Rads - Replace of flush system

OU812

Rads in the house are about 25 years old (possibly more, we're only here 14 years). There's one newer one on the loop and the rest seem to be consistent with that age - comparing them to my parents house which has them about 30-35 years. There's currently rad covers on the ones downstairs & these will most probably be removed during a decorating phase.

We're getting some work done & will be adding a new rad to the system in an extension and I'm considering my options here for improving/upgrading the heating system.

The boiler is 2012, will be serviced in the next couple of weeks and a netatamo thermostat fitted (never had a thermostat in the house before, just the boiler's own). I'll probably be fitting netatamo valves over the next couple of years to all the rads to have individual thermos in each room on the system.

Would we be better off getting the entire system flushed & maybe a water filter added or change to newer rads to maximise heat output?

Robbie.G

OU812 wrote: »

Rads in the house are about 25 years old (possibly more, we're only here 14 years). There's one newer one on the loop and the rest seem to be consistent with that age - comparing them to my parents house which has them about 30-35 years. There's currently rad covers on the ones downstairs & these will most probably be removed during a decorating phase.

We're getting some work done & will be adding a new rad to the system in an extension and I'm considering my options here for improving/upgrading the heating system.

The boiler is 2012, will be serviced in the next couple of weeks and a netatamo thermostat fitted (never had a thermostat in the house before, just the boiler's own). I'll probably be fitting netatamo valves over the next couple of years to all the rads to have individual thermos in each room on the system.

Would we be better off getting the entire system flushed & maybe a water filter added or change to newer rads to maximise heat output?

It really depends on the type of rads if they are low or high output
An high output rads has fins on the back of the rad
Low output are flat back
If they're low Output i would replace them

OU812

Is there much benefit to replacing them in terms of output?

OU812

Robbie.G wrote: »

It really depends on the type of rads if they are low or high output
An high output rads has fins on the back of the rad
Low output are flat back
If they're low Output i would replace them

Is there much benefit to replacing them in terms of output? (In terms of ROI)

Robbie.G

OU812 wrote: »

Is there much benefit to replacing them in terms of output? (In terms of ROI)

If your rads are sludged they are way down on their output
if they're low output rads all new rads are high output they're going to give about 60% more heat

Dardania

Robbie.G wrote: »

OU812 wrote: »

Is there much benefit to replacing them in terms of output? (In terms of ROI)

If your rads are sludged they are way down on their output
if they're low output rads all new rads are high output they're going to give about 60% more heat

Whether they're low or high output, I'm not sure replacing them is of any benefit (unless for aesthetic reasons).
Surely when the rads were fitted originally, they were sized for the room they were in, the heat loss associated, and the heat up time required...
Where's all this extra 60% heat output going to come from - a 60% bigger boiler?
Sorry to attack your thinking here, but I can't understand the benefit here...

OP, your approahc of individual valves per room makes perfect sense, as does removing the rad covers. And flushing would improve the effectiveness of each rad.
And to maximise heat output, you could consider separating the hot water cylinder and the space heating, by fitting some motorised valves - SEAI have some grants & a good spec to follow for this.

OU812

Would removing the layers of pain on them be any benefit? Obviously they'd need to be repainted after being stripped, but there's a good 8-10 layers of paint on them.

Dtp1979

OU812 wrote: »

Would removing the layers of pain on them be any benefit? Obviously they'd need to be repainted after being stripped, but there's a good 8-10 layers of paint on them.

No. are they really hot on top and cold on the bottom?

OU812

Not particularly. Bleed them when they need it.

Dtp1979

OU812 wrote: »

Not particularly. Bleed them when they need it.

Then maybe you don't need a flush at all

OU812

Is it worth fitting one of those magnetic filter things to pull sludge out ?

Dtp1979

OU812 wrote: »

Is it worth fitting one of those magnetic filter things to pull sludge out ?

No. they're only good to fit after it's been powerflushed