Over time, air can become trapped inside the radiators, which can prevent them from heating up properly. This can lead to cold spots on the radiators, meaning that they are not giving out the heating that they should. Therefore, bleeding your radiators often could be a key to reducing your environmental footprint, as well as your bills.

First and foremost, it is important to understand which radiators require bleeding (bear in mind that not all of your radiators may need it). To find out, simply begin by turning on your heating and wait for it to warm up, which normally takes 5-10 minutes. Now it’s time to feel your radiators – a sure indication of bleeding required would be if your radiator is hot at the bottom and cold at the top. No bleeding is required if the situation is the opposite (i.e., the radiator being cold at the bottom and hot at the top). Once you have inspected all radiators, it’s time to start with the process – you’ll need a radiator key, some tissues, and a container to collect any spills.

Follow these steps:

1. Before you begin, turn off your heating system and allow the radiators to cool down completely. Never attempt starting to bleed a radiator before completing the mentioned, otherwise you may end up with hot water spillages and burns.
2. Insert your radiator key into the radiator valve.
3. Place the container and/or tissues you have prepared under the valve.
4. Slowly turn the key anti-clockwise. You should hear a hissing sound, as the trapped air is released. This is completely normal, and there is nothing to worry about. Keep turning the key until water starts coming out.
   * If the air stops, but no water is coming out, please get in touch with us, as something else may be preventing the radiator from filling in with water.
5. Once water begins to drip, it’s time to close to the valve. All you need to do is just turn the key now clockwise. Make sure the valve is fully closed (but not over-tighten), to avoid any leaks.
6. Turn back on the heating system – you should now have all of the radiators heating up evenly.
7. Last, but not least important – check your boiler pressure, as it is quite common for it to fall after bleeding your radiators. If the pressure gauge on your boiler shows below 1 Bar, you’ll need to re-pressurise it. But you don’t need to worry, re-pressurising your boiler is quite easy and something you can do yourself, by following our simple guide on re-pressurising your boiler.