Before you switch on: a quick check
- Look under each radiator and its valves. Stains, rust or drips point to a leak at the valve or where it joins the pipe.
- Check that the radiator valves open and close without forcing them. A valve that hasn’t moved for months can seize up.
- Clear the radiators: furniture, long curtains or clothes drying on top cut the heat that reaches the room.
- If you heat your home with a heat-pump air conditioner, clean the filters in the indoor unit before using it.
How to bleed your radiators
If a radiator is hot at the bottom and cold at the top, or you can hear water running inside it, there is air in it. Bleeding it is simple: you only need a cloth, a glass and a radiator key, a coin or a screwdriver, depending on the model. For the full step by step, including the order and what to do if it stays cold, see how to bleed radiators.
- Run the heating for a while so the air rises to the top of the radiators, then switch it off. Wait a few minutes so you don’t burn yourself.
- Hold the cloth and the glass under the bleed valve, the small valve at the top of the radiator.
- Open the bleed valve about a quarter turn. You will hear the air come out.
- Close it as soon as water comes out steadily, with no bubbles.
- Repeat on every radiator in the home and, when you finish, check the boiler pressure: bleeding makes it drop.
Boiler pressure
Individual boilers have a pressure gauge, with a needle or a display. With the system cold it usually reads between 1 and 1.5 bar, but the right figure for your boiler is in its manual.
If it is lower, top it up by slowly opening the filling valve until it reaches the stated pressure, then close it. If you have to top it up every few days, water is escaping somewhere in the circuit or a part of the boiler is not working properly. It is worth finding before the leak reaches the ceiling of the flat below.
In buildings with central heating, the circuit pressure is handled by the building’s maintenance. You still bleed your own radiators the same way; if they stay cold afterwards, tell the property manager.
The electric water heater
- Look at the safety valve, on the cold water inlet. A few drops while it heats can be normal; a constant drip is not.
- Check the water connections: rust or limescale on the joints are signs of a leak.
- If the water is less hot than before, takes a long time to heat or the tank makes noises, it may have built up limescale or a worn anode. The manufacturer’s manual says how often to service it.
Which gas checks are compulsory
If you have a gas boiler, Spain’s Regulation on Thermal Installations in Buildings (RITE) requires it to be serviced every two years. The service is done by an authorised installer, the manufacturer’s technical service or the company you have a maintenance contract with.
Separately, the gas installation in the home has a compulsory periodic inspection every five years, organised by the gas distribution company. They are two different things: servicing the boiler does not replace the inspection of the installation.
Be wary of anyone who knocks on your door unannounced saying they have come for the compulsory check. The distributor writes to you in advance, and you choose and book the boiler service yourself.
When to call a professional
- A radiator stays cold after bleeding it.
- The boiler loses pressure every few days.
- There is a leak at a valve, a radiator or the water heater.
- You want to add a radiator, move one or replace the valves.
- If you smell gas, don’t switch any lights or appliances on or off, open the windows, close the gas stopcock and call your distributor’s emergency number from outside the home.
We can help with your heating
We handle radiators, valves, leaks, water heaters and bleeding in Madrid and nearby towns. Tell us what is happening in the form and, if you can, add a photo of the radiator or water heater and its label: it helps us prepare a more accurate quote.
This guide is general information. Always follow the instructions from your boiler or water heater manufacturer and, if you have any doubt about gas, call an authorised installer.