Hotter still.

Over the weekend I  purchased two replacement radiators and new valves for two cold areas in the house, one in the bathroom and one in a now larger hall since the house extension was built.

The bathroom on cold wintery nights can get cold quickly as it is partly in the roof space, i.e. in a dormer window situation, and there is only a layer of plasterboard to prevent heat loss. I did put loft insulation at the back of the plasterboard and that helped, plus loft insulation under the bath as well which helped again. However, you could be sitting in the bath and below the waterline was nice and toasty, but above that the air could get distinctly chilly with goose bumps on the arms.

The new entrance had a radiator in it, but was not giving out enough heat to keep a reasonable temperature.

Having drained the water from the system, I proceeded to remove the radiators, take off the old wall hangers and replace with the new ones and hang the radaitors in position.

I thought I would be clever and buy double radiators to replace the single ones. However this gave two problems, one, the fittings did not line up with the old pipework on either radiator as they were wider , and two, the entrance hall door bangs on the new radiator which is thicker than the old one so the door does not open absolutly wide as it should.

"We" decided we could live with the door not quite opening, but I had to go back to the DIY store and buy extra fittings to try and line the old pipe up with the new radiator by making an "S" shaped  joint assembly. This meant I had to dig out my old gas brazing kit and try and remember how to solder to get a waterproof joint. The first one I forgot to coat with flux so that two of the three solder areas were fine, but the third leaked when I pressure tested it (hose pipe and a removable cap over the assembley to fill with water under pressure.)

The next four fittings ( a pair per radiator) went OK once I remembered the flux!

I am joining the pipework today and waiting until tomorrow to start re-filling the system with water again. Hopefully by fitting new valves etc. I should have a leak proof system, but just in case I want to make sure that it is daytime in case an emergency dash is needed back to the DIY store.

More news anon!