this genuinely saved me £90 and a cold nights sleep - im a 25 year old woman who has never lived away from her parents so i was so scared and out of my depth lol! the relief i felt after spending over 5 hours this evening trying to fix my radiator, only to finally stumble across the video that helped is unmatched!! i am so, so grateful. thank you thank you thank you!!!!!!!
That's brilliant! Well done, just be careful messing with the system, I dont want to scare you off from diy as I think people should know more, I just wouldn't want you to give yourself an air lock or anything. You won't do that messing with the lock shield and therm valves so they are fine, just be careful with the boiler itself or taking things apart on the rads. Other than that, I wish more people would overcome their fear. Most things are designed to be fool proof, so whilst you could cause an issue due to inexperience, it is unlikely and its better to learn and understand these things.
Being in the building services industry for over 20 years this is the best explanation of a basic radiator system. Fantastic and enjoyed the whole video. Thank you 👏👏
I've lived in my house for 8 years, a 3 floor town house and have spent a lot of effort trying to get the bottom floor lounge warm. After watching this i now match my room temperature with the middle floor thermostsat. Now that ive done it it seems obvious. Thanks for the presentation that changed things for me. Much appreciated
So having had two "professional" plumbers out to sort my heating and having been told there must be a blockage in the pipes I did some digging. Ended u0 replacing two radiators and still no solution. Then I stumbled on to this video and it all made sense. Had a go at balancing today and already its so much better. Going to spend a little more time soon and I'm.sure all will be sorted. Thank you so much.
I don’t know what I’d do without Roger 🙌🏽… I’m renovating a 19thC house and learning on the job. I’m a sculptor so not totally clueless with materials, but suffice to say, with each new process I take onboard, Roger is the calm, real voice of experience I can rely on. THANKYOU 🙏🏽
Thanks for the tutorial. So after 25 years of DIY I finally know that a lockshield valve is not just for preventing air bubbles in your pipes when refilling a radiator (which I believed when I was told by a plumber about 25 years ago haha).
Thank you Roger! When I were a lad, I was taught the importance of bleeding radiators. Always checking them before the weather started turning cool for autumn. My step-dad did a great job of teaching my siblings and me to independent enough to not need to call in the trades-people for general work (but to also recognise when it was a good idea to call in the professionals). So over the years I am pleased to be able to say my skills have expanded a lot. This is a huge new piece of information that I never had previously. My current central heating system was installed a little over 5 years ago (replacing an archaic back-boiler and gas heater system). I was extremely pleased with the work done, and it has served me well. This weekend, I am going to check (and if necessary adjust) the balance. I didn't even know this was a thing! The system does have cold water storage and a cylinder with an immersion heater element. So hearing you mention more info to follow about such a system, I will be waiting with bated breath to see what more I can do to improve its efficiency. I've learned a lot from the Skill Builder channel, and am very grateful for the time you and your associates put into creating the content. So I'm off to invest in thermostatic valves to replace the basic 0-5 valves on the system (been meaning to do that for 5 years). And then to repair what I think is a sticky valve, which is causing my system to refuse to provide heat to the radiators unless the water cylinder also needs it's contents heating. 👍
Great video for explains the rudiments of a heating system. Be aware that when selecting raidiators the outputs manufacturers give are based on a differential temperature of 60 Celsius that is the difference between the radiator water temperature and the room that means the boiler needs to run at 80 Celsius . For every 6 Celsius we reduce the boiler water temperature the radiator selected size needs to be 10% bigger eg if we need a heat output of 1kw then a radiator of 1.1kW is needed. To run the system with a boiler temperature of 50 Celsius radiators need to be selected with a heat output of 200% so as to get a 1kW heat output the radiator needs to be selected with a 2.0 kW output. Unfortunately very few radiator manufacturers provide this information on their literature. Hope this helps folks.
Why would one radiator have cold water in it plenty of pressure plenty of water passing through it no air whatsoever but no warm water at all I had the system running while bleeding it through and the water dosent even get luke warm the valves are ok at either side I changed the thermostatic one
Many thanks, a complete eye opener. I'd never come across radiator balancing before, but it all makes sense the way you explained it. A task to complete before the onset of winter.
Very knowledgeable person, was able to explain so any central heating Dumb can understand. I learnt a lot today. Thank you sincerely. By the way, I am 88 years old
Very knowledgeable, hence able to simplify the instructions Been doing enduser training for 30+ years, I've found the K.I.S.S system of training works best, KISS stands for Keep It Simple Stupid. and is very adaptable and works in any environment
Just done this and the difference is amazing ! Every radiator in the house is now piping hot where before I had 3 that just were not performing . Thanks for the vid , not worried about a cold winter now 😎👍
Honestly, I’ve watched so many videos to fully understand the lock shield valve’s purpose fully and what happens when you close/open this valve. This is best video and the only one for me that explained it so clearly. What worked for me is when you said ‘water is lazy’ 😂. Amazing. I watched this video last year and watched it again now just now to remind myself about the lock shield valve. Thanks 🙏
Been trying to get a plumber out to sort out some of these issues on my heating system for 4 months now and just about given up. This video has just saved me a fair few quid! Many thanks.
I’ve had radiators on and off the wall as part of the renovation as well as putting new ones in. Balancing is on my list of things to do, so this is great
If I had you near me me I'd buy you a pint. I have had 2 plumbers look at my system and it was still dodgy. Watched this and set about setting the lockshields as you said to. It is now perfect, all rads nice n warm and the boiler, an old Riello, is running at minimum setting. Thanks a milllion, keep up the good work.
