11/02/2008

Help! I'm bleeding!

Radiators, that is...

Or trying to, at any rate.

The radiators in my bedroom and in the bedroom of my housemate are baseboard affairs. And they're cold when the heat is on, so bleeding is likely the solution to the problem. And I know they both have bleeders, but the past few times when I've turned the only possible thing that can be the bleeder, nothing has happened but some gas/air escaping. So now I have nothing but more questions (Google, here I come...):

-Do you bleed the radiators with the heat on or off?
-If you only bleed one or two radiatiors, does that do the trick, or do you have to do all of them for the bleeding to be effective?
-Does it matter where in the radiator sequence you start? I've heard start from the radiator nearest the boiler and the farthest. Which is correct?
-I've my eventual bleeding doesn't work, what else could the problem be if the heat is working in the other more tradtional-style radiators in the house, and how much will it cost to fix?

While I was waiting for the computer to warm up, I bled the radiator in my room one more time and actually got water out of it. I'm off to discover whether the room is warm, or whether I have to dig up more blankets...

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Back when I had 'em, I was told: bleed while the heat is on; from the farthest to nearest (i.e. start at the top of the house); and when you turn the key, you get air out, but eventually the air is all gone so you get some water--turn the key back at that point, but bring a big cup with you to catch the water.

The point is to get the air out, so the water can be all effective and stuff. My impression was that air in the pipes mostly caused noise and inefficiency, not complete lack of heat. I've never had floor registers. Is there some way to turn them on and off, could that be the issue?

Warm thoughts--