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replaced radiator with towel heater upstairs, now radiators downstairs slow to heat and dont get hot

embecmom
embecmom Member Posts: 4
in Gas Heating
Recently added a new towel radiator upstairs. AFter that the radiators downstairs would not heat up/would take a while to heat up but would not get as hot as upstairs. I bled them, cleaned the magnaclean, balanced and turned off some of the radiators in the rooms we were not using. Result seems that when I turn off the new towel radiator (it is bigger than the previous radiator in the room) downstairs heats up more quickly. Is this a pump issue, in that the old pump is knackered or I just need a bigger pump now? I have turned the valves back as close to closed as possible so not sure what to do next.

Comments

  • Ironman
    Ironman Member Posts: 7,550
    More info and some pics would be helpful: what type of radiators? How is the system piped? Is it an old gravity system that been converted to forced flow?
    Bob Boan
    You can choose to do what you want, but you cannot choose the consequences.
  • Jamie Hall
    Jamie Hall Member Posts: 24,862
    Probably not a pump issue -- a balance issue. As I just wrote in another thread, water is lazy and will take the path of least resistance. Your new towel heater is that path -- so you may need to increase the resistance in that path to get things back in balance. There is, I presume, a way to do that?
    Br. Jamie, osb
    Building superintendent/caretaker, 7200 sq. ft. historic house museum with dependencies in New England
  • EBEBRATT-Ed
    EBEBRATT-Ed Member Posts: 16,488
    Can't tell without some more information. As others have said water will take the easiest path. Choking the flow to the towel heater would be the first thing to try in addition to making sure the entire system is bled properly.

    A balancing valve or a larger pump may be the fix but we need to see the whole system. and the piping around the boiler
  • embecmom
    embecmom Member Posts: 4
    tks all.. its a gravity fed system with gas boiler and hot water tank, divided into hotwater and heating, pump on both routes. The issue is def the new radiator, I turned it off completely and all radiators are very hot. As soon as I turn it on they almost immediately start to lose heat downstairs. 90% of the radiators have individual thermostats two dont, one of which is the towel radiator. The other is in the living room (told by the plumber to not put one on that but keep the thermostat for the heating in that room). My inclination is to try and reduce the flow to the towel radiator as much as possible .
  • PC7060
    PC7060 Member Posts: 1,445
    Can you put a TRV on the new rad to throttle it based on room heat?
  • EBEBRATT-Ed
    EBEBRATT-Ed Member Posts: 16,488
    @embecmom

    Start with the towel warmer valve wide open and then close it half way. Check the temp.If Towel warmer is cold...open it a just a bit. Towel warmer hotter than the other rads close it a smidge.

    Keep doing this until you find the right spot. Make small changes and wait 1/2 a day until you get it balanced.
  • JimP
    JimP Member Posts: 90
    More details would help access your situation. This seems to be a classic case of the warm water going where there’s the least resistance. The system may have a lot of issues regarding flow control. Try closing off the supply valve to the towel warmer until things work like they used to. You may have to close it almost all the way. You’ll still get more heat if it has more radiation than the radiator it replaced… it will just take a little more time because you must allow the hot water to go to all the other raditors in the house at the same time.
  • embecmom
    embecmom Member Posts: 4
    PC7060 said:

    Can you put a TRV on the new rad to throttle it based on room heat?

    yes could do that but I dont think that would solve the problem as its going to stop the radiators downstairs from heating whilst it gets to temp,
  • embecmom
    embecmom Member Posts: 4
    EBEBRATT-Ed said:

    @embecmom

    Start with the towel warmer valve wide open and then close it half way. Check the temp.If Towel warmer is cold...open it a just a bit. Towel warmer hotter than the other rads close it a smidge.

    Keep doing this until you find the right spot. Make small changes and wait 1/2 a day until you get it balanced.

    yea think your right, closed it off and the radiators are boiling, put it back on full and they are cold so will adjust slowly

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