DIY Doctor UK DIY Forums

Hi. New user alert so be kind... I live in an old town house with mains gas central heating. House is over 3 floors. On ground floor I have 3 radiators - a twin 1400mm in lounge, a twin 1000mm in kitchen and a twin 1200 in hall - all standard designs. The flow through the radiator in the hall is very poor and therefore in winter, the hall and stairway is cold and house cold. I've tried to balance the flow by closing in on the outlet valves on kitchen and lounge radiators but no improvement. Also had a plumber take a quick look but no fix. I've also replaced the hall radiator but again no improvement.

Is there anything that can be done to fix the flow problem ie anything that can be fitted to the outlet that can help the flow, or is there any other design of radiator that would be better?

Old house so changing pipe configuration not easy.

Any thoughts? Thanks in advance.

It does to some extent depend on the boiler, but in the main room temperature is controlled by the TRV's. However unless linked, they have a problem, they can't stop and start boiler.

So in a cool room with no alternative heating on a lower floor with no outside doors we fit a wall thermostat, and set it so it will not switch off until all rooms are warm, by adjusting the lock shield.

However often no such room, so we use the hall, but since outside door also use a TRV so before the wall thermostat turns off, the heating is much reduced, but setting the two to work in harmony is not easy.

But poor flow can also means it needs bleeding or there is sludge, when bleeding turn only lock shield or TRV on, so bleeding both feed and return, then reset.