Radiator Problem: URGENT HELP NEEDED!

[ColdInDuesseldorf]

Hello everybody,

I have a very urgent problem and would be incredibly grateful for help! My wife and I are expecting our first baby on the Jan 19, and moved house on Dec 29. We had three radiators replaced: In our bedroom, the “first” baby’s room, and the “second” baby’s room (all upstairs). These are not working properly. Our plumber has been here about 7 times and still hasn’t got them working. Temperatures outside have been close to minus 10 degrees this week (in Germany). It is crucially important that we are able to control the temperature when the baby is here – it is a serious health risk. I really, desperately need some support.

Currently, the radiator in our bedroom and the one in the “second” baby’s room only become warm when the radiator in the “first” baby’s room is switched on to full power (setting 5). There is another radiator on this level (bathroom), which was not replaced and works exactly as you would expect it to (so do all others in the house).

We have bled the radiators, and the pressure in the boiler is fine (the radiators in the attic, above the bedrooms, work fine). I can’t really afford to keep paying a plumber to come over, and to be honest, I am beginning to lose confidence in his abilities. Also: My wife and I are extremely nervous that this could be harmful for our baby when she arrives.

Can anybody PLEASE help?!

 

[DP]

Switch the boiler on, let the system stabilise till working radiators are hot.
Now go to cold/ cool radiators and feel the connecting pipe temperature. One of the pipes on the cold radiator should be the same temperature as pipe on a hot radiator

Your system possibly connected as two pipe system that can be compared to a railway track. One rail (pipe) takes the heat to every sleeper (radiator) and opposite rail (return pipe) takes the water back to the station (the boiler). You will appreciate all the radiator inlet pipes will be at virtually same temperature. The water leaving the radiators should also be a little cooler from every radiator.

If you have radiators that take excessive water, then radiators further away might not get sufficient water to heat adequately

 

[J_N30]

Try turning all the working radiators off and let the pump concentrate on the 3 that aren't working. Hopefully this will help push the flow through. Once warm (if it works) leave for an hour and then turn the rest back on.

 

[ColdInDuesseldorf]

Thank you both very much for this rapid and excellent advice!

@Joe: I turned all radiators in the house off, except the three in question, which then became as warm as I would expect when turned up to full heat. I am now turning the other back on, and putting everything in the house to 2 out of 5 power.

@DP: I tried this earlier this week. Both pipes on the radiators that don't work were stone cold. Our plumber indicated that we have a mixture of a one- and two- pipe system. He tried to consolidate them onto the same type of system last time he was here -- but I don't know which, as I was at work and my wife can't remember. In any case, it didn't change much in terms of performance.

I've attached pictures of the radiator pipes and controls in case that helps.

Thanks again for your support, I am extremely grateful.

 

[ianmcd]

your system needs balanced read the FAQ on here but your rads are slightly different if they all have the same valve arrangement

 

[picasso]

Just for info mate, babys are fairly tough, they don't need the house to be at 19.9c all the time, having a couple of rads not working does not mean its in any danger and cant you have the baby in the same room as you until you get it sorted?

 

[ianmcd]

Just for info mate, babys are fairly tough, they don't need the house to be at 19.9c all the time, having a couple of rads not working does not mean its in any danger and cant you have the baby in the same room as you until you get it sorted?

I was a baby once and we never had any central heating and look at me ha ha ha

 

[D_Hailsham]

I am now turning the other back on, and putting everything in the house to 2 out of 5 power.

I assume you are talking about the Thermostatic Radiator Valve's control, which is marked 1 to 5. The numbers are not power levels but represent room temperatures - 4 is about 21C. Turning the control to 5 is telling the stat that you want a room temperature of about 24C. The valve, internally, will be fully open until the room temperature is about 2C below the set temperature. It then starts gradually closing until the required temperature is reach. The valve will fully close if the temperature rises about 2C above the set temperature (due to TVs, body heat, sun warmth.

So by setting all TRVs to 5 you are saying that you want every room at 24C. The rads may get very hot, but this is because the system has been designed for a lower temperature, say 21C, so the Rad valve is fully open in a vain attempt to reach 24C, which may never happen.

Luke-warm rads is not always a sign that they are not working. It could mean that the room is up to temperature and the TRV has reduced the heat output to match the heat loss.

Your system could need balancing, which will not be an easy task if there is a mixture of one and two pipe systems. The two pipe rads are balanced so there is the same temperature drop over each rad (10C to 20C, depending on age of system). Single pipe systems have the same drop over the complete chain of rads, but it is shared between rads. The rads should have been sized taking into account the reduced output when run at lower temperatures. A single pipe system should also have a pipe bypassing each rad, so only a proportion of the flow goes through each rad. The bypasses should have been adjusted when the system was installed. This means that, unlike the 2-pipe system, the flow and return temperatures for each rad reduce as you move along the chain away from the boiler.