Can i fit thermostatic radiator valves

Having a TRV on a radiator in the same room as your thermostat may cause your system to mis-function, as if the radiator cuts out at a lower temperature, it can trick the thermostat into thinking the house is cooler than it really is, which may cause it to overcompensate by heating up even more. Our expert team will be on hand at our designer radiator showroom at Ashby de la Zouch, where they can answer any queries you may have about the types of designer radiator you need to heat your home as efficiently as possible, and the best types of designer radiator valve for your home.

You can also browse the designer radiators section of our website and work out what heat output you may require using our online BTU calculator. With more than 10, designer radiators in stock - all at factory direct prices with fast, free UK delivery - you're sure to find whatever you're looking for. View our latest Designer Radiator collection. Also, in a property with 2 rooms, one requires a room thermostat that controls the entire heating system and a single radiator.

The other room has a second radiator with a TRV attached to it. Refrain from fitting a TRV on the radiator that has the room thermostat. The room thermostat needs to have an exact reading of the maximum capacity of the heating system. Therefore, the radiator which has a room thermostat should have a fully open lockshield valve. A heating engineer can survey your home and offer professional expertise on the matter.

Bleed your radiators with a bleed key and a hose. Once the water stops running, you are ready to remove the old valve. Using grips and an adjustable spanner, slacken off the nut that is coming out of the radiator pipework.

Next, loosen off the 15mm pressure fitting on the bottom of the valve. You can then remove the whole valve from the radiator pipe. They supply all new TRVs with a new insert, so you may have to remove the old one. Insert a simple hex tool into the hole and then use an adjustable spanner to loosen the part. Now wrap a PTFE around the new insert, push it into the radiator and tighten it up. The old nut and olive should be fine to use, but if you want to change those, just pull the nut off and use a pair of grips to pull the olive.

If the temperature in your room drops a little too low, the capsule will contract and pull out the pin; allowing more hot water to enter your radiator and increase its temperature. Conversely — if the room begins to get a little too warm — the expansion of the same capsule will cause the pin to close the valve and reduce the amount of hot water. The capsules in thermostatic radiator valves operate using a metal spring that is filled with wax or liquid — with the liquid type considered to be the best and most consistent at adjusting the temperature.

One of the main advantages of liquid TRVs is that they are far more responsive to fluctuations in temperature than their wax cousins. Wax can be quite slow to expand and contract, while liquid TRVs will change the flow of water into the radiator considerably more quickly — this is also reflecting in the price of both variations. As with most things, prices vary depending on the style of radiator valve you want to buy and — with thermostatic valves — whether they are liquid or wax filled.

If you only have one pair of valves to fit, the engineer will probably just freeze the pipework and add the thermostatic radiator valves to the radiator. With well over half of the energy in your home being used for heating and hot water, if you combine a TRV with a complete set of heating controls — including timers and room thermostats — you can make substantial savings on the overall cost of your heating.

But a bedroom that has the heating cranked up to more than 20 degrees is going to be far too stuffy for even the coldest person to get comfortable in, and this is where the TRV comes into its own.

Controlling these different zones in your home allows you to be more efficient with your heating. Building Regulations do state that the heating systems in domestic dwellings have a minimum set of controls. For a system that uses a combi combnation boiler , this is done with a timer or room thermostat and the different heat settings of individual rooms are generally achieved using TRVs. Standard practice is to leave one radiator without a thermostatic radiator valve installed, and to leave that appliance permanently switched on.

If your boiler is fitted with a flow meter — that detects when all of your radiator valves are closed, you can install a TRV on every radiator if you want to. You can leave any radiator without a TRV , but it makes more sense for you to select the radiator in the room with your wall thermostat.

For example, the water in your central heating system is filled with heating additives and inhibitor which protect the system. So draining it fully will mean you are throwing away these important chemicals which you will have to replace to replenish the system.

In this case, the size of the radiator valve refers to the size of the valve connection and pipework instead of the design of the valve. So whether you love the large, decorative, traditional valves or the small minimalist options, all our valves have industry standard connections.

Sometimes copper pipes can be anything between 8mm — 28mm depending on where they are in your home and the age of the building. Time needed: 1 hour and 30 minutes. Follow the steps below to learn how to change your radiator valves.

Turn the heating off and allow the radiators to cool completely for at least an hour. You should do this before starting any job to do with your radiators to avoid burning yourself!

This will stop any water from entering the radiator from that side. Note down the number of turns it took to turn the lockshield off as you will need to make the same number of turns when you connect the new lockshield and turn it back on. If you have a thermostatic valve, turn it clockwise until the dial reads zero. Cover the floor area around the radiator under the valves you are going to replace with the towels and container to catch any excess water.

If you are swapping an old thermostatic valve for a new TRV, take the thermostatic head off both valves. You should be able to turn this to remove it by hand. Remove the nuts and adaptors on the new vave and smear the thread that joins to the radiator with the wrap the PTFE tape around clockwise about 8 times to prevent any leaks. Take your radiator bleed key and open the radiator bleed valve to release any stored pressure.

Then close the bleed valve back up again. If your lockshield valve has a drain off, you could at this point drain the radiator from the drain valve. Place a container beneath the valve and turn it anti-clockwise to open it using an adjustable spanner.

Use a spanner to slacken off the top nut closest to the radiator to open the old thermostatic valve.