Yet another excellent explanation in simple language. Even if not planning to carry out the work, these are so good as general interest and educational resources for a home owner and DIY enthusiast. Thank you.
Hi Stephen. That is great, I am really glad if it helps. I wrote a couple of DIY plumbing and heating books back in the day and I was really surprised when I learned that some apprentices were using them. Sometimes the really technical books are a bit hard to digest.
Really useful and clear explanation Roger. One question: what’s the best size pipe to run from the boiler? 20mm from the boiler and t off 15mm to the rads, or just keep it to 15mm throughout?
@@jamesmcgill8645 it's a low pressure system, so 22 at the very least, maybe even 1 size up (1.5" equiv.) for the first run if you are branching it for groups of radiators (use 22 for those branches), just try to keep the size suggested by the boiler connections for the first length (to the first T) at least. Try to add a T to the bigger pipe diameter in vicinity (you can reduce the branch if there's no direct T for the 2 sizes).
Thanks for this - just managed to 'fix' my central heating system using just touch assessment of radiator warmth, a spanner, screwdriver and pliers. Total cost - zero.
Thank you Roger and the team for producing this video. That's me away to give it a go. Please keep up the good work as I am learning all the time. I am glad that I am not the only one who needs this explaining.
Been trying to understand what balancing was and been trying to suss out how you balance an underflow heating system with the flow meters, you have just made me an expert after your wonderful illustrations and explanation in balance and flow of water thank you very much Sir.
Great teaching for an electrician who loves plumbing stuff ( frustrated plumber) . Didn’t think about balancing the radiators but I can now see why you would. Very interesting. Don’t forget the automatic /bypass valve for systems with TVR’s on all radiators .
Thank you for this. Your information is invaluable. We've just moved into our first home with a conventional system and I couldn't get the last radiator to work. Will be be trying this tomorrow.
Great info and very timely. I’ve never had a plumber who’s balanced the radiators beyond getting them hot :-). My thought had always been they should come back a few weeks after the system has been running and tweak it? On the running at lower temperature bit, a plumber 20 years ago said a system should be able to heat your house with radiators that were always on just warm enough to hold your hand on comfortably otherwise the boiler would be working too hard!
If you had a plumber saying that 20 years ago he was ahead of the game because condensing boilers were just coming in. The lower temperatures were not that adventageous on old style boilers but they get the best out of condensing boilers.
Skill Builder He may well have been. It was an early domestic installation of a Weismann Condensing boiler and unvented hot water cylinder system it was between 18 & 20 years ago. Mind you my then wife (hence why I know the date) used to run the house at 28 degrees so I’m not sure we got the efficiency benefit!!
We have a condensing boiler in a newish house (10years). We have one rad that never ever gets even warm....and another that gets warm when only the hot water is on not the heating.....what is going on?
So glad I found this video we've just lost my dad and he did all the radiators. My mum has a rad that is not putting out heat in the hall and this video has been so helpful I've actually learnt loads and found it interesting how it all fits together round the house. Thanks for the helpful video.
I never cease to be amazed by how many experienced plumbers think that you don't need, (or can't be bothered) to balance radiators if thermostatic valves are fitted. They just leave the lockshields fully open.
OMG! Such an informative video! There are so many videos showing/telling you how to balance your system but this ACTUALLY explains how and why to do it! I understand it all so much more now. Thank you - brilliant tutorial 😊
Thanks great vid! Never understood what balancing the system meant until I just watched this, well I'm a sparky aren't I? ! Thought my gaffe was getting a bit cold in some rooms, just watched this, and it completely explains why! All my return V/Vs on every rad were wide open :) So, i've closed the ones nearest the boiler a couple of turns, and it's made quite a difference already. It's too late right now to do the 11 degC check, I'll have another go tomorrow. I also bled the system tonight too, there was loads of air in one rad!
Good basics and very clear! You may wish to explain that many systems with thermostatic rad valves will often have a bypass radiator that has to have flow all the time, usually in the bathroom, and should not be flow inhibited to avoid pump damage.
The area where the thermostat/controller is located (usually hallway) should run 'wild' to prevent 'hunting'. Didn't think pump damage was an issue with inverter driven pumps
Every now and again, I’m glad our devices listen to our conversations..! My friend and I were talking about the heating today; I switch on the iPad and TH-cam and there is your video as a ‘suggestion’!!! 21 years I’ve lived in my house and the living room rad has never felt more than warm... Now having turned the ‘exit’ valves on the preceding rads to almost off, the living room is too hot! Thanks. :-)
Your way ahead of explaining than other vids I watched. Better explanation of the way the cold valve works, and what happens when you adjust it. Thank you.
Merry Christmas!! On the diagram the flow t’s immediately from the boiler for each floor. Presumably that means that downstairs (assuming that’s where your boiler is) will take priority over upstairs if you have the return valve open on all of those. Our downstairs radiators heat up almost immediately but upstairs takes ages
Thanks for posting this video I followed your instructions and other TH-cam videos just like this one it has done the job, my fat is a lot warmer and my central heating is not always trying to heat the flat. Keep up the good work the videos are very useful.
Let's have a whip-round to buy some new marker pens for Roger. The ink is a solvent that evaporates over time and you get weak colours. Thanks for a clear and concise video.
Great videos, it’s all depends on the installation of pipe work and number of radiators and the distance, a good heating engineer don’t cut corners and being tight on pipe work, so the balancing easy. If balancing doesn’t work, then clean your system and change the pump, because the pump can be weak. Excellent video about temperature differential mentioned there.
Thanks for the Friday night entertainment :). WIll there be a part 2 where you mention the water cylinder and guidance around keeping one or more radiators open in the loops?
