Balancing radiators
 

I understand radiator balancing to mean, with the TRV set to maximum,
closing the other valve to create a temperature differential of some
suitable value between inlet and outlet.

Is it necessary/advisable/prudent/worthwhile to do so? What is the
'suitable' value for the differential? Where do I get suitable clip on
thermometers, and what are they called?

TIA

Richard

Balancing radiators
 

Richard wrote in :


Is it necessary/advisable/prudent/worthwhile to do so?

Yes; some radiatpors or branches have lower impedance than others, so the
hot water flow will favour them and not heat the others so much.

What is the 'suitable' value for the differential?
20 deg F/11 deg C

Where do I get suitable clip on thermometers, and what are they called?

Erm.... someone will know; I much prefer to use an infrared thermometer
like this

http://www.maplin.co.uk/module.aspx?...r&ModuleNo= 4
6033&doy=18m8

Watch the wrap!

Its instant - the clip on pair takes ages to settle, you can read both ends
in seconds with one of these, it does lots of other things, and you can
play with the laser. Some folks put a bit of blacl tape on the rad to
assist in taking a reading

When the rads are balanced, each one should be working at an equal
temperature and proportion of it's rated power, (dependant on heatant
temperature). So you'll get more out of the big ones than the little ones

One, the farthest/highest impedance - should have it's lockshield wide
open; don't get sucked into gradually screwing them all down till they're
all shut DAMHIK

mike

Balancing radiators
 

In article ,
Richard wrote:
I understand radiator balancing to mean, with the TRV set to maximum,
closing the other valve to create a temperature differential of some
suitable value between inlet and outlet.

Is it necessary/advisable/prudent/worthwhile to do so? What is the
'suitable' value for the differential?

You'll find all these answers in the FAQ

Where do I get suitable clip on thermometers, and what are they called?

You might consider an IR type - useful for other things too.

--
*The most wasted day of all is one in which we have not laughed.*

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

Balancing radiators
 

Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
In article ,
Richard wrote:

I understand radiator balancing to mean, with the TRV set to maximum,
closing the other valve to create a temperature differential of some
suitable value between inlet and outlet.


Is it necessary/advisable/prudent/worthwhile to do so? What is the
'suitable' value for the differential?


You'll find all these answers in the FAQ

Sorry Dave


Where do I get suitable clip on thermometers, and what are they called?


You might consider an IR type - useful for other things too.

Yep, been looking at the one from Maplin. But £40-odd quid . . .
might take a bit of convincing of SWMBO!

Balancing radiators
 

In article ,
Richard writes:

Yep, been looking at the one from Maplin. But £40-odd quid . . .
might take a bit of convincing of SWMBO!

They have had it on special offer occasionally.
I bought a couple of them for £25 (one for someone else).
(OTOH, one died and had to be replaced under warantee.)

--
Andrew Gabriel

Balancing radiators
 

In article ,
Richard wrote:
You might consider an IR type - useful for other things too.

Yep, been looking at the one from Maplin. But £40-odd quid . . .
might take a bit of convincing of SWMBO!

Have they gone up again? I bought one about a year ago or more from Maplin
for under 30 quid.

You might try Ebay, though.

I think last time I saw clip on thermometers they were about a tenner each.

--
*It's this dirty because I washed it with your wife's knickers*

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

Balancing radiators
 

"Richard" wrote in message
...
Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
In article ,
Richard wrote:

I understand radiator balancing to mean, with the TRV set to maximum,
closing the other valve to create a temperature differential of some
suitable value between inlet and outlet.


Is it necessary/advisable/prudent/worthwhile to do so? What is the
'suitable' value for the differential?


You'll find all these answers in the FAQ

Sorry Dave


Where do I get suitable clip on thermometers, and what are they called?


You might consider an IR type - useful for other things too.

Yep, been looking at the one from Maplin. But £40-odd quid . . .
might take a bit of convincing of SWMBO!


======================
Here's one source but most local CH stores will have them:
http://www.plumbworld.co.uk/267-118

You'll need two - one on flow and the other on return. They're a bit 'fiddly' to
clip on but they'll give reasonable results if you take your time.

