Open fire heats upstairs rads why not downstairs??

Stab*City

Hi all,

We have the oil heating and our open coal fire also heats the upstairs rads. What im wondering is why does it not heat the downstairs rads as well? As if it is possible id rather use the coal fire to heat the house as it much much warmer..

Stab*City

anyone know what im on about?

judas1369

If your set up is like mine you should have a water pump to circulate the water around the system. Mine gave up the ghost a few years ago, it basically seized and stopped rotating internally. The give away was a cavitating noise when the water got very hot and couldn't circulate around the system. My pump was called a "Grunfoss" and wasn't too dear to replace, I think it was around €70 plus paying a plumber a few quid to fit it. This may not be it as I am not a plumber but it certainly sounds similar. Of course this presumes you have a pump fitted .Anyway hope this helps.

mp22

You need to be able to switch on the pump without the oil boiler starting.At the same time you must make sure the the oil boiler cannot start without the pump.I hope that makes some sense!

bbam

Stab*City wrote: »

anyone know what im on about?

Your house may be in two zones and the back boiler may only feed the upstairs zone..
OR
The back boiler may be working on a gravity system and only circulates through the higher radiators.. If this is the case you could try as suggested and get the circulating pump to work without the oil, I would however recommend a second circulating pump and control it with a pipe stat close to the back boiler..

eoghan.geraghty

Are your rads downstairs plumbed from above or below?
If the pipes are chased into the floor or run under a suspended floor without insulation they might have frozen.

cobweb

would the radiators need to bled?