Very good explanation Roger. Other guides say the upstairs rads tend to be greedier and need fewer turns than downstairs. I suppose it needs that bit of patience to get it right. I eventually got my own dialled in after replacing all the downstairs for new. 👍
Our rads were put in 20 years ago and luckily they were oversized as we're running the combi at 48C flow. Setback temp of 16C then 18 all day until teatime where we set the temp to 19C until 10 ish. The lower the flow temp the lower temp difference you need at the rad, we're on 11C difference. We have also invested in a PIV, we don't even have the heater switched on on it. It circulates the heat lovely too. The low radiator temp gives off a lovely consistent heat and none of the clanking with not having red hot rads (which can be dangerous anyway).
Excellent video. Keeping technical explanations and diagrams simple, helps to absorb the information, and aids in taking on the task. Brilliant! Thanks.
This is first house I’ve had with thermostatic valves, which allow still-hot water to return to the boiler. You’ve opened my eyes to why I’ve been having problems at the end of the rad run. I’m hopeful I can now fix it by adjusting the lockshield valves. Thanks very much, great video!
BTW TRVs don't allow hot water to reopen to the boiler - that's caused by fully open Lockshield valves, i.e. The water's getting through the radiator too fast - it's not had time to lose its heat to the room.
Thanks so much for this video I found it really helpful. Your way of explaining things gave me confidence to tackle balancing my radiators, great video!
Fantastic video. Got up in the middle of the night and cane across this video. Very well explained and entertaining as well. Now I must get back to bed to keep the lady of the house warm.
Very useful video. I actually have a Baxi condenser combi and I've set it to 80 C and it's costing quite a bit to heat this old Victorian house. I tried setting the boilder to 55 C yesterday after watching the video and the house is still warm as before, so I'm hopeful that the bills might come down as a result. Also, I've never even heard of balancing the radiators - not even our plumber does it, so thanks for the tip!
Great video very clear. One question that I’m struggling to understand - you say it doesn’t matter if the thermostatic valve is on the flow or return side of the radiator. All the videos on this subject seem to show the thermostatic valve in the flow side. How would you balance the radiator if the thermostatic valve is on the return side? Hope you can for explain this one for me. Thank you
great explanation, I will be attempting this as I have to replace an old thermostatic valve on 1 upstairs so the system will need draining down and it will be a good time to try this, I may even get the one cold rad that struggles to get hot to work properly.
Thanks for this - I had balanced all my radiators but then had an extension built - another shower, towel rail and radiator all added onto the existing infrastructure but not sure on which flowline! and since then we have had a lot of issues with the radiators. Trying to work out the flow sequence has hurt my head but just starting with the ones that get hot quickly is nice and simple!
Thank you for the whiteboard description of the heating system. It's always easier to repair something when one knows how it works. One question to which I've never found an answer. If the thermostatic valve is used to adjust a room's temperature and every room has one. What is the purpose of the temperature control in the hallway and should the rooms be closed.
I always leave the TRV on maximum for the radiator thats in the same room as the room thermostat. Don't know if this is what you're supposed to do, but it just makes sense to me.
What a beautiful video, so well explained and with the new gas prices. IV always struggled in winter down stairs always cooler than upstairs, which I prefer the other way round as I only need main bed room rad on low, rest of upstairs gets most of heat from downstairs rooms. Thank you.
how about diagonal piping - flow pipe going to the top corner of the radiator, return pipe going the bottom opposing side of the radiator - will it have higher efficiency with large number of radiators on one line?
Great video! word of advice though, you cant have 20oc at the boiler and 11oc at the radiators. 11oc target drop for rads was for old non-condensing boilers, if you have a condensing boiler (one that needs 20oc drop across it) you also require a similar drop at the radiator. Keep up the great vids!
Thanks Rodger explained so the novice can understand how it works and how to sort out any problems I’ve been looking for a video to show me exactly what you’ve been on about for a while now so thanks a million
amazing, I now know flow and return terminology, and the valve differences on a radiator. I absolutely love the skill Builder series. big thumbs up mate. please continue the series.
This all makes perfect sense, thank you, but I now have a question! My boiler (with hot water tank upstairs in the wiring cupboard) has 6 radiators on the downstairs circuit. After an extension two of these are additional. How do I know the order of the flow? Or how can I determine this most reliably? There is one radiator which takes longer than the others to warm up….
I don't know why I have thermostatic valves on the radiators, the wife has them all turned up full honk, all year round, she uses the main thermostat as her "master" temperature control, so no need for controls on the boiler either! Good job I've doctored the bugger so it can't exceed 20°C, Ha Ha!👍 Good video, thanks!
Very, very well explained Roger, I was trying to explain this to a couple of mates last night after a program they'd watched on Channel 5 (30 ways to save money) advised (very briefly) to turn the flow temperature down for better economy, I'll just send them a link to this video now, job done
Cheers! Absolutely superb video. It had been power flushed and have radiators on a separate run that wouldn't heat up. Balanced them all and it's working! Thanks Roger!
Such an excellent explanation ... after 15 years I understand now why my front room radiators are not so hot and specially since I had the new efficient boiler 2 years ago. Thank you
I have Honeywell valves on my heating system, they have a very cleaver adjustment depending on the radiator size and required delta t. It makes balancing very simple.
Thank you for explaining this. What about a 'designer' vertical radiator? I have one in the kitchen and it is only warm, never gets really hot, even after I bled it. It is a brand new system that I had installed last August
Would love a similar series on balancing UFH manifolds. Seems a lot of principles from this video can be applied to UFH manifolds, but still seems a lesser known area.
