• Table of contents

    Your Radiators Not Working?

    You have just switched on your central heating and the radiators not working, Why?

    There are many reasons why the radiators not working,

    The first and most common is they have been

    switched off for some reason and you have forgotten to switch them back on.

    The next reason why the radiators not

    working could be another simple answer,

    and that is the room thermostat may be turned down and just

    needs adjusting to bring the heaters on.

    If after checking the radiators valves are switched on and the room thermostat

    is calling for heat the radiators are still not getting hot, then we have to start looking at other

    things to find out what the problem may be.

    This is where you may need to

    call in your local gas safe registered

    heating engineers to carry out further checks.

    If you have a combination boiler and you have no problems with the hot water,

    then it could be that the diverter valve may be stuck or even broken.

    This is quite a common problem with the cheaper boilers.

    Another fault with the combination boiler is pump may not

    be working enough to push the heat away to the radiators.

    Also, the pressure within the system needs to be checked and reset if needed.

    Now we move on to the system boilers.

    A system boiler has the pump and pressure vessel built-in.

    These boiler supply hot water by means of a storage tank normally located in a cupboard.

    The hot water and heating are controlled by zone valves, either 2 single inline valves or a 3 port valve.

    If you have 2 single inline zone valves you need to locate the heating valve and see if it is working.

    Make sure the time clock for the heating is on and also that the room thermostat is switched to it’s highest setting.

    Most zone valves have a manual lever on

    the side which moves back and forth.

    Check to see if the valve is opening and closing,

    you can do this by getting someone to move the room thermostat up and down.

    If you have no movement on the valve, it’s

    probably the valve is faulty and needs to be replaced.

    Another reason for the radiators not working

    with system boilers are low pressure.

    Why Are My Radiators Not Working ​?

    The boiler should have a pressure of around 1-1.2bar for it to work correctly.

    Do you have any flashing lights on the boiler?

    If so they need to be checked out as the boiler may have gone to a lockout.

    If you have a normal open vented central heating system where you have a small tank in the loft the

    checking procedure is basically the same as the system boilers.

    Make sure the pump is working, you can do this by putting you

    hand on the pump and you should be able to feel the pump is working.

    On most pumps, there is a screw on the front,

    you can undo this screw and check the spindle is moving.

    Now you need to make sure the heating zone valve is working,

    just like the system boilers above.

    Now we need to establish has any work been carried out on the heating system while the heating was not required.

    Have you changed any radiators or radiators valve,

    has the system been drained down at all. If this is the case,

    it could be just a simple airlock, and the system just needs venting.

    If all of the above has been checked and your radiator not working,

    then we need to check the wiring, making sure no wires have been accidentally pulled out.

    A full wiring check has to be carried out to find the cause of the problem.

    These are just some of the problems on

    why your radiator not working,

    there are other things that need to be checked.

    Today’s heating systems are more complex than they use to be,

    so really need to be checked over by a gas safe registered engineer,

    If you have any questions or would like us to come out and find out why your radiator not

    working just enter your details in the box below and request a callback