Flushing a fully pumped gas central heating system

If you require work executed on your fully pumped gas heating system you may want to flush the system. To work on a metal radiator problem or to extend the system perhaps. This is often performed by the heating engineer during repair or extension work although some experienced homeowners have been known to drain their own gas heating systems.

Whilst there can be a number of reasons the most popular is to flush the metal radiators. Before you do anything to the actual radiator you should turn off the heating boiler and any gas or electric that supplies the gas fired boiler. It is also important that you do not let any additional water into the gas heating system while you empty it. Almost all modern home heating systems are serviced by very economical condensing boilers. Pricey energy prices and the chances of more such additions mean you should find an efficient boiler for your household. If you have a central heating care plan such as British Gas Homecare you might want to get hold of your provider to understand what services they offer.

heating systems are normally filled up via a tank in the attic. A standard ball valve is used in the expansion water tank similar to that in a toilet. As the water level rises the ball floats on the surface and closes off the valve. The valve will be opened in the water levels fall as the ball will float on the falling water surface. To fully empty the gas central heating system this top up process will need to be stopped. A good way to do this is to prevent the ball moving by binding it to the top of the water tank.

Now take a hosepipe emptying into an external clean and connect this to the outlet valve on the bottom of your metal radiator. The water from your radiator will flow through the hose pipe and out of your heating radiator system. To empty your whole central heating system you need to connect this hosepipe to one of the ground floor heating radiators, the lowest ones in the house. You now need to be diligent and check that all the water has discharged out and that no more water is getting in before any other work is executed on the gas central heating system.

The work can be hurried up by venting the bleed valves in the top floor radiators. When the water is flushed off you are free to work on your metal radiator.