Very nicely put together. I haven't touched the temperature setting set to max by the heating technician; but now I can see that setting it lower will hopefully make my system more efficient while putting less strain on it so that it's heated up more slowly.
There'll be no strain on your system by it being run hotter. The system will be more efficient if it runs slightly cooler because the water returning to the boiler will be below the temperature required to make the gas fumes condense this releasing more heat.
Very grateful for this video, really helped in combination with others explaining balancing your rads First time in years i got our heating working again in some way Bloody sweating here after doing this, now its too warm, but better then being cold like i was. Now need to learn to make that difference 11c difference like you suggest. Good enough for now, i will do that later, just thanks for this video, you people must help alot, and good on you.
This is a great video as it is so clear and easy to follow - thanks very much. Always amazes me that the people who know most about stuff just make it seem simple. Those who don't just confuse you with jargon.
Thank you mate, I didnt realise, but makes perfect sense. I will try to turn down my lock shields as a couple of Rad;s are not heating up fully (already bleeded them)
Very clear explanation. I am surprised there would be such a temperature difference between inlet and outlet on each radiator. I would have thought that after a while, the temperature would equalize.
Very interesting. Plumber at mine today as when first floor calling for heat downstairs at zero the ground floor was also getting warm. He thinks it may be too high a pump pressure from boiler and system never balanced with all lock valves fully open.
Yeah sounds like reverse circulation. Often happens when the return pipe isn't plumbed in at the right place, can get to the end of one zone, passes the return on the 2nd zone > up return of first rad in 2nd zone > into flow of the rest of that zone. Isn't too bad to test for but can be a pain to resolve if that's the case depending on pipe route/floor covers etc etc.
@@effervescence5664 Laminate, tiles and laminate everywhere and somewhere a pipe did leak. Laminate, tiles, and laminate everywhere. To gain access, one must think. Apologies to S T Coleridge.
We use a different system. Each zone is a loop. That is to say, one pipe runs from the zone valve to all the radiators on that zone then to the return manifold. Each rad is connected to the supply line twice, the first "T" is a venturi T (aka bypass valve or bypass T) which feeds the rad thru the thermostatic valve. The return is fed from the rad to the back side of the hot supply then to the next rad. This is done to keep the pipes hot in severe cold weather. The down side to this is a slight loss of heat when the cool water in the rad mixes with the hot water in the supply line, but all the radiators do heat up evenly and we avoid using more materials than are necessary.
I'd halfway figured this needed doing but this really helps add some method to my madness! I was focusing on limiting flow rates, but adjusting the return valves makes perfect sense - thanks! 👍
Brilliant. I don't often write on these but credit to you brilliant explaination. One thing I don't understand though. How do you know how hot the temperature is going in to the radiator and how do you reduce the heat for the return?
this genuinely saved me £90 and a cold nights sleep - im a 25 year old woman who has never lived away from her parents so i was so scared and out of my depth lol! the relief i felt after spending over 5 hours this evening trying to fix my radiator, only to finally stumble across the video that helped is unmatched!! i am so, so grateful. thank you thank you thank you!!!!!!!
That's brilliant! Well done, just be careful messing with the system, I dont want to scare you off from diy as I think people should know more, I just wouldn't want you to give yourself an air lock or anything. You won't do that messing with the lock shield and therm valves so they are fine, just be careful with the boiler itself or taking things apart on the rads. Other than that, I wish more people would overcome their fear. Most things are designed to be fool proof, so whilst you could cause an issue due to inexperience, it is unlikely and its better to learn and understand these things.
Modern combi boilers now require up to 20 degs delta T to keep them in condensing mode.
Being in the building services industry for over 20 years this is the best explanation of a basic radiator system. Fantastic and enjoyed the whole video. Thank you 👏👏
same! thanks for the video !
exactly
I've lived in my house for 8 years, a 3 floor town house and have spent a lot of effort trying to get the bottom floor lounge warm. After watching this i now match my room temperature with the middle floor thermostsat. Now that ive done it it seems obvious. Thanks for the presentation that changed things for me. Much appreciated
Funnily enough I'm exactly the same! Our master bedroom is quite cold and I think it might be at the end of the chain. I'm going to give this a try!
Hi what do you match match room with middle floor temperature? I live in the same set up but the top floor is always cold
Downstairs is 20 (where the thermostat is) 1st floor 17.5 and top floor 16!
So having had two "professional" plumbers out to sort my heating and having been told there must be a blockage in the pipes I did some digging. Ended u0 replacing two radiators and still no solution. Then I stumbled on to this video and it all made sense. Had a go at balancing today and already its so much better. Going to spend a little more time soon and I'm.sure all will be sorted. Thank you so much.
I had exactly the same, plumbers me a%^%
I don’t know what I’d do without Roger 🙌🏽… I’m renovating a 19thC house and learning on the job. I’m a sculptor so not totally clueless with materials, but suffice to say, with each new process I take onboard, Roger is the calm, real voice of experience I can rely on. THANKYOU 🙏🏽
Roger is like the dad you always wanted (to learn from.....:)
Thanks for the tutorial. So after 25 years of DIY I finally know that a lockshield valve is not just for preventing air bubbles in your pipes when refilling a radiator (which I believed when I was told by a plumber about 25 years ago haha).
Your info is magic , ive solved two problems already, fixed my troublesome motorised zone valve, and air in radiator , thank you .
Thank you Roger!
