Steam Radiator
It's irrelevant as to whether your home is heated with a forced-air system, a hot-water system or a steam heating system, we feel that it is vital to have your heating unit inspected and maintained once a year by a qualified, licensed professional. We service all brands and makes of radiators and we offer the annual service contracts to assure your radiator heating system not only functions correctly but is safe as well. Our technicians have been providing peace of mind to Washington DC area homeowners for over 58 years. We take great pride in keeping your family safe.
The proper maintenance of your homes radiator heating system is important. Maintaining your system regularly offers other benefits as well including helping to save excess fees off of your utility bills. Better maintained and operating equipment in homes found in older residential neighborhoods such as Georgetown Washington DC, Kensington Maryland, Silver Spring, MD. And Chevy Chase MD. means that your system will operate more efficiently, use less energy and help heating your home more effectively.
It's a good idea to have trained technician come out once a year and Magnolia Plumbing has over 275 technicians and trucks on the road serving the residents and commercial businesses of the Washington DC Metropolitan area daily.There are also tips that you can do in order to help keep your radiators working properly and efficiently, between visits from one of our technicians. By developing an annual maintenance contract the utilization of proper maintenance will not only save you time and money, but will also alert you to any potential problems before they turn into dangerous, or costly problems. Here are a few tips that we suggest to customers through out the Washington DC area to help assure your radiator system is working properly and safely.
1. Make Certain Each Radiator Has a Slope. Make certain that each of the radiators in your system your radiator system has a small gentle slope towards the steam inlet pipe (The steam outlet pipe is the pipe that comes up from the floor or out of the wall and connects to your radiator). Should one of your radiators within your system not have a small gentle slope, add 1/4 inch wedge of wood under the feet at the vent's end. This will provide a small slope and can prevent your furnace from making clanging or knocking noise.
2. Carefully You Check for Vent Blocks. Paint, rust and general corrosion can block your vents and prevent them from letting air escape properly. Air trapped in the radiator can prevent steam from entering. If steam is prevented from entering your radiator it will help to prevent your system from heating and operating properly. If your vent is blocked or damaged it is easily replaced and you can find parts at your local hardware store or home retail store. They are very easy to replace and install.
3. You should take a Minute and Check all Inlet Valves. Take a moment and check the position of each of the inlet valves on your radiators. Having a partially open or shut inlet does not help your radiator system to regulate the heat and may cause knocking. You need to make certain that each of your radiator valves are either all the way open or all the way shut. Simply turn them to the open or the shut position. Most valves have an arrow indicating which way is open or shut.
4. You should keep an eye out for Leaky Valves. If you feel that one of your inlet valves is leaking. There is a good chance that it is the cap nuts that are leaking, rather than the inlet valve itself. A cap nut, are the big nuts located at the vertical and horizontal connections and, can usually be easily fixed, simply by retightening the nuts using a pair of channel locks or a wrench. In order to tighten the nuts use one wrench or the channel locks to hold the valve and use the second to tighten the cap nut. If the leak appear to come from somewhere under the inlet valve handle, you can try removing the inlet valve head and tightening the uppermost nut (gland nut).
Should all of the above solutions fail to stop the leaking we recommend that you check the double-ended and double-threaded brass piece that connects the inlet valve to the radiator. Using two wrenches, once again, you will need to remove the valve and the adaptor, and then install a replacement piece. Replace the adaptor and valve, then you will need to refill the system and then examine it for further leaks.
Should you be uncomfortable utilizing any of these tips or should you wish to add a maintenance contract to your system give our service division a call or schedule a visit here and we'll have a trained licensed technician come out and analyze and help to maintain your system.