balancing radiators

[Terry lambert]

Stop confusing yourself and just use the lock shield.

If you slow down the flow of water from either side it will have the same effect.

You would be looking for the drop in temp from lockshield to wheel head though

 

[D_Hailsham]

What I cant figure out is....if the lockshield/adjuster valve is on the output/return side of the rad, how does adjusting the valve change the way the rads heat up, ie, how does changing the flow of water coming out of a rad change the way it heats up? Or am I missing something?

The output of a rad is not a fixed amount. It depends on three temperatures: flow, return and room. Opening/closing the LS valve will increase/reduce the flow rate through the rad which will increase/reduce the return temp. So opening the LS valve will reduce the drop across the rad and closing the valve will increase the drop.

There will be a slight drop in temperature along the pipework from one rad to the next. Insulating the first few feet of pipe from the boiler will have a noticeable effect.

As for boiler flow temperature, if you heat a HW cylinder from the boiler it needs to be about 70C; but if you have a combi boiler, set the boiler CH temperature to the lowest value which can warm the house up in the coldest weather.

 

[JasonW]

I re-exposed my pipes and when boiler running one is hot other cold so I guess he got his flow and return right after all ... back to balancing as above but at least avoided mrs getting wet

 

[UpAroundTheBend]

Ive had a plumber friend in to move one of my rads and to fit trv's on them. Hes fitted the trv's on the return side and when I questioned him he said they can go on any side. Ive read similar on this and other forums but just wanted to ask myself if its really ok to have trv's on the return side and lockshields on the flow side?

and if it is ok, how does a trv on the return side control how hot a rad gets? If the valve on the flow side is permanently open wont the rad justkeep filling up with hot water and therefore be at max heat all the time?

sorry if im asking questions youre sick of answering...its just bugging me trying to work it out. Thanks.