Waking up to a nice warm house is the only way that some of us can get out of bed during the winter months, right? If our radiators stop working the way they are supposed to, stepping into a cold room after sleeping can be a nightmare (no-one wants that!)

If you are having problems with your radiators, this blog post will give you an idea of what the problem is and how it can be fixed. If they don’t go away after our suggestions, you may need to consult with a plumber or heating engineer to fix your system. But let's not get ahead of ourselves... keep reading to find out what the problem could be and go from there.

All the radiators are cold

If all of your radiators are cold, it could indicate that your boiler isn’t turned on or that your boiler isn’t firing up your central heating properly. This could be anything such as your boiler is losing pressure to more complex problems that will need to be fixed by a professional.

If your boiler doesn’t have the right pressure, you may have a leak in the system or you may have bled your radiators recently so check the pressure on the system. If it’s below 1 bar of pressure, you will need to re-pressurise your system.

If you can’t add more pressure to your system for whatever reason you may need your boiler repaired, or you could need a new boiler installed.

Just one radiator is cold

If one radiator is cold, while the rest of the radiators in your system work fine, then the problem will be with that radiator. The first protocol would be to check if the radiator is turned on (this may seem like simple advice but some of us are guilty of making this mistake at one point in their lives).

If the radiator is turned on but there is no heat in it at all, you should check the surrounding pipes to see if you can feel the heat in them. If the water is reaching the pipes and is warm but your radiator isn’t ,it could be blocked with limescale, sludge or other debris. To fix this problem, you will need to remove the radiator and flush it out. If you don’t have the confidence to do this yourself, contact a plumber and they can sort this out for you.

The radiator is cold at the bottom

When your radiator is cold at the bottom, but warm on the top, it indicates that there is a blockage in the radiator. This blockage is usually caused by sludge from rust and other possible debris. Limescale can also cause problems with your radiators being cold in the bottom and if you live in a hard water area, this could more than likely be the reason for your problem.

If only one of your radiators is having this problem, you can remove it from the wall and give it a good cleaning to get all of the debris out. If more than one radiator is cold at the bottom and warm at the top, you may want to consider power flushing your system.  A power flush will clean out your heating system and get rid of any debris into an outside drain. Power flushing your heating system is a great way of prolonging how long a boiler can last.

The radiator is cold at the top

If your radiator is warm at the bottom but cold at the top, it’s a good indication that air is trapped in the radiator system. Thankfully there is a quick solution to this problem and that is to bleed your system.

When you bleed your radiators ,you will leave any excess air out of your radiators but be aware that this will drop the pressure in your boiler so you will need to re-pressurise your boiler afterwards. For tips on this, click HERE.

One radiator downstairs is cold

If you have a cold radiator downstairs, upstairs or generally further away from the boiler than any other radiators, this could indicate there is a problem with your pump.

Your central heating pump is used to push warm water around your system but if the pump isn’t working correctly, there won’t be enough power to push this water around the whole system. This then negatively affects the radiators furthest away from the boiler. If this is happening, you will need a heating engineer to replace your pump.

The radiators aren’t warming up the house

If your radiators are on and they are warm but your home isn’t warming up, then you either have a problem with your home’s insulation or you could have something blocking the heat from filling the room properly.

If you are hanging clothes on your radiators or you are blocking them with large furniture, simply remove the obstructions to see if this warms your home up better.

Quick summary

If your radiators are cold, you will need to check to see if they are turned on, if your boiler is working, if the air is trapped in the system or if there is debris in your radiators, you can also check if your pump is broke if only certain radiators are effected.

If you need help with diagnosing any problems with your heating, call Assett Plumbing today on 01604 372395.