When I were a lad, I was taught the importance of bleeding radiators. Always checking them before the weather started turning cool for autumn. My step-dad did a great job of teaching my siblings and me to independent enough to not need to call in the trades-people for general work (but to also recognise when it was a good idea to call in the professionals). So over the years I am pleased to be able to say my skills have expanded a lot.
This is a huge new piece of information that I never had previously. My current central heating system was installed a little over 5 years ago (replacing an archaic back-boiler and gas heater system). I was extremely pleased with the work done, and it has served me well. This weekend, I am going to check (and if necessary adjust) the balance. I didn't even know this was a thing!
The system does have cold water storage and a cylinder with an immersion heater element. So hearing you mention more info to follow about such a system, I will be waiting with bated breath to see what more I can do to improve its efficiency.
I've learned a lot from the Skill Builder channel, and am very grateful for the time you and your associates put into creating the content.
So I'm off to invest in thermostatic valves to replace the basic 0-5 valves on the system (been meaning to do that for 5 years). And then to repair what I think is a sticky valve, which is causing my system to refuse to provide heat to the radiators unless the water cylinder also needs it's contents heating.
👍
Wow! I just went from knowing nothing at all about central heating to having a basic knowledge about how it works in a few minutes. Great video! 👍
Yes, exactly!
The question is:- how do you know which is the flow and return on a rad ?
@@alanb1935 return is colder
@@alanb1935 Feel the pipes. The hottest one is the feed !
Took the words right out of my mouth 👍 thanks Roger
Great video for explains the rudiments of a heating system. Be aware that when selecting raidiators the outputs manufacturers give are based on a differential temperature of 60 Celsius that is the difference between the radiator water temperature and the room that means the boiler needs to run at 80 Celsius . For every 6 Celsius we reduce the boiler water temperature the radiator selected size needs to be 10% bigger eg if we need a heat output of 1kw then a radiator of 1.1kW is needed. To run the system with a boiler temperature of 50 Celsius radiators need to be selected with a heat output of 200% so as to get a 1kW heat output the radiator needs to be selected with a 2.0 kW output. Unfortunately very few radiator manufacturers provide this information on their literature. Hope this helps folks.
thank you for the information it has helped me a lot i just wish manufacturers would tell the truth why make it hard when you can make it simple
That's why people complain there is no heat when cowboys fit the new heat pumps without a completely new set of radiators and pipes.
Not sure what you mean be increaseing the Rad size by 200% for reduction of Boiler Temp of 30°C should it not be 150% ?
Why would one radiator have cold water in it plenty of pressure plenty of water passing through it no air whatsoever but no warm water at all I had the system running while bleeding it through and the water dosent even get luke warm the valves are ok at either side I changed the thermostatic one
@@seanrichards2962 maybe an air lock or a stuck valve.
Many thanks, a complete eye opener. I'd never come across radiator balancing before, but it all makes sense the way you explained it. A task to complete before the onset of winter.
This guy is an excellent presenter / teacher. Very clearly and simply explained. If you watch this you WILL understand balancing!
Very knowledgeable person, was able to explain so any central heating Dumb can understand. I learnt a lot today.
Thank you sincerely. By the way, I am 88 years old
Very knowledgeable, hence able to simplify the instructions
Been doing enduser training for 30+ years, I've found the K.I.S.S system of training works best, KISS stands for Keep It Simple Stupid. and is very adaptable and works in any environment
Just done this and the difference is amazing ! Every radiator in the house is now piping hot where before I had 3 that just were not performing . Thanks for the vid , not worried about a cold winter now 😎👍
Honestly, I’ve watched so many videos to fully understand the lock shield valve’s purpose fully and what happens when you close/open this valve. This is best video and the only one for me that explained it so clearly. What worked for me is when you said ‘water is lazy’ 😂. Amazing. I watched this video last year and watched it again now just now to remind myself about the lock shield valve. Thanks 🙏
Been trying to get a plumber out to sort out some of these issues on my heating system for 4 months now and just about given up. This video has just saved me a fair few quid! Many thanks.
Isn't it a nightmare trying to get help. I had to fix my own as well.
Thanks a lot going to try this tomorrow solid fuel stove only 3 rads hot out of 6 in a bungalow hope it works.
I’ve had radiators on and off the wall as part of the renovation as well as putting new ones in. Balancing is on my list of things to do, so this is great
If I had you near me me I'd buy you a pint. I have had 2 plumbers look at my system and it was still dodgy. Watched this and set about setting the lockshields as you said to. It is now perfect, all rads nice n warm and the boiler, an old Riello, is running at minimum setting. Thanks a milllion, keep up the good work.
Love this guy’s vids. No BS, just factual and to the point
Yet another excellent explanation in simple language. Even if not planning to carry out the work, these are so good as general interest and educational resources for a home owner and DIY enthusiast. Thank you.
as my dad always said,water finds the route of least resistance.great work roger.
Fantastic video Roger! Balanced my radiators and blimey, what a difference it made! Massive thanks!
Excellent
Absolutely brilliant video Roger, more videos like this please! Just starting my level 2 diploma in plumbing so very helpful for me!.Thanks!
Hi Stephen. That is great, I am really glad if it helps. I wrote a couple of DIY plumbing and heating books back in the day and I was really surprised when I learned that some apprentices were using them. Sometimes the really technical books are a bit hard to digest.
Really useful and clear explanation Roger. One question: what’s the best size pipe to run from the boiler? 20mm from the boiler and t off 15mm to the rads, or just keep it to 15mm throughout?
@@jamesmcgill8645 it's a low pressure system, so 22 at the very least, maybe even 1 size up (1.5" equiv.) for the first run if you are branching it for groups of radiators (use 22 for those branches), just try to keep the size suggested by the boiler connections for the first length (to the first T) at least. Try to add a T to the bigger pipe diameter in vicinity (you can reduce the branch if there's no direct T for the 2 sizes).
