Disconnecting the radiator
Do you still have old radiators in your home that you would like to replace with more modern, smaller radiators as soon as possible? Or have you decided to switch to another heating system and need to disconnect your current heating appliances? Zoofy's professional plumbers are ready to help you with this!
Why do you want to disconnect a radiator?
There can be several reasons for disconnecting your current radiators
Renovation: If you have renovated your home, you may have an excess of radiators. Disconnecting radiators for subsequent removal is therefore unavoidable.
Painting: Disconnecting a radiator is also advisable if your walls are in need of a new coat of paint. Painting behind the radiator is necessary to avoid getting stuck with different-colored spots afterwards.
New heating system: Even if you want to switch to underfloor heating, for example, the heating units already installed should be disconnected.
To save space: Unplugging radiators also creates more space in some cases. Older radiators are generally quite large and therefore take up a lot of space. Modern radiators are only half the size and therefore immediately make your home look a lot bigger.
Why it is best to leave this to an expert
Disconnecting a radiator involves a lot of risks. You run the risk of getting stuck with leaks. Disconnecting a radiator without draining the excess water, for example, can cause serious water damage. Likewise, if you are not a plumber, it is likely that you do not know exactly how the "Radiator disconnection" process works, and again, the smallest mistake can cause water flooding. You could also accidentally damage your home if you were to drop the radiator. When you leave a radiator disconnection to our professionals, you can be sure that you won't have to deal with these problems. Especially for the removal of heaters without shut-off valves, the help of a licensed plumber is more than welcome!
How to do this
Disconnecting radiators with stopcocks is done in a slightly different way than disconnecting radiators without stopcocks.
Disconnecting radiators without shut-off valve
1) Switch off the boiler: The first thing our professional does is turn off your central heating boiler. You can make him save valuable time by making sure your central heating boiler is easily accessible. Are there several items piled up around your boiler? If so, it's best to move them out of the way before our plumber gets to your place.
2) Drain the heating system: The Zoofy handyman will see to it that all the water is drained through a hose. This hose is connected to the lowest radiator, thus removing all the unnecessary water from the radiators. To disconnect a radiator without draining would mean that all the water, present in the radiators, would flow into your home. Only when no more drop of water comes out of the hose can this be stopped.
3) Disconnecting the pipes: The last step in the "Radiator disconnection" process is to disconnect the radiator pipes. Once this is done, the Zoofy worker will remove your radiator from the wall.
4) Capping the radiator for finishing: After disconnecting (superfluous) radiators, there will automatically be pipes that you will no longer need. We seal these pipes for you to prevent masses of water from spreading into your home. This technique is called "Radiator capping."
Capping radiators with your own shut-off valve
In this case, removing one or more radiators is a much easier job. Since the radiators are fitted with shut-off valves, only the valves of the respective radiators need to be turned off, and it is not necessary for our professional to turn off your entire central heating boiler. Again, disconnecting a radiator without draining it can lead to the same, harmful consequences as if your radiators do not have separate shut-off valves.
What does radiator disconnection cost
The price for removing your heater is influenced by the following factors:
1) Quantity of radiators to be disconnected
Obviously, disconnecting ten radiators takes more time than disconnecting one radiator. Our professionals work on fixed hourly rates. When working more hours, you can expect a higher invoice.
2) Way of disconnecting
As you have already read above, pipes are released when you remove a radiator. You also already knew that these released pipes must be capped to protect your home from water damage. A radiator capping can be done either above or below the floor.
