Balancing Radiators

Dev’s near radiators still roar while the far bedroom stays lukewarm. As Flow, Pressure & Resistance showed, equal valve openings don’t give equal flow: the near branches are the easy paths, so they take more than their share.

Balancing fixes that by making the easy paths a little harder. Each radiator has a second valve at the opposite end from the TRV, the lockshield, usually under a plain plastic cap. Closing a near radiator’s lockshield part way pushes more water on to the far ones. The aim isn’t equal flow everywhere, but enough for each radiator to do its job.

Balancing is done at the lockshields alone. It never involves opening a pipe joint, changing the pump or touching a bypass.