Should I drain the CH or leave it alone?

curiousorange · 16 Nov 2010

I have an empty house, and the weathers becoming frosty. I've turned the water off at the stopcock under the sink and opened all the taps. I'm wondering if I should try draining the radiators or not.

About a year ago the old boiler was replaced by a condensing boiler. The immersion tank was removed. The old radiators were not replaced.

Should I drain the radiators, or would it be better to leave it alone? Is it likely to be a sealed system now?

Thanks.

misterdubya · 16 Nov 2010

Treat it with this...
www.h-i-e.co.uk/acatalog/Fernox_Alphi_2_Protector.html

or completely drain it down.

You should drain ALL the water out of the domestic hot & cold pipes - easy to do with a Combi (Im guessing you have one).

Mr. W.

misterdubya · 16 Nov 2010

duplicate post

curiousorange · 16 Nov 2010

Sorry, maybe I should have gone into more detail.

1) Is it likely to be a sealed system? Any way of telling? Would the particular boiler model be ebough to tell me?

If it is a sealed system:

2) will it drain down when I open the radiator drainage valve?

3) will it just fill up again when I turn the water on, or does a plumber need to do it? In which case it may be cheaper to leave the CH on a low setting.

If it is not a sealed system then I assume the answers to 3) and 4) above would be "yes".

Thanks

misterdubya · 16 Nov 2010

curiousorange said:
1) Is it likely to be a sealed system? Any way of telling? Would the particular boiler model be ebough to tell me?

Does the boiler / system have a pressure guage on it somewhere?
If it is, its a sealed system:

2) will it drain down when I open the radiator drainage valve?

Not propery, you will have to open up all the air release points on the system - creating an open vent type system.

3) will it just fill up again when I turn the water on, or does a plumber need to do it? In which case it may be cheaper to leave the CH on a low setting.

If its a sealed system, you or your plumber will have to manually re-fill / vent it - all of about 10 mins work. You will have to re-treat with inhibitor though. Leaving the heating on 'low' 24 hours a day may work out cheaper.

If it is not a sealed system then I assume the answers to 3) and 4) above would be "yes".

Point 3 - yes.

Regards,

Mister. W.

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Should I drain the CH or leave it alone?

curiousorange

misterdubya

misterdubya

curiousorange

misterdubya

DIYnot Local

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