How to Fix Your Noisy Radiator Based on the Sound It Makes
Part of the charm of city life is the no-frills rooms. Plain white paint covers your walls, trim, and door frames, a standard light bulb hangs from the ceiling, and you probably have a stark radiator in the corner of every room. Nondescript, metallic, and efficient, these things heat your home well, but if you’ve lived with them long enough, you know they have drawbacks. For example, they are damn loud.
Sometimes they hiss. Sometimes they call. Sometimes they gurgle like an aquarium. It can be hard to concentrate (or fall asleep) when your radiator is noisy, but good luck if your landlord fixes it. Or maybe you have an old house and only you are the problem (congratulations!). In any case, there are a few things you can try right away to calm down the radiator without calling a professional (or disturbing the craftsman again).
How to fix a gurgling radiator
In an old TimeOut New York post , that distinctive radiator sound is accurately described as “your dad gurgling listerine for hours.” It’s not exactly a clang or crackle, but definitely a nuisance you’re familiar with if you’ve lived with a radiator for a winter or two. They just… squelch and grumble.
Luckily, this is likely caused by air buildup inside the heatsink and can be easily fixed by “bleeding” excess water out of the unit. To do this, you’ll need a radiator key, a cheap little piece of metal that you can buy for about $5 at Home Depot . At the top of the radiator, you should see the valve that this key fits into. Slowly turn it counterclockwise until water starts to drip. Place a towel under the radiator to catch large drops.
How to fix a hissing radiator
No, your inflatable chair didn’t leak, and the snake didn’t crawl out of the toilet: it’s your radiator hissing. Air that shouldn’t come out somehow finds its way out of this thing. You might think, hey, free white noise machine! This is fine as long as you don’t have to jump on a video call and no one can hear you over the noise.
According to Bob Veal , to fix this problem, try closing the intake valve and removing the steam valve, then soaking it overnight in a bowl of vinegar to dissolve the calcium deposits that can contribute to the noise. You can also just buy a new steam valve from a hardware store for a few dollars. Bring some photos of your radiator to help the sellers find what you need.
How to fix a knocking radiator
The rattling batteries are a bit more insidious than their gurgling and hissing counterparts because they can scare the hell out of you and wake you up from a deep sleep (or at least wake me up from a deep sleep). Call it a thud or a clang, the sound is absolutely unpleasant.
According to a good plumber , the noise is usually due to steam in the radiator coming into contact with colder water, which itself can be caused by a leaky valve. You may also have a dirty boiler or reverse slope. Add some shims under the bottom end of the radiator so that it slopes towards your boiler, which will prevent colder water from settling where it meets the steam.
Other Tips for Avoiding Noise
Bleeding, shaking and cleaning the radiator are the best ways to deal with unwanted sounds. Do all of this in early fall or whenever you can to avoid most of the noise.
Never keep a radiator valve partially open. Either close it completely or keep it completely open. If you’ve ever held your valve halfway, you probably know that it already runs louder, but Good Plumber notes that when non-professionals fiddle with valves too much, they can damage them, creating leaks and more. sounds.
You can also add some insulation around the steam pipes next to the radiator to dampen any noise they make. My apartment has two radiators at opposite ends of the living room, but three large pipes that help heat the bathroom and my bedroom. They are the culprit for most of my noise complaints, but simple pre-insulated pipes drastically reduce their annoying ability. You can buy specially made insulating shrouds , so check out the hardware store and see which ones are recommended for pipes that get very hot. Or ask your landlord to sort it out. Maybe next winter you’ll be ready.