Dear LPG,

I am not trying to be sexist here, but I believe that this is a reminder which I suspect the ladies amongst us ‘live-alone’ elders need in particular.

I am not sure about everyone, but it seems to me that as soon as the summer bank holiday is over something happens to the mornings.  The day that my grandchildren go back to school in early September heralds the autumn and that morning nip in the air. 

If you have central heating, this is when you are most likely to get the radiators going after, depending on what you thought of it, this year’s long leisurely summer.  It may also be the case that you notice, that when you turn them on, the radiators are not getting as hot as you are used to, or they feel cooler at the top than they are at the bottom. 

There is one little job that is likely to make your heating more efficient and it is quite easy to do.  To get the best out of your radiators you may need to make sure that they are not sending air around the system instead of hot water.  We do this by bleeding them.   That is to say get all the air out of the system. I do it once a year at just about this time and make a point of putting the key in a safe place when I have finished with it.  If you lose it (and trust me, that does happen) your local DIY shop sells them relatively cheaply. 

It is quite a quick and easy, though sometimes wet job, although turning the key can be a bit of a challenge if you have issues with arthritic fingers. 

I am hoping that LPG will add a ‘how to’ video link at the bottom of my letter, but if doing it yourself worries you perhaps it is more important to get a healthy younger visitor to do it for you (watching my son do it a few times has given me the confidence to DIY).  I think we have all heard the term even though we don’t know exactly what it means.  Getting to the radiator in each room in your home is really not that time consuming and can make lots of difference to getting the best performance from your heating system. 

I suppose I can be described as a not-that-handy older lady who lives alone, but I have mastered this little job, although the real secret is remembering when to get it done.

TS, Dulwich

There are quite a few videos that show how to do this LPG has found two…

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