@@SkillBuilder Wife wants it hotter! no chance, go and put another cardigan on love!!!!
You’ve got no heart🥶🥲
Thanks for this - just managed to 'fix' my central heating system using just touch assessment of radiator warmth, a spanner, screwdriver and pliers. Total cost - zero.
Thank you Roger and the team for producing this video. That's me away to give it a go. Please keep up the good work as I am learning all the time. I am glad that I am not the only one who needs this explaining.
Such a pleasure to watch someone with a true love for his craft , silky slick teaching skills too sir .. well done indeed
Been trying to understand what balancing was and been trying to suss out how you balance an underflow heating system with the flow meters, you have just made me an expert after your wonderful illustrations and explanation in balance and flow of water thank you very much Sir.
Great teaching for an electrician who loves plumbing stuff ( frustrated plumber) . Didn’t think about balancing the radiators but I can now see why you would. Very interesting. Don’t forget the automatic /bypass valve for systems with TVR’s on all radiators .
Thank you, Roger, for such a clear and simple explanation. God bless! 🙏🏻
Thank you for this. Your information is invaluable. We've just moved into our first home with a conventional system and I couldn't get the last radiator to work. Will be be trying this tomorrow.
Great info and very timely. I’ve never had a plumber who’s balanced the radiators beyond getting them hot :-). My thought had always been they should come back a few weeks after the system has been running and tweak it? On the running at lower temperature bit, a plumber 20 years ago said a system should be able to heat your house with radiators that were always on just warm enough to hold your hand on comfortably otherwise the boiler would be working too hard!
If you had a plumber saying that 20 years ago he was ahead of the game because condensing boilers were just coming in. The lower temperatures were not that adventageous on old style boilers but they get the best out of condensing boilers.
Skill Builder He may well have been. It was an early domestic installation of a Weismann Condensing boiler and unvented hot water cylinder system it was between 18 & 20 years ago. Mind you my then wife (hence why I know the date) used to run the house at 28 degrees so I’m not sure we got the efficiency benefit!!
We have a condensing boiler in a newish house (10years). We have one rad that never ever gets even warm....and another that gets warm when only the hot water is on not the heating.....what is going on?
@@ravey1981 is the one that gets hot with the hot water cylinder in the bathroom by any chance?
Best explanation/video on system balancing I have seen, now I understand what I was doing wrong. Thank you so much !!
So glad I found this video we've just lost my dad and he did all the radiators. My mum has a rad that is not putting out heat in the hall and this video has been so helpful I've actually learnt loads and found it interesting how it all fits together round the house. Thanks for the helpful video.
I never cease to be amazed by how many experienced plumbers think that you don't need, (or can't be bothered) to balance radiators if thermostatic valves are fitted. They just leave the lockshields fully open.
It's less of a need if TRV are fitted and used correctly
But the vast majority dont use a TRV correctly and just bung it on max
After just watching another vid about this,and being non thr wiser,I watched this and all became clear.Thank you.
Great to see you back Sir Roger, hope you are keeping well.
Thanks mate. I am well I think but I am no doctor
OMG! Such an informative video! There are so many videos showing/telling you how to balance your system but this ACTUALLY explains how and why to do it! I understand it all so much more now. Thank you - brilliant tutorial 😊
Thanks great vid! Never understood what balancing the system meant until I just watched this, well I'm a sparky aren't I? ! Thought my gaffe was getting a bit cold in some rooms, just watched this, and it completely explains why! All my return V/Vs on every rad were wide open :) So, i've closed the ones nearest the boiler a couple of turns, and it's made quite a difference already. It's too late right now to do the 11 degC check, I'll have another go tomorrow. I also bled the system tonight too, there was loads of air in one rad!
Good basics and very clear! You may wish to explain that many systems with thermostatic rad valves will often have a bypass radiator that has to have flow all the time, usually in the bathroom, and should not be flow inhibited to avoid pump damage.
The area where the thermostat/controller is located (usually hallway) should run 'wild' to prevent 'hunting'. Didn't think pump damage was an issue with inverter driven pumps
Yep mines in the hall where the wall thermostat is. It’s set to ‘ run wild’ as you say - great plumbing term I’ve just learned lol😅
Every now and again, I’m glad our devices listen to our conversations..! My friend and I were talking about the heating today; I switch on the iPad and TH-cam and there is your video as a ‘suggestion’!!! 21 years I’ve lived in my house and the living room rad has never felt more than warm... Now having turned the ‘exit’ valves on the preceding rads to almost off, the living room is too hot! Thanks. :-)
Your way ahead of explaining than other vids I watched. Better explanation of the way the cold valve works, and what happens when you adjust it. Thank you.
Merry Christmas!! On the diagram the flow t’s immediately from the boiler for each floor. Presumably that means that downstairs (assuming that’s where your boiler is) will take priority over upstairs if you have the return valve open on all of those. Our downstairs radiators heat up almost immediately but upstairs takes ages
Thanks again - very helpful. I'm going to track all the pipework/rads to see the flow and balance the system.
Thanks for posting this video I followed your instructions and other TH-cam videos just like this one it has done the job, my fat is a lot warmer and my central heating is not always trying to heat the flat. Keep up the good work the videos are very useful.
Let's have a whip-round to buy some new marker pens for Roger. The ink is a solvent that evaporates over time and you get weak colours. Thanks for a clear and concise video.
