Can I reduce the heat of my towel rad? Or should it stay fully 'open'

[robodelfy]

Hi I remember reading before that one radiator in the system , probably the towel rad should be left fully open. I have a combi boiler and normal rads througout the house with TRVs.

The towel rad is just boiling hot all the time, and often we need the window open a bit to ventilate the bathroom, so it feels extra wasteful

Do I need to leave this fully open? Or is it ok to turn the valve down on the flow, it just has normal valves you can turn with your hand, not TRVs

Sorry for any silly questions!

 

[JohnD]

You have a gas combi boiler so you can and should turn it down.

In the room where you have the room thermostat you should not have a TRV.

People with solid fuel boilers need at least one radiator permanently on, to absorb heat if it gets too hot.

 

[robodelfy]

You have a gas combi boiler so you can and should turn it down.

In the room where you have the room thermostat you should not have a TRV.

People with solid fuel boilers need at least one radiator permanently on, to absorb heat if it gets too hot.

Ok thanks, and can you turn it off completely?
I thought the water had to flow through it to reach the other radiators, but maybe I've misunderstood altogether!

 

[JohnD]

Yes you can

No it doesn't

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

Do I need to leave this fully open? Or is it ok to turn the valve down on the flow, it just has normal valves you can turn with your hand, not TRVs

Try turning the CH water temperature down at the boiler, providing you can do that, without it becoming too cool for the rest of the house.

 

[ianmcd]

Turning the flow down wont change the temp of the towel rail , it will be on or off, the only way you can alter the temp is at the boiler control thermostat

 

[Madrab]

No matter what you do with the valves on the rad, any time the rad is on it will be boiling hot. Depending on what make and model of boiler you have will determine if it has an internal bypass which means you don't necessarily need a rad on all the time. If the system has been installed correctly then it should have an auto bypass fitted which means a rad on constantly is definitely not needed. It is no longer the standard to have a rad as a bypass when it comes to Sealed Gas/Oil Central Heating

If you want to regulate the temp in the room then a TRV will do that job, if you want to cool the radiator temps down then, as advised, that would be adjusted at the boiler.

You could turn the vale down restricting the flow into the rad and that can reduce the output of the rad (not the temp) but that's found at a very specific point on the valve turn down, which you may find very hard to find.

 

[robodelfy]

No matter what you do with the valves on the rad, any time the rad is on it will be boiling hot. Depending on what make and model of boiler you have will determine if it has an internal bypass which means you don't necessarily need a rad on all the time. If the system has been installed correctly then it should have an auto bypass fitted which means a rad on constantly is definitely not needed. It is no longer the standard to have a rad as a bypass when it comes to Sealed Gas/Oil Central Heating

If you want to regulate the temp in the room then a TRV will do that job, if you want to cool the radiator temps down then, as advised, that would be adjusted at the boiler.

You could turn the vale down restricting the flow into the rad and that can reduce the output of the rad (not the temp) but that's found at a very specific point on the valve turn down, which you may find very hard to find.

Thanks its a Worcester greenstar 25i
But yes I've been experimenting with trying to close the flow valve down, and its very hard to get it right. IT has to be fully closed then slightly backed off by a fraction, but even then it does seem to get very hot. So obviously not the best option
If I turn the boiler down, then some of the other rads may struggle to get up to heat

 

[Madrab]

If I turn the boiler down, then some of the other rads may struggle to get up to heat

Nope, doesn't work like that. As long as the radiators work fine just now, if you turn the flow temp down on the boiler then they will all still get the same flow it'll just reduce the temperature in each rad by the same amount. Though it could save you money by using less energy.

When certain rads struggle to get heat that's usually down to incorrect system balancing/poor circulation or a lazy pump.

 

[robodelfy]

Nope, doesn't work like that. As long as the radiators work fine just now, if you turn the flow temp down on the boiler then they will all still get the same flow it'll just reduce the temperature in each rad by the same amount. Though it could save you money by using less energy.

When certain rads struggle to get heat that's usually down to incorrect system balancing/poor circulation or a lazy pump.

Yeah but that's what I meant, if I turn down the Boiler so the towel radiator is the right heat (not boiling hot), then all the other rads don't get hot enough to heat rooms in the winter

 

[JohnD]

You can balance the radiator to reduce its output and reduce the speed it heats up. My bathroom radiator I have turned the valves at both ends to closed +open quarter turn.

Almost all the adjustment is when they are nearly closed.

You could fit a TRV.

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

Yeah but that's what I meant, if I turn down the Boiler so the towel radiator is the right heat (not boiling hot), then all the other rads don't get hot enough to heat rooms in the winter

Turn it's valve down then. The final 1/4 or 1/2 turn before fully off, is where you need to try adjusting it to.

 

[ianmcd]

I will say it again, the only way you can alter the temp of any radiator or towel rail is at the boiler thermostat, no altering Lockshields or fitting a TRV valves let the water through , the temp of that water is what temp the radiator will be , no valves can heat up or cool down the water being circulated in the radiator/towel rail

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

I will say it again, the only way you can alter the temp of any radiator or towel rail is at the boiler thermostat, no altering Lockshields or fitting a TRV valves let the water through , the temp of that water is what temp the radiator will be , no valves can heat up or cool down the water being circulated in the radiator/towel rail

Whilst it will not provide perfect heat output control, if the flow into the radiator restricted, it's output is certain to be less, because the water will more opportunity to cool down on it's way through the rad. The downside will be that it will also take longer to heat up from cold. Long term, it does need to be fitted with a TRV.

 

[robodelfy]

I can't seem to control the heat with the flow valve on the towel rad. I close it completely, and try and back off in tiny increments, but no heat comes. Then it makes a kind of clunk noise in the valve, and the heat comes through full. Its as if I can't really close it down just a bit