Radiator hot but not heating room

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Hi,
I have a radiator in my front room which although hot to touch is not heating the room.

The radiator is hot to touch all over except the fins at the back.

This is the first time that we have had problems. Normally it heats perfectly.

A week ago, my combi boiler stopped producing hot water but would do so when the heating was on. British Gas attended and explained that some valve had failed which they replaced. It was also explained that the pressure in the heating system was too high even though the pressure gauge indicated between 1.25 bar.
The pressure was then apparently corrected even though the gauge then indicated 0 bar.
Another radiator in a utility room which doesn’t have thermostat valves (unlike all of the others) and is on a permanently open circuit (if that’s the correct term) was only lukewarm but heated up after a quick bleed.

Could there be air in the whole system?
I’ve only switched on the front foot radiator as it was a bit chilly, the rest of the house is not too bad.

Many thanks
 
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We don't know what temperature the radiator is. Nor the room.

Is the radiator "too hot to hold" at the top?

And "too hot to hold for long" at the bottom?

What about the middle?

If the radiator is fully hot but not heating the room adequately, then the radiator is too small, or the room is too big, or you are not running it for long enough.

Are you in England?

Why are you running the heating in this warm weather? What is the setting on your wall thermostat?
 
pressure gauge indicated between 1.25 bar.
The pressure was then apparently corrected even though the gauge then indicated 0 bar.
If the pressure was @ 1.25 bar then there was nothing wrong with that
if the pressure is now 0 bar then that isn't correct and needs to be raised to the previous figure.

When the pressure gauge reads 1.25 bar, when the heating is on does it rise over 2.5bar?

That aside that wouldn't have anything to do with a hot radiator not heating the room. If the radiator is as hot as it usually and if you can look down inside it and it's not filled with dust/oose etc, then there can't be anything wrong with it and it must be down to perception I'm afraid. There is noting mechanical or that can break with a radiator if it is getting hot, the actual heating of the air and then room is performed by a passive convection current, therefore if the air can get up through the radiator then it would be working ok.
 
We don't know what temperature the radiator is. Nor the room.

Is the radiator "too hot to hold" at the top?

And "too hot to hold for long" at the bottom?

What about the middle?

If the radiator is fully hot but not heating the room adequately, then the radiator is too small, or the room is too big, or you are not running it for long enough.

Are you in England?

Why are you running the heating in this warm weather? What is the setting on your wall thermostat?

The radiator is equally hot all over. You can touch it for a few seconds before before having to let go.

The radiator has been in the room since the central heating was installed and is the correct size for the room. We have never had a problem before.
It has been on for over five hours. It used to warm the room very quickly previously.

We don’t have a wall thermostat but each radiator has thermostat valve.

Last night it started making some clonking noises which it never done before.

Yes, we’re in the UK but felt a bit chilly last night.
 
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pressure gauge indicated between 1.25 bar.
The pressure was then apparently corrected even though the gauge then indicated 0 bar.
If the pressure was @ 1.25 bar then there was nothing wrong with that
if the pressure is now 0 bar then that isn't correct and needs to be raised to the previous figure.

When the pressure gauge reads 1.25 bar, when the heating is on does it rise over 2.5bar?

That aside that wouldn't have anything to do with a hot radiator not heating the room. If the radiator is as hot as it usually and if you can look down inside it and it's not filled with dust/oose etc, then there can't be anything wrong with it and it must be down to perception I'm afraid. There is noting mechanical or that can break with a radiator if it is getting hot, the actual heating of the air and then room is performed by a passive convection current, therefore if the air can get up through the radiator then it would be working ok.

Yes, when the heating was on the gauge used to rise to just over 2 bar.
 
radiator hot all over and not heating the room then its simple its not big enough
 
Honestly, I know it sounds counter intuitive but if the radiator is getting as hot as it used to and the radiator itself is clean and air can travel up inside the panel/fins - i.e. there is no dust/oose that's down inside the convection fins blocking the flow of air - then it has to be working as it was and as it should. Unless there are now draughts or places that cold air is now entering the room that weren't there before (vents etc)

The laws of thermal convection won't have changed in your living room :) That's why I suggest that it may be your perception of how warm the room is rather than the room itself isn't heating up properly. Have you measured the temperature in the room?
 

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