Explore The Steps For Draining your Central Heating System

Posted by Michael Griffin on October 28th, 2019

Change in weather brings with it the need to repair any faults that might occur in either of your air conditioning or heating systems. But repair doesn't mean that you need to run behind the experts for basic faults that might occur in your system over a period of time. However, we have come across people who keep calling for the services of heating and air conditioning in port st Lucie. But wait, you can do the basics yourself. Imagine getting the pipes of your central heating system freeze during winters. You could not simply keep waiting for a technician to show up in such a situation. 

Your hot water systems need to be drained in order to prevent the pipes from freezing during a prolonged cold weather power failure. It might also be necessary to drain the system in order to make repairs. Draining more than one radiator has always been a good idea in case you want to drain the complete central heating system in order to ensure there is no chance of any water leaking out. However, this is completely different in the case of air conditioning blockages. 

Before learning how to drain your central heating system, it is highly recommended to switch your boiler off as it will allow the potentially scalding water to cool down and would eventually prevent you from getting any harm, thus ensuring your safety.

Warning- Draining or flushing isn’t something you should attempt yourself unless you don’t have the relevant knowledge or skills to do so properly and safely.

Steps to drain a central heating system

We have mentioned a few simple steps on how to drain your central heating system to make your radiators run efficiently.

Locate radiators with drain off valve- To begin, locate the radiators somewhere downstairs at your place and attach a long piece of hosepipe to the drain off valve using a clip. Though you can avoid the use of a clip if your piece of hosepipe comes being strong enough to hold it on but it is advisable to use the clip as it can stop the pipe from slipping off and also prevents the dirty water from spilling out all over the floor. Be sure on your pipe to be long enough to reach outside the property for the water to drain out.

Drain radiators thoroughly- Make sure all the radiator valves in the house are open before opening the valve of the radiator that is attached to the pipe. Once you enclose the valve of the radiator that is attached to the hosepipe the water will automatically start draining out. In case you want the water to drain out more quickly, it is recommended to open the bleeding valves of the upstairs radiators that own a separate point for description.

Open the bleed valves- Once you open the bleed valve, wait for around 15 minutes for the water to drain out. After this, try opening the bleed valve on any one of the radiators slowly. If you find the water coming out, quickly tighten the bleed valve back and wait for another 10 minutes. As soon as you hear the sound of air being sucked into the system, you can feel safe to fully open the bleed valve and do the same to all the other radiators. This is done in order to make sure that even the last remaining bits of water is out of the system.

Finish up the draining process- Once you are confident about the water is completely out of the system, go back around the entire radiators and tighten back all the bleed valves.

Close the valve of the radiator attached to the hosepipe and remove the clip to takeoff the pipe.

Tip- Be aware of the little water waiting in the hosepipe, to split off as soon as you take off the pipe. Prepare a container to avoid spilling out.

You are successfully done draining your system.