Great videos, it’s all depends on the installation of pipe work and number of radiators and the distance, a good heating engineer don’t cut corners and being tight on pipe work, so the balancing easy.
If balancing doesn’t work, then clean your system and change the pump, because the pump can be weak.
Excellent video about temperature differential mentioned there.
Thanks for the Friday night entertainment :). WIll there be a part 2 where you mention the water cylinder and guidance around keeping one or more radiators open in the loops?
Very good explanation Roger. Other guides say the upstairs rads tend to be greedier and need fewer turns than downstairs. I suppose it needs that bit of patience to get it right. I eventually got my own dialled in after replacing all the downstairs for new. 👍
Back in the day the upstairs always did better because of gravity circulation but now it is really a question of pipework resistance.
Our rads were put in 20 years ago and luckily they were oversized as we're running the combi at 48C flow. Setback temp of 16C then 18 all day until teatime where we set the temp to 19C until 10 ish. The lower the flow temp the lower temp difference you need at the rad, we're on 11C difference. We have also invested in a PIV, we don't even have the heater switched on on it. It circulates the heat lovely too. The low radiator temp gives off a lovely consistent heat and none of the clanking with not having red hot rads (which can be dangerous anyway).
Excellent video. Keeping technical explanations and diagrams simple, helps to absorb the information, and aids in taking on the task. Brilliant! Thanks.
This is first house I’ve had with thermostatic valves, which allow still-hot water to return to the boiler. You’ve opened my eyes to why I’ve been having problems at the end of the rad run. I’m hopeful I can now fix it by adjusting the lockshield valves. Thanks very much, great video!
BTW TRVs don't allow hot water to reopen to the boiler - that's caused by fully open Lockshield valves, i.e. The water's getting through the radiator too fast - it's not had time to lose its heat to the room.
Thanks so much for this video I found it really helpful. Your way of explaining things gave me confidence to tackle balancing my radiators, great video!
I really appreciate you. Thank you so much. Clear and precise. Absolute ledgend. 💯 ❤
3 Plumbers in four years haven’t solved this exact problem. 2 Zone valve too. Thank you.
Fantastic video. Got up in the middle of the night and cane across this video. Very well explained and entertaining as well. Now I must get back to bed to keep the lady of the house warm.
Very useful video. I actually have a Baxi condenser combi and I've set it to 80 C and it's costing quite a bit to heat this old Victorian house. I tried setting the boilder to 55 C yesterday after watching the video and the house is still warm as before, so I'm hopeful that the bills might come down as a result. Also, I've never even heard of balancing the radiators - not even our plumber does it, so thanks for the tip!
Once again a mass of REAL info to help get things correct NICEONE FELLA😉👍
Great video very clear. One question that I’m struggling to understand - you say it doesn’t matter if the thermostatic valve is on the flow or return side of the radiator. All the videos on this subject seem to show the thermostatic valve in the flow side. How would you balance the radiator if the thermostatic valve is on the return side? Hope you can for explain this one for me. Thank you
great explanation, I will be attempting this as I have to replace an old thermostatic valve on 1 upstairs so the system will need draining down and it will be a good time to try this, I may even get the one cold rad that struggles to get hot to work properly.
Thanks for this - I had balanced all my radiators but then had an extension built - another shower, towel rail and radiator all added onto the existing infrastructure but not sure on which flowline! and since then we have had a lot of issues with the radiators. Trying to work out the flow sequence has hurt my head but just starting with the ones that get hot quickly is nice and simple!
Thank you for the whiteboard description of the heating system. It's always easier to repair something when one knows how it works. One question to which I've never found an answer. If the thermostatic valve is used to adjust a room's temperature and every room has one. What is the purpose of the temperature control in the hallway and should the rooms be closed.
The radiator thermostat is for the level of heat it will give out. The room thermostat is hot you want the room/building. Hope this helps ✌
I always leave the TRV on maximum for the radiator thats in the same room as the room thermostat. Don't know if this is what you're supposed to do, but it just makes sense to me.
What a beautiful video, so well explained and with the new gas prices.
IV always struggled in winter down stairs always cooler than upstairs, which I prefer the other way round as I only need main bed room rad on low, rest of upstairs gets most of heat from downstairs rooms.
Thank you.
how about diagonal piping - flow pipe going to the top corner of the radiator, return pipe going the bottom opposing side of the radiator - will it have higher efficiency with large number of radiators on one line?
Thank you really helped me in an emergency and needed the radiator working , and this has helped me a lot ,
Thanks for a great explanation and giving me the understanding and confidence to have a look at a cold radiator ! Cheers !
Thanks Roger, very helpful. I've just replaced all my rads, thermostatic and lockshield valves and will need to do this before autumn arrives.Cheers!
Great video! word of advice though, you cant have 20oc at the boiler and 11oc at the radiators. 11oc target drop for rads was for old non-condensing boilers, if you have a condensing boiler (one that needs 20oc drop across it) you also require a similar drop at the radiator.
Keep up the great vids!
Thanks Rodger explained so the novice can understand how it works and how to sort out any problems I’ve been looking for a video to show me exactly what you’ve been on about for a while now so thanks a million
Very well done ... even here in California, heating is an important issue, I have a small house with simple gas heaters ...
I’ve worked in lots of old house and you never know how it’s piped, but like you said, turn down the ones that heat up quickly.
amazing, I now know flow and return terminology, and the valve differences on a radiator. I absolutely love the skill Builder series. big thumbs up mate. please continue the series.
Glad you liked it!
Bang for your bucks. Great content well done Roger. A huge help in spite of your wiggly lines
This all makes perfect sense, thank you, but I now have a question!
