It’s pretty uncommon to see steam radiator heating systems in new homes these days – they’re usually only found in older homes. Radiator heating systems provide pretty even heating, even if they tend to require a lot of maintenance. Fortunately, the most common steam heating maintenance step is pretty easy to perform. If only one of your radiators is losing heat, it may just need to have the air bled out.
How to Bleed a Radiator
Before we get into the specifics of how to bleed a radiator, it helps to know why they would have to be bled in the first place. Occasionally, air leaks into your radiators. This prevents the hot water from completely filling the coils in the radiator, making it much more difficult for the system to provide heat. There are a few ways air can get into your radiator:
- Leaks from the system radiators, boiler or piping.
- Maintenance work causing air to enter the system.
- Airlocks caused by this maintenance work.
- Corrosion inside the system releasing hydrogen and other gasses into the radiator.
The actual act of bleeding your radiator is extremely easy. Look near the top of your radiator for a small valve. Open the valve using a valve key, a small ratchet or a flat head screw driver. Before too long, a little bit of water should come spurting out. This will release the trapped air and let hot water flow easily through the radiator again.
Bleeding your radiators may cause your radiator system to lose pressure, so you may have to add water back into the system after you do it. To add water to your radiators, go down to the boiler and open and close the valve on the water pipe above the boiler. Water pressure in boilers can be read in feet or pounds, and for most homes should be set between 12 – 15lbs (25 – 30ft).
If your radiator heating system is losing heat, or if you think your boiler is losing efficiency, first try to bleed it and then see how it runs. If it’s still not great, call Magnolia Plumbing for DC steam radiator maintenance!