Do You Always Have To Drain The Whole Boiler Down For Repairs

Are y'all a homeowner or landlord with a radiator leak or cold spots? In which case, yous may need to drain your primal heating system. This commodity's going to bear witness you exactly how to drain a combi boiler key heating system, with a few tricks of the trade from our HomeServe home experts.

The two large reasons why you should bleed your key heating arrangement

Many homeowners and landlords might only drain their central heating system in an emergency such as a leak or a more cumulative fault – like when sludge builds up in your arrangement. It can too be necessary if yous need to fit a new radiator.

However, did y'all know that aside from these types of problems, many people bleed their key heating system every few years as part of a maintenance practice to proceed it running smoothly and efficiently?

Draining your fundamental heating system in an emergency

Let's assume you accept a leak or a build-upwards of sludge – it may be the middle of Wintertime, y'all've got small children or an elderly relative staying with you and you need to get your system working once more fast. We've prepared a guide to help yous drain your system step-by-step.

What yous demand to know before you drain your fundamental heating system

To learn how to bleed your central heating system, you have to know a little about how boilers work. Go to the link for the full low-downwardly, or we'll summarise it quickly for a combi boiler here:

All types of boilers use the basic process of burning fuel and sending the heated h2o through to radiators and taps.

Combi boilers supply both heating and hot water to your domicile without any extra tanks or cylinders – they combine them, hence the proper name. Combi boilers take two contained oestrus exchangers – one connects to your radiators and the other one connects to your hot h2o supply.

Because combi boilers provide hot water on demand, they're constantly on standby. Once a asking for hot water or heating is made, a combi boiler burns its fuel, which then causes the heat exchanger to estrus water.

Combi banality systems are built with control valves that operate in dissimilar directions depending on whether hot water or heating is required – they cannot provide both at the exact aforementioned time.

What tools will I demand to drain my central heating system?

Make sure you become the post-obit items set earlier you outset:

Spanner
Screwdriver
Towel
Jubilee clip
Radiator primal
Hosepipe
Buckets

How to drain down your central heating system

Your central heating system provides you with a warm and happy habitation, so let's treat it with care. Here'southward how to bleed information technology, step by step:

Stride 1. Switch off your organization

Safe offset! Earlier you begin the process of draining, switch off your boiler completely. After this, look until your radiators and pipes accept cooled down 100%.

Step 2. If you have a solid fuel boiler, put out the fire

If your boiler burns solid fuel, If your boiler burns solid fuel, take the appropriate steps to extinguish the fire safely before you go any farther. Yous should too wait until your boiler is completely common cold.

Step 3. Now cut the water supply

The next step is to cut off the water supply to your banality. This way, no water will come into your banality or your organization while you drain. About boilers have their own stop tap or isolation valve.

If you take a combi boiler, the hot h2o is supplied directly to it, so yous'll need to close the mains stop valve, which is unremarkably nether your kitchen sink. If y'all have a hot water cylinder, you lot'll have a piping going from the cold h2o storage cistern to the hot water cylinder, with a valve on it.

Step 4. Attach a hosepipe to the correct radiator'due south drain-off valve

Await for the radiator in your firm with a drain-off valve. Await for information technology on the right or left-hand side at the bottom. The valve is often coming off at a 45 degree angle. One time you've located the radiator with the drain-off valve, take hold of your garden hose and clip it around the valve with the jubilee clip. Brand sure the other end of the hosepipe is in a bucket, or running outside (simply not on your plants, equally a chemical radiator inhibitor may accept been used in your radiators).

Please annotation: If you don't take a drain-off valve, we've included a guide for you below.

If y'all demand to, tighten your jubilee clip with a flat-head screwdriver. If yous don't have a hosepipe, yous can collect the liquid direct in a saucepan, merely you'll need to close off the valve and empty the bucket every so often.

Stride 5. Start draining your upstairs radiators

At present it's time to go round your holding and brand sure each radiator's valve is open up. Then come up back to the radiator with the attached hosepipe and open up the drain valve.
All the water will start to drain out.

Step 6. Open up drain valves to speed up the procedure

You can speed the process upward by, bleeding all your radiators. Start with the upstairs ones. Yous'll hear the air being sucked into the organization. Leave the water to bleed for about xv minutes.

Now go to a downstairs radiator and try slowly opening a bleed valve. If water starts coming out, quickly tighten it up again and wait a chip longer. But if yous can hear the air going into the system, fully open the bleed valve and then go and open up the aforementioned valves on your downstairs radiators. This ensures that you get every last drib of old water and sludge out of your system.

