{"id":4785,"date":"2008-09-12T08:50:24","date_gmt":"2008-09-12T13:50:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/magic1host.com\/blog\/2008\/09\/12\/central-heating-system-radiators-are-critical-components\/"},"modified":"2008-09-12T08:50:24","modified_gmt":"2008-09-12T13:50:24","slug":"central-heating-system-radiators-are-critical-components","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/magic1host.com\/blog\/?p=4785","title":{"rendered":"Central Heating System Radiators Are Critical Components"},"content":{"rendered":"
by Tal Potishman<\/div>\n

Take a modern car as an example. The engine creates the power by burning fuel. The power is then transferred by the wheels and tyres to pull the car forward. In the central heating world, the engine is your boiler and the wheels and tyres are your wall hung radiators. Just like in cars, a well designed and sized radiator is crucial for effective heat transfer from the boiler into the room and as such guarantee an effective and economic performance of your central heating system.<\/p>\n

You may find this as a surprise in our modern day that those stainless steel racks and sleek radiators now offered by leading UK suppliers actually date back to the 19th century. Patented by a German engineer in 1855, the radiator has largely remained unchanged in its basic concept. If you ignore the external fashionable designs, all radiators are basically a flat metal hollow case, shaped as a box (sometimes with fins to improve the heat emissions) and attached to the wall in order to radiate heat into the room. <\/p>\n

UK made radiators are typically made of sheet steel with fins to emit more heat. The heating liquid, normally water, is pumped into the radiator. The hot liquid loses its heat into the room and as it cools off it drops to the bottom of the radiator and eventually is pumped out via the return valve. The air around the radiator heats up and consequently rises to the top of the room, drawing in cooler air. This convection effect keeps a circulation of heating within the room and constant heat within the home.<\/p>\n

Despite their long life and history, radiators suffer from common problems such as air pockets. These pockets of gas are believed to be a result of two potential sources. One source is tiny bubbles that creep into the central heating loop through microscopic cracks in the piping (for example through holes in the brazing). A good installation and connection of piping should reduce the risk of such cracks.<\/p>\n

Another common explanation for these air pockets it that they are the result of a chemical reaction that occurs when copper piping and other metals come in contact with very hot water. Such pockets (normally made of hydrogen) get trapped inside the system and find their way to the top most point of the system. This is why your radiator does not get hot at the top side, as it is filled up with air pockets rather than hot water. As this reduces the efficiency of the radiator and the central heating system as a whole it is recommended to bleed out such air pockets from the system. This can be easily done by using a bleeding key (which can be purchased in all major DIY stores in the UK). The bleeding key fits into a bleeding screw at the top of the radiator that lets the air pockets escape and return the system to good operating mode.<\/p>\n

Radiators may suffer from another problem due to their chemical make. As hot water comes in contact with iron and other metals the reaction releases not only gases but also other chemical deposits which clog the system and reduce its performance. This problem is more acute with older systems and in extreme cases can make the central heating system completely in-effective.<\/p>\n

Modern plumbers reduce the risk of such corrosion by adding a corrosion inhibitor to the mix of liquids within the central heating loop. In addition most plumbers these days power flush the system before filling it up to remove any such deposits and sludge. It is important to notice that power flush can remove debris even from brand new systems. Such debris can be a result of the metal workings and the manufacturing process of the radiator units or the copper piping.<\/p>\n

\n
About the Author:<\/div>\n
Tal Potishman is editor of Heating Central<\/a>, which publishes articles about UK boilers<\/a>, plumbers, underfloor heating and solar thermal systems. He specializes in helping save costs and the planet by consulting on high-efficiency heating.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Take a modern car as an example. The engine creates the power by burning fuel. The power is then transferred by the wheels and tyres to pull the car forward. In the central heating world, the engine is your boiler and the wheels and tyres are your wall hung radiators. Just like in cars, a well designed and sized radiator is crucial for effective heat transfer from the boiler into the room and as such guarantee an effective and economic performance of your central heating system.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2060,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[77],"class_list":["post-4785","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-business","tag-business"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/magic1host.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4785","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/magic1host.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/magic1host.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magic1host.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2060"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magic1host.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4785"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/magic1host.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4785\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/magic1host.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4785"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magic1host.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4785"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magic1host.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4785"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}