A Step By Step Guide On How To Remove A Radiator!
There are a number of reasons that you might need to remove a radiator off the wall. One of those reasons might be to redecorate your home. Another reason could be that there are one or more radiators in your home that don’t heat up properly and you might want to remove it yourself to flush it out.
Well good news is, you don’t have to be a tradesman to remove a radiator. Follow the step by step process below and you will be well on your way to removing your radiators yourself saving you some hard earned cash!
In this guide we will be talking about:
Can I Still Use The Heating With A Radiator Off The Wall
Do I Need To Turn Off My Mains Water Before Removing A Radiator
Can I Remove A Radiator Without Draining The Heating System
Step By Step Guide On How To Remove A Radiator
Can I Use My Heating With A Radiator Off The Wall?
If you are wondering if you can turn on the heating when a radiator is removed, the simple answer is yes. Radiators can easily be isolated from the heating system by closing both valves at either side of the radiator.
The water in the heating system will simply flow past and onto the next open radiator valve. With that said, things can change when you’re removing multiple radiators from the system.
Every radiator that you remove, you will be reducing the number of places where water in the heating system circulates. If you close off too many radiators at the same time, the heat has nowhere to go and could shut the boiler down.
Shutting off a couple of radiators at a time isn’t going to put the system under significant stress.
Do I Need To Shut Off Mains Water To Remove A Radiator?
There is no need to switch off the mains water supply when you wish to remove a radiator. All you need to do is ensure that the valves located on either side of the radiator are firmly closed.
You can check this by placing a small tub under the valve and remove all the water from the radiator. The water circulation will stop before the valve once you have closed it off.
However, we would strongly advise that you turn off the power to your boiler and let it cool down before you start to drain the water from the radiator.
Can I Remove A Radiator Without Draining The Heating System?
Simple answer is yes! However, if you are planning on removing multiple radiators you might want to contemplate draining the heating system, especially if you see black water coming out one of the radiators. In this instance, it would be recommended to call a professional heating engineer to come and flush out and clean your system.
If you are only removing one or two radiators, it would be fine just to close off the radiator valves and drain the water from each radiator before removing them.
How To Remove A Radiator Step By Step
Tools needed to remove a radiator:
Radiator bleed key
Adjustable spanners/wrenches times 2
bowl or tray to catch water
Old rug or towel under the radiator
Steps:
Turn off your heating:
Before attempting to remove your radiator, it is essential that you let the heating system cool down for around 30 minutes or so. This will ensure that if you do come into contact with water, you will not get burned.
Turn off the radiator valves:
There is a thermostatic radiator valve on one side and a lockshield valve on the other side of the radiator. Ensure that both of these valves are fully closed. You will need to remove the plastic cap from the lockshield valve before using a wrench to close it. You can close the thermostatic radiator valve by turning it fully clockwise.
Drain and bleed the radiator:
Place a bowl or tray under the valve that you want to drain first. Place one wrench on the body of the valve and use the other to loosen the nut which joins the radiator to the valve. This will allow the water to drain out and into your bowl. If the radiator is large, you might need to empty the bowl a few times.
Next up, using a radiator bleed key open the bleed valve. This will allow any trapped air and water to escape from the inside of the radiator. Remember, a radiator is part of a pressurised system, so it’s important to let this pressure off before removing it from the wall.
After that, open the other valve and let any water drain into your bucket. The radiator is now drained, bled, and ready to remove from it’s brackets.
Remove the radiator from it’s brackets:
Now that you have successfully got all of the water out of the radiator, you can remove it from it’s brackets. If the radiator is too heavy, have someone help you remove it. If you wish to remove the brackets temporarily, use a screwdriver to remove the screws.
Cap your radiator valves:
Although the valves are closed, it is possible that water can still leak through if the valve is older and water can penetrate through this. All you need to do is screw a cap onto the valve thread and tighten it up with a spanner, job done!
Removal of pipework:
Depending on your decorating plans, you may want to remove the pipes coming out of the wall. This is a more difficult process and we would advise contacting a professional heating engineer before attempting any pipework removal.
There is a short video on how to remove a radiator from the wall. Click on the following link to give you a better understanding of the process.
Final thoughts:
As you have read, removing a radiator from the wall is not too difficult if all the above steps are carried out correctly. If you feel at all uncomfortable with this process, you should contact your local heating engineer to do it for you.
We hope that you got some value from this blog and would appreciate if you could share amongst friends and family on your social media feed. Thanks for reading our blog! If you have any questions abour removing a radiator or anything heating related, please do contact us, we are here to help.
