Just like designer radiators have become much better looking over time, there’s now a stylish selection of radiator valves to choose from to suit your home decor.

Since the radiator has been drained and refilled you will need to re-pressurise the system to ensure everything is working correctly. Finally, if you have any concerns and don’t feel confident changing the valves yourself, you can always rely on a gas safe registered engineer to get the job done for you. If you are swapping an old thermostatic valve for a new TRV, take the thermostatic head off both valves. Once the old thermostatic valve or manual is open, air will escape and water will flow out of the radiator. Holding the valve body with the grips, align it with the adapter and tighten the cap nut with the spanner that holds them together.

The standard size of copper pipework is 15mm and all of our radiator valves have a half inch (½”) thread on the bottom (the part that connects the valve to the pipe) which makes them suitable for use with 15mm piping. Use a large container or wet and dry vacuum to catch the water that flows out of the radiator until there is no water left inside. In this case, the size of the radiator valve refers to the size of the valve connection and pipework instead of the design of the valve.

Now use the spanner and grips and turn the nut anticlockwise to loosen the nut on the bottom of the lockshield valve that connects to the pipework and disconnect the old valve. If that’s the case, head over to our how to drain a pressurised system guide then come back here to learn how to fit the new valve.

When all the water has drained from the radiator, keep unscrewing the nut until you can pull the valve out of the radiator to disconnect it.