How Do I Bleed a Radiator

If you’re feeling the cold in your home, it could be because you have air in your radiator system. You can check your radiators by carefully touching them while they are on to see if they are cold in places, particularly near the top, which will mean that they need bleeding. 

Here’s what you should do:

• After switching the heating off and waiting for the system to cool, make sure you have a radiator vent key and towel at the ready. 
• Use the radiator vent key by turning it anti-clockwise to open the valve, making sure the towel is behind the radiator just in case it sprays hot water. 
• Once you’ve finished, turn the key clockwise to close the valve.

The next step is to check the pressure gauge on your system and make sure it is between 1-1.5 bar. If it’s not within this range, fill the boiler up with the filling loop, which is usually located under the boiler (if you have a heat or system boiler, it may be near your cylinder).

If you have too much pressure in your system, you can reduce the pressure by bleeding the radiators with a bucket to reduce the amount of water in the system. This is important because it prevents the pressure relief valve blowing open due to an excess amount of built-up pressure.