Your heating is at the same temperature as normal but your room has a bit of a chill to it. You cast your mind about for reasons why this could be – the apocalypse perhaps, these are strange times after all. No… something simpler – you need a new boiler? Not yet, the other rooms are still the correct temperature.
You spy the radiator out of the corner of your eye, trying to remain as incognito as possible. So you march over and place your hands at the top – nice and hot, but the bottom is as cold as a mother-in-law’s love.
Don’t worry, we’re going to explain how this could have happened on your watch and explain how you can make things right again and get those room temps back to sub-tropical levels.
#1 Suspect – Radiator Sludge
The most common cause for radiators being cold at the bottom is sludge. But you don’t live in the swamps of Arizona, so how has sludge got into your system?
Sludge is formed from rust in your system that breaks off from the inside of radiators and towel rails and mixes with the water being pumped around your system.
Another contributor to sludge in your system is limescale, particularly if you live in a hard water area (this isn’t water that’s pretty tasty in a fight, it’s water with a lot of limescale in it). The minerals in hard water can solidify and become limescale.
So this is probably the cause of your woes, radiator sludge. Now we know the cause, how do we sort it out and banish the sludge?
#1 Fix – Chemical Flush
This process is exactly what it sounds like. A heating engineer will come to your property and flush the sludge out of your system with a chemical compound which disperses the nasty sludge. After flushing chemicals through your system a final flush with fresh water is applied before adding a chemical inhibitor to your system.
Cost: £100-£200 depending on the area you live and how cut-throat your engineer is feeling.
When choosing a new boiler with WarmZilla we will chemically flush your system as part of the service to make sure your new boiler will have a nice clean system to operate in and none of that nasty sludge will get into it.
If your boiler is getting on in years then it may be better to put the money spent on a flush toward the price of a new boiler. WarmZilla prices start from £1499 inc. VAT and there are boiler finance options available if you’d prefer to pay monthly.
#2 Fix – Powerflush
The second choice fix is a powerflush, again, it’s just what it sounds like, it’s like a chemical flush that’s been down the gym every night for the last 6 months. A powerflush works by connecting a machine to your system that pumps water and chemicals around at high pressure, this helps to dislodge the sludge that’s been hampering your lovely radiators.
There are a couple of reasons why powerflushing is not the #1 solution to fixing your sludge issue. The first is that it’s quite expensive, costing upwards of £400, that’s a substantial amount of money for cleaning out your system. The second reason is that, for older systems, the pressure from using a powerflushing machine can cause leaks, leaving you in a worse position than when you started.
WarmZilla don’t carry out powerflushes, if you think you might need one then you can find a trusted heating engineer from the Gas Safe register to quote on it for you. If you somehow manage to get hold of a powerflushing machine and think you might have a go yourself, we really wouldn’t recommend it.
#3 Fix – Inhibitor
If you’ve already got to the stage where your radiator is blocked with sludge then it’s unlikely adding inhibitor will fix the issue. However, it’s a lot cheaper than the other options so you may want to give it a go – you never know.
Fernox, Magnacleanse and Sentinel are famous inhibitor brands and you can pick a bottle up for around £15. Inhibitor is more of a preventative measure than a cure as it coats the inside of your system with a magical fluid that helps limit rust.
#2 Suspect – Air Pockets
Another reason why your radiators may not be performing as well as they might is because there are pockets of air trapped inside, so the hot water in your radiator isn’t able to distribute itself evenly. Rather than being cold at the bottom if there are air pockets it’s more likely that your radiator will be cold at the top.
How can we get the air out of the radiator? A simple ritual known as ‘bleeding’ the radiator, where we take a knife, no wait, that’s not right… We take a radiator bleed key and insert it into the valve usually found on the upper right side of the radiator and (slowly!) turn it anti-clockwise or ‘lefty loosey’ as it’s known in the trade.
You should hear a hissing noise as trapped air escapes, wait until all the air has escaped and you get a little dribble of water at the end before you turn the bleed key clockwise or ‘righty tighty’. Have a cloth handy to catch the last few drips as the water that comes out is usually a bit grubby.
Stopping sludge from reoccurring
You’ve learnt your lesson, you never want to be in this position again, your radiators didn’t deserve those cruel words, so what can be done to prevent a build-up of sludge in the future?
- Magnetic/System filter
A magnetic or system filter is a filter that’s fitted on the return pipe to your boiler, it uses powerful magnets to attract the sludge before it can get into your boiler and interfere with its smooth running.
A system filter will be emptied every year during your annual service. If you haven’t been getting your boiler serviced every year then we highly recommend that you do. It’s like getting an MOT for a car, you can catch small problems before they turn into big problems. Your boiler does so much for you, it’s the least you can do in return.
WarmZilla install a system filter with every new boiler we install. We want to give your new boiler the best scenario so it can last at least 15 years, that’s why we flush your system, add inhibitor and then fit a system filter. Getting a filter installed would normally cost you upwards of £100.
- Add Scale Reducer
Adding a scale reducer to your system can help to reduce the limescale build-up and prevent the build-up of sludge in your system. This is highly recommended if you live in a hard water area.
- Add Inhibitor
In addition to adding scale reducer, we also recommend periodically adding inhibitor to your system to keep your metalwork coated and minimise rust. - Replace Old Radiators
If your radiators are very old then it may be that you choose to replace them with more modern radiators. Not only are they less likely to be rusty inside but they are more effective at heating with less energy requirements and they often look a lot nicer as there is a much wider range of choice available than there used to be.
Summary
You may think that having a radiator that is cold at the bottom is not too big a deal, you can just turn the heating up and compensate for it. This will increase your heating bill as you will be using more energy to produce the same amount of heat. In addition, it’s also bad for the environment as you will be wasting energy and having an unnecessarily large carbon footprint and you don’t want that.
Overcompensating by turning up the heating is also bad for your boiler as you’re making it work harder to achieve the same results, you will shorten your boiler’s lifespan and it deserves better. By leaving sludge in your system you run the risk of it getting into your boiler in large quantities, that’s not good for boiler health either.
The cost of dealing with a sludged up radiator is preferable to getting your boiler replaced, unless your boiler is on death’s door anyway. Even then, we would recommend getting your system powerflushed before getting your shiny new WarmZilla boiler fitted to ensure your system is clean and free of sludge.