Getting the Most Out of Your Apartment’s Radiator

Learning how to get the most out of your apartment’s radiator will pay dividends. You can conserve your energy use, which means you’ll have more money to spend or save. Your apartment’s radiator either uses steam, hot water or both to distribute heat. It does a good job of warming you up when you’re close by, but not the surrounding air in your rooms. This article discusses how to get the most out of the radiator for maximum comfort and savings.

Insulate Your Apartment

You can’t do much to the structure of your apartment building or house, but you can insulate your own apartment. Doing so can help to keep the heat inside the apartment that the radiator emits, and block out the cold air from outside. Here are some things that you can do:

• Buy and use blackout curtains
• Weather strip your doors
• Get a window installation kit and put plastic over your windows

When your apartment is well insulated, you won’t have to use the radiator in each room as much. You’ll also feel warmer when you do use it.

Keep Furniture Away

Radiators heat objects within close range. If you put your couch, bed, work desk or some other furniture too close, then the furniture will get most of the heat. Keep your furniture out of the way. The best place to put your furniture is opposite the radiator.

Bleed Air out of Radiator

Too much air in a radiator lowers its heat efficiency. The solution is to “bleed” it, which doesn’t require any technical skills on your part. You’ll know that you have to bleed it if it’s cool to the touch even if it’s been on for a while, or if it’s cool on the top but hot on the bottom. You need a key to turn the valve at the back of the radiator, and your landlord may give it to you or insist on doing it himself. Turning the key allows the air that’s blocked to escape. The water will bubble out at some point, so have a pan underneath to catch it. Close the valve at that point. You’ll also get rid of some of your noise issues, such as a banging noise from the radiator because of the trapped air.

Request Cleaning and Maintenance

Your landlord should hire a service professional to maintain the radiators once a year. That may not be the case though, unless you remind him. You should ask your landlord to inspect it once a year, such as in the spring or summer prior to winter. If the radiator needs to be cleaned, the professional should recommend it to your landlord. Radiators are not the most efficient heating system type, and you don’t want to make the situation worse by using a radiator that doesn’t operate well. Annual cleaning and maintenance will help it to run well.

Don’t take the issue of getting the most out your apartment’s radiator lightly. It has a direct impact on your finances, and an inefficient radiator and high energy use can lead to higher monthly bills.