While you can drain a combi boiler yourself, hiring a heating engineer is the better option. And if you have a system or regular boiler then it's definitely worth hiring a professional. 3. Take off the old radiator valve 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. Changing a radiator valve is easy when you follow these 6 simple steps. If you don’t need to remove a radiator valve and just want to fit a new valve to an existing pipe and radiator then jump to step 4. Use a container underneath the valve to catch any drips but all of the water should have been drained from the radiator. 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.

The last step is to bleed all of your radiators. This will ensure they're all properly filled and there's no air trapped in the system. When refilling and bleeding your system, we'd recommend adding inhibitor to keep your radiators working at their best. 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. If you are changing your radiator valves from manual to thermostatic, please ensure you leave one radiator with a manual valve to ensure there is always a constant flow through the central heating. For a more information why this is important or if you haven’t already chosen a valve for your radiator then take a look at our guide - ‘ which radiator valves should I buy?’ for all the information you need. Then take the new thermostatic valve head and screw it onto the valve. You should be able to do this by hand.Knowing how to use your new radiator control valves properly could help to keep your heating bills down. Using a bung to replace a radiator valve without draining your central heating system has several benefits. First, it saves time and hassle by avoiding the need to flush and refill the system. It also reduces the risk of damaging the system by draining it down and eliminates the need for chemical cleaning before replacing a radiator. Risks and Potential Issues to be Aware of When Using a Bung This means the numbers on a thermostatic radiator valve refer to room temperature. Not the temperature of the radiator. An easy mistake to make. 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.

Replacing a radiator valve without draining your central heating system can be done using a bung. By following the steps outlined in this post, you can successfully replace a radiator valve while avoiding the hassle of draining and refilling the system.

Turning the valve to the highest setting will keep the radiator on until the room reaches a temperature around 30?. Do this and your heating bills will shoot up.