subject: Radiator Valves- An Essentiial Element Of Your Radiator [print this page] In most cases, we tend to miss the smaller elements of life. Often these elements are those which may look small, but can play a large role in determining the success or otherwise of many things. This is the case with the radiators too. Radiators play a crucial role in heating our homes. When the outside of the house is freezing, you need to know your house will remain warm and cosy. When radiators swing into action and heat the house they are controlled with the help of a small device known as a radiator valve.
Most people know that radiators require hot water for the purpose of heating. Each radiator will be trying to heat rooms to keep them at the desired temperatures. Who controls the flow of the hot water to these radiators? Its the radiator valves that do the business. Radiator valves are a small but essential tool which determines the flow of hot water to its radiator as well as helping balance the flow of hot water around the system. There are two forms of Radiator valve and it is important to understand which suits your system best.
Valves are sold in pairs,;
The wheelhead valve is the temperature control (this can be TRV or manual see below) the other is called a lockshield valve and is used to balance the radiators in the system so that they all heat up at roughly the same rate. Simply put, the radiator closest to the boiler would heat quicker than the one sited at the other end of the house, so the lockshield valves should be set opened at increasing amounts the further away from the boiler the radiator is to balance the flow of water around the system.
A Thermostatic Radiator Valve (TRV) automatically controls an individual radiators temperature by sensing the ambient room air temperature and automatically opening and closing the flow of hot water to the radiator to maintain a preset room temperature. Once reached the TRV will close the flow of water to that radiator until the room temperature drops and it will re-open again.
Manual radiator valves are adjusted by hand; they will allow a constant flow of water through your radiator regardless of the room temperature and radiators will only turn off when the room thermostat (usually in the hall) reaches its set point or the programmer turns the heating off. Systems may have at least two manual valves included, on a radiator that acts as a bypass for the system (usually a towel rail) and one in the same area as the room thermostat so they do not conflict with each other.
The interesting part of radiator valves is that they should not only be effective, but can also conform to good design. In other words, one now tends to buy designer radiators to enhance the look of ones home. Why use a poorly designed valve when good quality designs are available to complement the range of stylish radiators available?
Therefore, it is essential that one buys the right valve for ones radiators. It should be good in terms of its functionality and good quality to ensure your heating remains effective, but at the same time, it can also achieve high design value.
