Why are the radiators in the apartment poorly heated?

Many residents of apartments face the problem of insufficient heating of heating batteries. Sometimes they are completely cold. The situation is urgent and quite unpleasant, it must be urgently corrected, especially in the middle of winter, when there are frequent severe frosts. Of course, only a specialist can eliminate serious damage, but there are breakdowns that you can quite cope with yourself. First, you need to identify the reason why the radiators in the apartment poorly heated.

The article describes the main malfunctions of heating systems in apartments and methods for their elimination.

Air locks

Air locks occur in radiators, pipes and interfere with the normal circulation of water in the heating system. They appear for various reasons:

  • violation of the technology of filling the system with water after the summer period; 
  • non-compliance with the water deaeration regime;
  • performing repairs with disassembly of pipelines;
  • non-compliance with slopes during installation of the heating system;
  • air suction through leaky joints.

To remove air from the system, use the Mayevsky tap installed on the radiator. It should be opened, wait until the air comes out, the hissing stops, and the water starts to pour out calmly without bubbles. After that, close the valve. Do not forget to put a container for draining water or a towel.

Old cast-iron batteries do not have Mayevsky taps. Air is released without completely unscrewing the plugs at the ends of the radiators. It is better to entrust this operation to plumbers – if you unscrew the plug completely, you can flood the apartment. 

Malfunctions of shut-off valves

The batteries in the apartment are poorly heated due to the shut-off valves. The valves may be in the closed position, the control devices may be incorrectly configured. Damage to the shut-off valves is not excluded. If the riser is hot and the batteries are cold, you should check the position of the valves – at the entrances to the radiators they must be open, on the jumper between the supply and drain – closed.

Over time, the details of the valves are covered with scale and dirt. Leaks occur or the tap does not turn at all. A tap inspection with cleaning of parts from build-up will help. A cardinal solution to the problem is a complete replacement of the entire device or the valve head.

Blockage

When the system is clogged, the pipes and radiators are completely or partially clogged with various deposits. A sign of clogging is dirty water from the Mayevsky tap. The scale on the inner surfaces of the radiators has heat-insulating properties and reduces the heat transfer of heating devices. To clean the batteries, they:

  • remove;
  • disassemble into sections;
  • place in a bath on a soft bedding;
  • wash with a stream of water under pressure;
  • fill with a solution of vinegar or soda ash;
  • perform repeated washing;
  • assemble and install.

Special equipment is required to clean contaminated pipes. This work should in most cases be entrusted to specialists.

Insufficient pressure in the system and low coolant temperature

When the risers are only slightly warm, the coolant has a low temperature or is supplied under insufficient pressure. The reasons may be:

  • actions of neighbors to “improve” the heating system (exceeding the calculated diameter of pipes, the number of sections of radiators, changing the connection scheme, installing a water underfloor heating);
  • incorrect position of the valves in the heat supply networks;
  • poor boiler operation.

In any of the described cases, it is impossible to cope with the problem on your own – you should contact the company that manages the house.

Incorrect adjustment of the heating system

A sign of incorrect adjustment of the heating system is the different temperature of the batteries connected to the same riser. Most of the coolant enters one radiator, the other remains cold. To eliminate the malfunction, open the valve on the cold battery and close it slightly on the hot one. If there are no changes, the cold radiator is probably clogged. 

Prevention of heating problems in the apartment

Preventive work should be carried out in the summer. It is better to combine them with major or current repairs. For the heating system to work properly, you need to:

  • analyze the operation of the heating system the previous winter, find weaknesses;
  • check the operation of the shut-off valves, repair or replace the faulty ones;
  • if there are no Mayevsky taps, valves on the coolant supply to the heating devices, they should be installed;
  • check the slopes of the supply pipes, eliminate violations, if this is not possible, install Mayevsky taps in problem areas;
  • flush or replace radiators that were not heated enough in the previous heating period.

Prepare the heating system for operation in the summer and the possibility of failures will be reduced many times.