Although using water pump pliers to open radiator drain valves is fine, the best radiator drain valve key for me is a small square headed ratchet.

A decent set of water pump pliers can be used as any other radiator key which I would highly recommend getting for your home. I have been replacing and repairing radiators full-time for over a decade and have bought more plumbing tools and radiator keys than I could ever need.

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In an open vented central heating system – a system with a feed and expansion tank in the loft – unwanted gases which form inside the system usually exit via the expansion pipe. However these may not always be the case. Since air and other gases are less dense than water, they will rise as high as they can – and usually that means getting trapped at the top of the radiator. What do I need? A radiator spanner can mean different things to different people. My radiator spanner keys Radiator Valve Tails The most common plumbing tool that gets called a radiator spanner is a large hex or Allen key type for fitting and removing radiator valve tails. For the other type of radiator valve tails (with 15mm pipe attached), you can just use an adjustable spanner. These can be used for opening drain valves, removing radiator valves, and many other things in your home including bleeding modern radiators. If you're a plumber or just a keen DIYer who wants the best tools, then ratchet tools are the best and make jobs so much easier.

My favourite and best tool for valve tails is a step ratchet. They’re so much better, but if you’re not using them often, you might be better off with an Allen key type radiator spanner. The Most Common Tails A universal radiator key can be a handy little tool. I always have one clipped to my work pants which is mainly used for the triangular gas meter cupboard key. When you have a radiator hot at the bottom and cold at the top then you will need to bleed the air out to get it fully heated again. The best way to do this is use a radiator bleed key, sometimes called a radiator vent key. Best Radiator Bleed Key Excellent design, this should be the standard shape for a radiator key as it will fit any valve in any place. Read less In this post I’ll go through their uses and what I think are the best and what to avoid based on my experiences over the years. Radiator Bleed keyExcellent design, this should be the standard shape for a radiator key as it will fit any valve in any place. Read full review Every home should have a radiator bleed key for bleeding radiators (and sometimes venting) for if and when they ever need to. My radiator bleed keys Another radiator bleed key type that I always have on my bunch of keys is a Tommy bar bleed key. It comes in handy for rear access bleed valves and getting in tight spaces when a standard type key is too big. Using my Tommy bar radiator bleed key in tight space Assuming your boiler is downstairs, you should start downstairs with the radiator furthest from the boiler. After you’ve done the downstairs radiators, you can then repeat the process for the ones upstairs. How to bleed the radiators

There are 4 different sizes and I’ve yet to come across a radiator drain valve that it doesn’t fit. My radiator drain valve keys Universal Radiator Key Well done! Now simply repeat the process for the other radiators which need to be bled. I’ve bled the radiators but now the central heating won’t come on The problem with this is different tail brands (although the same type of tails) have different sized nuts. So, you’ll need a 16mm, 17mm, and 18mm ratchet spanner to cover them all.They can also be used as a radiator drain valve key but there are many different sized heads so finding one key that fits all drain valve sizes is very unlikely. Summary Radiator drain valves have a square head and are needed to drain radiators and central heating systems. My ratchet radiator drain valve key