Step 7. Close all valves dorsum up

Once y'all've fully tuckered your system, tighten upwardly the bleed valves again. Close the bleed-off valve and take off the hosepipe – continue a bucket or towel handy to mop up.

Step 8. Refill your central heating system

The process to refill your radiators starts with closing all the valves you opened.

Our Home experts add inhibitor to the new influx of water to tiresome the build-up of limescale, corrosion and sludge. Y'all can find it online or in all good DIY shops. Have a read of our guide to know more virtually key heating inhibitor explained.

Now get dorsum to the isolation valve on your combi boiler and open information technology back upwardly. The water should refill.

Once your arrangement has completely refilled to the required force per unit area, switch your banality dorsum on and bank check that all your radiators are getting hot. Drain your radiators again to ensure there'southward no air in the organization, and check there are no leaks below your radiators.

How to drain central heating organisation without drain valve

If you don't have a drain-off valve on any of your radiators, the process is a petty unlike and you lot'll need to purchase a special tap fitting from a DIY shop.

What you'll need:

Speedfit tap / speedfit draining fitting from your local / online DIY store
Pliers
Adjustable spanner
Hosepipe
Bucket
Old towels

Stride 1. Plow off your system and cut the h2o supply

Before y'all outset, switch off your fundamental heating system and expect for the radiators to absurd downwards.

If y'all have a combi boiler…
…plow it off and wait for the whole arrangement (radiators and all) to cool.

If you take a conventional boiler…
…outset isolate the water and so switch off the boiler.

Step 2. Isolate the radiator from your heating system

If y'all don't accept a drain valve, yous need to separate the radiator from the organization by closing the ii valves on each end of the radiator.

On one cease is the regulator or thermostatic radiator valve (TRV). All you need to do here is rotate information technology in a clockwise direction. On the other finish is the lockshield valve – for this you need to remove the plastic cap, take hold of your pliers and shut the valve tightly.

Step 3. Drain all of your radiators

To speed up the process of draining, y'all demand to allow all the air out of your organisation past opening the drain valves on all your radiators.

Stride 4. Loosen the union nuts

Now comes the principal task:

On the regulator / TRV side, release the coupling nut
Place your bucket and erstwhile towels nether information technology to grab whatever spills
Utilise your adaptable spanner to rotate the nut anti-clockwise until the water starts pouring into the bucket

manual control valve with labelled parts - how to fix a leaking radiator

Step 5. Attach a hose and drain your system

With the radiator valve in the 'off' position, attach your hose to it and offset draining your central heating arrangement. You demand a special fitting called a 'speedfit tap' or 'speedfit draining fitting' to attach the hose to the radiator. Make sure the measurement is correct for your radiator pipage when y'all purchase.

Once your speedfit tap and hose is continued, you can and then drain your system.

How long does it take to drain the central heating system?

It depends on the blazon of organization you accept and whether you have a drain-off valve. If you lot take a bleed-off valve information technology can take 20 mins to ane hour to completely drain a central heating system. To help speed upwards the process, systematically open the drain valves on all of your radiators.

How oftentimes should you drain your cardinal heating organization?

To proceed your central heating system running smoothly, drain your cardinal heating organization in one case a year.

Look forward to another yr of smooth running heating

Draining your central heating system once a year is a not bad style of avoiding problems with your boiler and radiators. If you meet problems with your current banality, nosotros offer a speedy installation service – y'all could exist enjoying your new system in every bit little as 48 hours. Get an estimated new banality quote and find the perfect banality for your home.

FAQ

How exercise you drain and make full a central heating system?

1. Switch off your primal heating organization
2. Wait for all radiators and pipes to absurd
3. If you have a bleed-off valve on 1 of your downstairs radiators, adhere a hose and open the drain valve
4. Drain all your radiators from top to bottom to speed upward the process
five. Once your system is completely tuckered, y'all can refill it, adding inhibitor to keep it clean

How long does it take to bleed the central heating system?

It depends on the type of organization yous take and whether y'all have a bleed-off valve. If you have a drain-off valve it can take xx mins to ane hour to completely bleed a central heating system. To assist speed up the process, systematically open the drain valves on all of your radiators.

How oftentimes should y'all bleed your primal heating organization?

To keep your central heating system running smoothly, drain your central heating organization once a year.

How do I drain my central heating without a drain valve?

You'll need to buy a special speedfit tap plumbing fixtures from a DIY shop and use that to adhere a hosepipe to your radiator and drain off the water.

How much does information technology price to drain a primal heating organization?

It'due south inexpensive to drain your primal heating system if you practise it yourself. You may need to purchase a few cheap items from a DIY shop to get the task done.