My boiler (with hot water tank upstairs in the wiring cupboard) has 6 radiators on the downstairs circuit. After an extension two of these are additional. How do I know the order of the flow? Or how can I determine this most reliably? There is one radiator which takes longer than the others to warm up….
Great video! Think I understand as a lay person/normal homeowner. Thanks!
Brilliant explanation of the working of a system! So glad I watched this video before bleeding my radiators.
Many thanks.
I don't know why I have thermostatic valves on the radiators, the wife has them all turned up full honk, all year round, she uses the main thermostat as her "master" temperature control, so no need for controls on the boiler either! Good job I've doctored the bugger so it can't exceed 20°C, Ha Ha!👍
Good video, thanks!
This comment has just made my day! Classic man v woman tussle on house temperature!! Love it!!
Very, very well explained Roger, I was trying to explain this to a couple of mates last night after a program they'd watched on Channel 5 (30 ways to save money) advised (very briefly) to turn the flow temperature down for better economy, I'll just send them a link to this video now, job done
Now we can see why you are a plumber!
You plainly love the subject and are pretty passionate about pipes!!
Excellent presentation!
😁
Thank you. I hate plumbing I am just a good actor.
@@SkillBuilder I hope you’re not offended if I say I don’t believe you…! 😂😂
Cheers! Absolutely superb video. It had been power flushed and have radiators on a separate run that wouldn't heat up. Balanced them all and it's working! Thanks Roger!
Such an excellent explanation ... after 15 years I understand now why my front room radiators are not so hot and specially since I had the new efficient boiler 2 years ago.
Thank you
I have Honeywell valves on my heating system, they have a very cleaver adjustment depending on the radiator size and required delta t.
It makes balancing very simple.
Thank you for explaining this. What about a 'designer' vertical radiator? I have one in the kitchen and it is only warm, never gets really hot, even after I bled it. It is a brand new system that I had installed last August
Would love a similar series on balancing UFH manifolds. Seems a lot of principles from this video can be applied to UFH manifolds, but still seems a lesser known area.
Does it matter in which order you adjust your radiators? If so, how do you determine which one to start with?
Very nicely put together. I haven't touched the temperature setting set to max by the heating technician; but now I can see that setting it lower will hopefully make my system more efficient while putting less strain on it so that it's heated up more slowly.
There'll be no strain on your system by it being run hotter.
The system will be more efficient if it runs slightly cooler because the water returning to the boiler will be below the temperature required to make the gas fumes condense this releasing more heat.
Very grateful for this video, really helped in combination with others explaining balancing your rads
First time in years i got our heating working again in some way
Bloody sweating here after doing this, now its too warm, but better then being cold like i was.
Now need to learn to make that difference 11c difference like you suggest. Good enough for now, i will do that later, just thanks for this video, you people must help alot, and good on you.
Wow, absolutely brilliant, so well explained, will be attempting to balance our rads tomorrow, thankyou
This is a great video as it is so clear and easy to follow - thanks very much. Always amazes me that the people who know most about stuff just make it seem simple. Those who don't just confuse you with jargon.
that is so so true
Thank you mate, I didnt realise, but makes perfect sense. I will try to turn down my lock shields as a couple of Rad;s are not heating up fully (already bleeded them)
Very clear explanation. I am surprised there would be such a temperature difference between inlet and outlet on each radiator. I would have thought that after a while, the temperature would equalize.
Best explanation of Radiator balancing I have seen :) Thanks
Very interesting. Plumber at mine today as when first floor calling for heat downstairs at zero the ground floor was also getting warm. He thinks it may be too high a pump pressure from boiler and system never balanced with all lock valves fully open.
I think it might be reverse circulation. Feel if the radiator heat is flowing the opposite way when it is at zero.
Yeah sounds like reverse circulation. Often happens when the return pipe isn't plumbed in at the right place, can get to the end of one zone, passes the return on the 2nd zone > up return of first rad in 2nd zone > into flow of the rest of that zone. Isn't too bad to test for but can be a pain to resolve if that's the case depending on pipe route/floor covers etc etc.
@@effervescence5664 Laminate, tiles and laminate everywhere and somewhere a pipe did leak. Laminate, tiles, and laminate everywhere. To gain access, one must think. Apologies to S T Coleridge.
We use a different system. Each zone is a loop. That is to say, one pipe runs from the zone valve to all the radiators on that zone then to the return manifold. Each rad is connected to the supply line twice, the first "T" is a venturi T (aka bypass valve or bypass T) which feeds the rad thru the thermostatic valve. The return is fed from the rad to the back side of the hot supply then to the next rad. This is done to keep the pipes hot in severe cold weather. The down side to this is a slight loss of heat when the cool water in the rad mixes with the hot water in the supply line, but all the radiators do heat up evenly and we avoid using more materials than are necessary.
Thanks, very helpful video. I have managed to get my cold radiators working again. Just a stupid question how do I find last radiator in the house?
I'd halfway figured this needed doing but this really helps add some method to my madness! I was focusing on limiting flow rates, but adjusting the return valves makes perfect sense - thanks! 👍
Thanks. I bled my rad dry yesterday trying to fix this.
Great explanation on balancing radiators. Do you have a video on how to calculate heat loss and sizing radiators. Thanks. GN
What a great bloke sharing his knowledge ..well done mate
What a wonderfully educational channel ! Subscribed after the first video, now onto my 3rd clip...Thank you !
Brilliant. I don't often write on these but credit to you brilliant explaination. One thing I don't understand though. How do you know how hot the temperature is going in to the radiator and how do you reduce the heat for the return?