Tighten the nuts by hand for speed then finish off with the adjustable spanner. Make sure it’s not too tight or you might damage the thread! Making the swap to thermostatic radiator valves can help heat your home more efficiently, reduce heating bills and give you more control over the temperature so that each room feels comfortable. Finally, if you have any concerns and don’t feel confident changing the valves yourself, you can always rely on a gas safe registered engineer to get the job done for you.

Now you need to remove any trapped air inside the radiator. This is called bleeding the radiator. There may also be air trapped in the nearest radiator, so it is best to bleed that one too. Since radiator valves play a significant part in how well central heating radiators operate, and as most of them are visibly on show in our homes, changing your radiator valves is a great way to improve the performance, efficiency and overall look of your heating system. To do this, hold the body of the valve with the grips and use an adjustable spanner to make an upwards turn and unscrew the cap nut until water starts to flow out. Since the radiator has been drained and refilled you will need to re-pressurise the system to ensure everything is working correctly. But don’t worry if your pipes are slightly bigger or smaller than the standard 15mm. Sometimes copper pipes can be anything between 8mm – 28mm depending on where they are in your home and the age of the building.So whether you love the large, decorative, traditional valves or the small minimalist options, all our valves have industry standard connections. But if you only want to change your thermostatic or manual valve then you can skip to the final maintenance section.

When all the water has drained from the radiator, keep unscrewing the nut until you can pull the valve out of the radiator to disconnect it. So if you find a pair of valves you like the look of but they aren’t the right size for your pipework, you may need to buy radiator reducers or adapters from any plumbing or DIY merchant to ensure a clean connection. Just like designer radiators have become much better looking over time, there’s now a stylish selection of radiator valves to choose from to suit your home decor. Updating your radiator valves can have many benefits on your home heating and your home decor. Here’s why: In this case, the size of the radiator valve refers to the size of the valve connection and pipework instead of the design of the valve.Holding the valve body with the grips, align it with the adapter and tighten the cap nut with the spanner that holds them together. Then tighten the cap nut that holds the valve to the pipe. If you are swapping an old thermostatic valve for a new TRV, take the thermostatic head off both valves. You should be able to turn this to remove it by hand. Use a container underneath the valve to catch any drips but all of the water should have been drained from the radiator. The standard size of copper pipework is 15mm and all of our radiator valves have a half inch (½”) thread on the bottom (the part that connects the valve to the pipe) which makes them suitable for use with 15mm piping.

Turn the heating off and allow the radiators to cool completely for at least an hour. You should do this before starting any job to do with your radiators to avoid burning yourself! We hope you have found this guide helpful and at this point you have a lovely new pair of valves on your radiator! If you decide you want to change your radiator or need to remove a radiator from the wall for decorating, watch this video to help! If you think the task of trying to avoid flooding the room whilst changing your radiator valve is too much to handle, there is an alternative method to do the job without draining the system. But, you will need some extra tools to help you.Most radiators have two radiator valves that connect the radiator to the pipes and allow hot water to enter the radiator and control how much heat is given out. Cover the floor area around the radiator under the valves you are going to replace with the towels and container to catch any excess water. It is important to keep hold of the valve body with the grips to avoid it putting pressure on the pipe causing it to bend and potentially leak later on! There are a couple of things to do after you have changed your radiator valve to make sure that the heating system is working properly. Once the old thermostatic valve or manual is open, air will escape and water will flow out of the radiator. Use a large container or wet and dry vacuum to catch the water that flows out of the radiator until there is no water left inside. This could take about 5-10 minutes or longer depending on the size of your radiator.

Then take the new thermostatic valve head and screw it onto the valve. You should be able to do this by hand.