Home Improvement – DIY – Bathrooms

When it comes down to electric radiators you may be confused as to which one to go for as there are so many different styles and brands of electric radiators.

One of the best brand names in electric radiators is Heatec, this is a well known and respected electric radiator brand, Heatec Electric radiators come in many forms such as the forte electric radiator, this electric radiator had flat panels which disperse the heat well and the style looks great.

The Heatec Matrix is another electric radiator which is about 1200mm high and appears to be perfectly flat, this electric radiator is one of my favourites as it really does look like one of a kind.

So when looking for electric radiators keep in mind that you want a brand that is known to be sturdy and you will be happy with your choice for decades to come.

Cleaning your traditional radiators will help to prolong the life of your traditional radiators. Clean your traditional radiators at least once a month with warm soapy water. After cleaning your traditional radiators it is best to dry them off with a clean towel.

Having cleaned your traditional radiators you should not need to paint your traditional radiators which again will help your traditional radiators to last longer and work more efficiently. If you have any questions regarding how to maintain your traditional radiators it is best to go direct to the manufacture of the traditional radiators as they should carry spares and help with advice for your traditional radiators.

Once you have chosen your bathroom suite you will need to install it, this is a fairly simple job for a diy professional. First turn off the water mains, next secure the ball valve in the header tank and drain all the hot water, now you are ready to remove the old bathroom suite. To remove bathroom suites you will need to have a good adjustable spanner as all the pipes are fixed to the taps via nuts. To install new bathroom suites you should allow at least 1 day, this is based on no additional pipe work being required.  Once the old bathroom suite has been removed just fix the new suite into position, now you can turn the water back on and test for leaks. If your bathroom suites not fitted correctly you will soon find out.

When choosing bathroom suites try to keep it simple if you can and find something that will match up to the old pipe work as this will save a lot of time when installing them. Bathroom suites should last you for years so make sure you choose a neutral style and colour that will not go out of style. Remember those green and burgundy bathroom suites from the seventies, who likes them?

Plain or neutral colours are the best for bathroom suites as they will never go out of fashion, so when you come to sell your home in 15-20 years you won’t have to replace your bathroom suites to keep up to date.

If you replacing all your old radiators it is best to drain all the water from the heating system before you start, a very simple procedure which will make the task a lot easier. Also make sure your boiler is turned off before you start. First turn off the cold water inlet, this is normally located under the kitchen sink, if not there go outside of the house and search for a pipe coming into the house. Having found where the pipe enters the house you should be able to locate a tap fixed to the pipe just inside the house, turn this off. An easy way to test if the water is off is to run a cold tap, when the cold water stops you know you’ve turn off the right tap.

Radiators are also plumb into the hot water system so it is important to drain the hot water too. This is slightly more complicated as you need to stop any new water from getting into the hot water tank. Your hot water tank operates in the same way as your toilet cistern, as you flush your toilet a ball cock falls down and new water enters the cistern. To stop any new water entering the cistern you need to stop the ball cock from dropping, just use some rope to hold the ball tightly in place. Now you are able to drain the hot water.

Remember when draining radiators to drain from the lowest point possible, if your original radiators had been installed properly you will find there is a outlet drain on the lowest radiator, attaché a hose pipe to this and feed into an exterior drain. Having drained your system you are now free to remove all the old radiators and fit the new ones.