How to Balance a Radiator

Balancing your radiator is vital if you want the heat to be distributed evenly throughout your home, keeping all spaces warm and cosy. While this process takes a bit of trial and error, it can make a huge difference in how much you use and spend on heating your property.

We’ve put together an easy-to-follow guide on how to balance a radiator, so you are left feeling confident and prepared for a successful outcome.

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Why do you need to balance your radiators?

As all your radiators are connected to one system, the ones installed closest to the boiler will often take most of the heat, not leaving as much for the ones further away. In addition to this, as heat rises, radiators placed upstairs will take more than their fair share of the heat too, so you may find that the downstairs units furthest from the boiler never get particularly hot.

So, balancing your radiators means adjusting each one to make sure they all attain as much heat needed to perform optimally, ensuring your whole home is kept cosy in the winter.

Before you begin

Before balancing, it’s a good idea to bleed your radiators as this will give you more accurate temperature readings when you start balancing them.

You’ll also need to make sure you have the following equipment:

Radiator bleeding key

Adjustable spanner

Screwdriver

Digital thermometer

Time to balance your radiator

Follow the simple steps below to ensure you successfully balance each and every one of your radiators.

To begin, you’ll need to turn your heating off and wait until it completely cools down. Then, open the valves on all of your radiators; some lockshield valves may require a spanner to loosen.

Once you’ve switched your heating back on, pay attention to the order in which your radiators heat up. Usually, the first will be closest to the boiler, and the last will be furthest away. This will tell the story of how the heat flows through your system, so you know which order to balance them in.

When you’ve made a note of this, turn the heating back off and wait for the radiators to cool down again so that your readings will be accurate when balancing.

After every radiator has completely cooled down, switch your heating back on (again) and keep all the valves open. To distribute the flow to the next radiator rather than back to the boiler, turn the lockshield valve completely off, then turn it approximately a quarter or half turn back. The radiator will then start to heat up again.

You’ll want to measure the temperature of the pipework under the valves on both sides and adjust the lockshield valve until the difference between the two pipes reaches 12°C. Then you can move on to the next one in the system.

As you move from radiator to radiator, you should go in the order in which they heat up. You may find that the lockshield valve will need to be more open each time to allow more water to flow through.

If you’ve carried out this process properly, you’ll find that all of your radiators should now heat up evenly, from the closest to your boiler to the furthest.

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