the web. Shame on the search engines for not positioning this post higher!
Thank you for commenting. I am so glad you like my blog, please feel free to share it with your friends!
Thanks,
Mandy