Radiator and TRV fitting & updates
Radiator and TRV fitting, leaks & faulty valves
You may need a new radiator and TRV fitting if your radiator is leaking or is not heating up properly, especially if you have vented the radiator and it’s still not heating evenly. Unfortunately over time radiators need to be replaced as the presence of air in the central heating system will cause the radiators to rust from the inside and eventually the metal will crack or pinhole causing leaks. Inhibitor and a water softener can help to prolong the life of your radiators so it’s a good idea to treat your system water in one of the aforementioned ways.
Thermostatic Radiator Valves or TRVs for short, are becoming more and more popular as they offer a fairly precise way of controlling room temperatures on an individual basis rather than with the traditional wheeled valves with just a full on, or off option. If your old wheeelhead radiator valves are failing then it’s definitely worth considering replacing these old valves for TRVs, as this will no doubt give you more of an economical fuel bill over the winter months.
Time guide
When replacing TRVs, sometimes the X dimension, the distance a pipe inserts into the valve, is different from fitting to fitting, so the olive needs to be changed prior to fitting the new TRV. Also the radiator tails on older radiators are the union type, are not compatible, and have to be updated; nowadays all TRVs fit to compression type tails. The majority of the time involved in radiator and TRV fitting is draining the central heating system and radiator down to replace the radiator valve, the fitting of the valve doesn’t usually take more than 30 mins.
After fitting the new TRV the central heating system then has to be re-filled, vented of air and then turned on to make sure all the remaining radiators are heating up correctly and that there’s no air left in the system. Usually the larger the property the longer this process takes so it can take quite a few hours to vent and check all the radiators in the property.
Radiators usually take a couple of hours to decommission the old and hang the new; the central heating system doesn’t usually need to be drained for this job.