Power Flushing

Does it definitely need to be done? Are you having particular issues?

Bear in mind there a lot of upselling of power flushing by firms who specialise in it. I’m not knocking it, it has a time and a place, but in some instances it isn’t terribly needed and doesn’t really offer value for money.

If there is evidence of sludge in radiators, an alternative may be to bring them outside and flush them out with a garden hose. Adding a couple of bottles of Adey MC5 to the boiler a week before will help loosen up the sludge.

This isn’t as comprehensive as power flushing, but may yield satisfactory results at a fraction of the cost, and with less risk of exposing leaks.

Consider getting a plumber to install a Fill & Flush valve like this. With the middle knob off, water can be sent in one side, all the way around the circuit, and back out the other side

Hmm.

Unless you know what you are doing, I'd be slow to get mains pressure on a heating system.

Get it wrong and you can blow seals out.

I think it's more a case of the know-how to actually connect one up.

Yes, they are professional grade machines. Sentinal and Camco.

But they aren’t going to offer any magic wand solution to hardened sludge. Fernox DX40 might help.

The best initial solution is probably a thermal IR camera, to identify problem rads.

You can then use a rubber mallet to strategically hit them in the hope of dislodging any obstacles

Yes. These are the ones to control the volume of water moving through the rads. The + and - is just an On / Off with a thermostat inside.

The one sure way of knowing if it's balancing is by turning ALL rads off except these two. Then they have to heat up if connected and pipes clear.

I assume you have bled them