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WELCOME TO THE DESIGNERRADIATORSDIRECT
Radiators: How Valves Work
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Radiator valves are relatively easy to understand, once you have a little bit of knowledge. People are often worried when it comes to valve, thinking they are far too complicated for simple DIY jobs. However, radiator valves are easy to understand. Here, we are going to explain how they work.
Radiator Valves
The valves are there to control the amount of water inside the radiator, and consequently the amount of heat that the radiator puts out. Standard valves are manual valves. You control the temperature of the radiator by hand. These are old style valves; most valves today are TRVs. TRVs are automatic. They have a thermostat that senses the temperature of the room, and adjusts the water as required.
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RADIATOR VALVES
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THERMOSTATIC RADIATOR VALVES
On some radiators, you will notice a large valve off to the right hand side (as you are facing the radiator). When these valves are very large, they are usually thermostatic radiator valves or TRVs as they are called in the industry.
A TRV is an automatic valve. It senses the temperature of the
room and then it adjusts to match the setting on the thermostat (this is all internal – there is no external thermostat, rather, it’s part of the head unit). Most people assume that it works by the temperature within the radiator, but it is the temperate of the air in the room.
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It is very important that you remember this, because sometimes, what happens is someone removes the radiator because they need to change something. They leave it off overnight assuming that the TRV will remain in it is off position because the heating is turned off, but that is not what happens. Instead, the thermostat senses that the room is cold. It opens up to allow more water into the radiator. The radiator is not there anymore because it has been taken off for repair, and then water spews everywhere, causing a flood. This happens repeatedly, and it is solely for the reason that people think that the thermostat is going from the temperature of the water. They turn it down, thinking they are switching it off, but they are not.
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Instead, if you want to take the radiator off the wall to repair it or replace it, you need to remove the TRV head unit and replace it with a special valve cap, which you screw down to block the pipe off, the same way other valves work to turn off the water. They are similar to the lock shield valve, which is located on the other side of the radiator, i.e. on the left hand side as you are looking at the unit.
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THE LOCK SHIELD VALVE
The lock shield valve is the one on the left side of the unit as you are facing the radiator. If you remove the top of the local shield valve, you will see that there is a spindle that you can adjust using the correct size spanner. This spindle reduces or increases the amount of water in the radiator. If you turn it right down, it doesn’t let any water in. If you turn it right up, it fills the radiator.
One some lock shield valves, you will find a drain release too.
These are for use on the last valve in the radiator system, and it allows water into the drain. They are relatively new valves, so it is worth talking to a plumber to establish whether they are right for you.
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If you would like to buy radiator valves, then please visit designerradiatorsdirect
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