Cic.


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Balancing radiators
 

In article ,
"Cicero" writes:

You'll need two - one on flow and the other on return. They're a bit 'fiddly' to
clip on but they'll give reasonable results if you take your time.

You can speed up their response by putting a dollop of heat
sink compound on the metal pad at the back which touches the
pipe.

If you buy two, make sure they are correctly calibrated before
you start by putting them on the same pipe and adjusting to
read the same. It doesn't matter if they are not accurate in
absolute terms, but it does matter if they are not identical.
There was about 5C difference between the two I bought to put
on the boiler flow and return pipes -- that's more than
enough difference to screw up radiator balancing.

--
Andrew Gabriel

Balancing radiators
 

In article ,
Owain wrote:
You might consider an IR type - useful for other things too.
Yep, been looking at the one from Maplin. But £40-odd quid . . .
might take a bit of convincing of SWMBO!

It would make an excellent Educational Toy for a child. You might even
let them play with it occasionally.

It's a damn sight more accurate than those clip on thermometers...

--
*Why do we say something is out of whack? What is a whack? *

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

Balancing radiators
 

In article ,
Owain writes:
Richard wrote:
You might consider an IR type - useful for other things too.
Yep, been looking at the one from Maplin. But £40-odd quid . . . might
take a bit of convincing of SWMBO!

It would make an excellent Educational Toy for a child. You might even
let them play with it occasionally.

Might want to avoid the type with laser aiming, in that case.
That's a toy for the adults...

--
Andrew Gabriel

Balancing radiators
 

In article ,
"Dave Plowman (News)" writes:
In article ,
Owain wrote:
You might consider an IR type - useful for other things too.
Yep, been looking at the one from Maplin. But £40-odd quid . . .
might take a bit of convincing of SWMBO!

It would make an excellent Educational Toy for a child. You might even
let them play with it occasionally.

It's a damn sight more accurate than those clip on thermometers...

....providing you don't point it at a bare copper pipe, on which
it doesn't work at all (copper is the infra-red equivalent of a
mirror). Put some tape or paint on the copper, or I point it at
the white stub on the radiator the pipe is connected to.

--
Andrew Gabriel

Balancing radiators
 

Thanks for all replies. I'll work on SWMBO regarding an IR thermometer.
Can't use the educational toy argument as, fortunately, we have no
children. However she maintains that, although frequently infantile,
I'm unteachable!

Richard

Balancing radiators
 

Balancing radiators
 

"Richard" wrote in message
...

Thanks for all replies. I'll work on SWMBO regarding an IR thermometer.
Can't use the educational toy argument as, fortunately, we have no
children. However she maintains that, although frequently infantile,
I'm unteachable!

Richard

============================
You might also consider a 'Gunson's Pocket Meter - 2' (note -2) - about £18-00p
from Halfords. It needs contact but the readings are quick and possibly more
reliable than the infrared meters suggested. Definitely quicker than the clip-on
things.

Cic.


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Balancing radiators
 

Cicero wrote:


============================
You might also consider a 'Gunson's Pocket Meter - 2' (note -2) - about £18-00p
from Halfords. It needs contact but the readings are quick and possibly more
reliable than the infrared meters suggested. Definitely quicker than the clip-on
things.

Cic.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Thanks Cicero. And at £18 I get lose it in the accounts!!!


Richard

Balancing radiators
 

Dave Plowman (News) wrote:


It's a damn sight more accurate than those clip on thermometers...

You can fool yourself with some of them as there's a parallax error
between the laser spot antdthe sensor.

It was only when I noticed implausible readings that I started
investigating and discoverd just how misaligned the two beams are when
you're targetting a small object ( like a pipe ) at close range.

I found that if I scanned the thermometer across the bit of black tape
stuck to the pipe and observed the readings, the peak happened with the
laser more than 1cm past the pipe.

Once you know the direction and amount of the misalignment, it's dead
easy to aim accordingly. Aligning the laser and sensor along the pipe
reduces the error, but you can still end up missing the bit of black
tape if you're using some.