My bathroom radiator doesn't get warm or hot. Any idea what to do? Thanks

The stupid, obvious questions first:

Are you sure it's turned on? Each radiator in a house usually has its own dial, make sure it's not spun round to zero.

It might need bleeding (removing air from the bits where water should be): if you don't know how to do that, someone in your family almost certainly will.


Check the pipes going into the radiator and out of it. If the pipes are hot, and bleeding hasn't solved the problem, you could well have a busted radiator which will need replacing.

At least I am not the only one! Just spent WEEKS with this problem concerning my downstairs radiators. Took ages to get it sorted. Tried all sorts. Fixed now!

could be that the radiator is silted up, there could be an airlock, in the pipes, or it could be something as simple as the radiator needing to be "bled".

Would bleed it it is alway most common that the bathroom rad will collect air first.
if you need instruction how to do this ring me i will talk you through it !

You don`t say whether it is only the top of the rad that is not hot or all of it.

Also, if you have thermostatic rad valves i have known them to stick shut.

I found a 'bleeding' key and my husband turned it slowly, firstly a bit of black water came out and i could hear air escaping which was fine. But then he must have turned it too far cos it was squirting out!!! So he screwed it shut again and now its heating up just fine. thanks for all your help :)

Glad to hear it wasn't a waste of bleeding time.

I found a 'bleeding' key and my husband turned it slowly, firstly a bit of black water came out and i could hear air escaping which was fine. But then he must have turned it too far cos it was squirting out!!! So he screwed it shut again and now its heating up just fine. thanks for all your help :)

the black water coming out is the silt and muck that builds up in the heating system over time :gag:

A tip for when you or your hubby bleeds the radiator:-

Have a wodge of tissue or kitchen roll ready, with the bleed key, and catch the water coming out in that.

Another tip:-

Don't turn the bleed-nut too far, or it'll fall out, and you'll have mucky black water all-over. so long as you can hear the hiss of the air or water , you've turned it sufficiently.