Plumbing advice- balancing radiators

[raerae]

Hi all,

I just wondered if anyone had experience of getting a plumber to balance a system?

We recently had some new radiators installed and since then, our heating has been all over the shop. We've tried bleeding the rads, fiddling with all the TRV's throughout the house but we still have radiators that heat up some days, and other don't. We also have weird banging and clanking at times which indicates air is in the system, but when we bleed the rads, nothing comes out.

Have tried numerous times to get the plumber back out to look at it but all we get is 'it's trial and error to get the system balanced- just keep trying'. After 6 weeks of trying it's still not right so just wondering if a) anyone has any experience of a plumber balancing their system properly and b) any recommendations! Most don't seem to want to do the job...

Thanks in advance.

[ed_pete]

It's one of the those jobs that isn't too difficult but can take a little time.

The basic principle of balancing the radiators is to maximise the flow of the hot water circulating to those radiators furthest from the boiler and conversely minimise the flow to those closest to the boiler. The flow is controlled by opening or closing the lockshield valve on the radiator - this is the one that isn't the TRV and doesn't have a control knob. You normally have to remove the lockshield valve cover (sometime screwed on, sometimes not) and then use a small spanner or pliers to open and close the valve. I'm sure that there are guides on web. If you have a spare hour then give it a go. I know that you're looking for someone to do this for you but I hope that helps.

[raerae]

Thanks ed_pete. I've seen this online and was going to try it; plumbing is a bit old and clunky in our house and we've had a pipe burst before so a bit nervous about messing with the heating system! Maybe if we're feeling brave at the weekend...

[Mrs D]

I also have knocking sounds coming from a pipe -could this be due to heating system not balanced or something else?