Turning radiators back ON for winter ...

[aroundM21]

You know the old advice of ...
"when turning radiator valves of, for the summer, do not turn tight or it will be difficult to turn back on"
and ....
"count the number of turns to turn it off, so that you can use the same number when turning it on " .... which I suppose avoids the need to pay someone to balance the system every year.

Well, like many other people I haven't been perfect

So .... what's the best advice (eg which tools to use ; how to judge how hard/aggressive you can be ; etc) on turning on valvles that are tight stuck ??
I suppose re Balancing, I'll just have to get a Plumber this year ..... it's not the most expensive job tho' so no bigg deal.

Thanks ....

 

[breezer]

why did you turn them off? i have read lots of post on this forum , never heard that one before,

turn gently untill they turn no more.

Also if rads have been balanced, turnig them all off will upset the effort put into balancing them in the first place

 

[Bahco]

I agree, why turn them off as it serves no purpose unless you were bored
The lockshield valve is locked (after balancing) so that it cannot be inadvertently adjusted.
Suggest you now open them all up and balance yourself (do a search on this forum).
Remember the lockshields nearest boiler will not need to be as open as those further away.
Trial and error and leave alone in future.
If its not broke do not fix

 

[aroundM21]

For a very simple reason : my heating system doesn't have a switch for HEATING+WATER / WATER ONLY / HEATING ONLY.
Everything is on or off. Obviously I can turn the main house thermostat down to "zero", but I found my radiators were still getting hot in the summer ... waste of money, and annoying when you're already sweating.

Please don't ask my why it doesn't have all the controls you'd expect .... it came with the house, I didn't design it or install it !

The previous owner just advised I turned the rads off for summer ..... looking back, bad advice.

PS - I have one valve at the end of each Rad, both appear physically identical. I can never work out which is the locksmith valve. I certainly don't recognise it being locked in position as someone said .... both valves (on any rad) can just be turned. The system is surely 20+ years old.

Time for a plumber I think ..... including a quote for more controls on my system.