Radiator
Installation
New radiators, replacements, towel rails, valves and balancing across Andover, Marlborough and Hungerford. Sized to the room, not copied from the old one, with a fixed price before I start.
Radiator Services
The labour figures are the ones in the job system. The radiator itself sits on top, because a plain panel and a column radiator are different money, and the survey settles the total in writing. For scale, a complete new radiator circuit for an annex was priced at £9,023 + VAT in 2026.
New Radiator Supplied and Fitted
A radiator sized to the room from a heat-loss calculation rather than guessed from the old one, with new valves, tails and brackets, connected, bled and balanced against the rest of the system. Labour figure; the radiator and valves are on top.
What's Included:
- Room heat loss worked out, radiator sized to it
- Stelrad or Myson panels through the trade accounts
- New TRV and lockshield fitted
- Pipework altered where the new one is a different width
- System refilled, bled and balanced
- 12-month workmanship guarantee
Like-for-Like Radiator Replacement
The old one is rusting through, leaking at a seam or just past it. Same position, same pipework, existing valves reused where they are sound. Done in a couple of hours with the system drained only as far as it needs to be.
What's Included:
- Old radiator off and taken away
- Existing valves checked, replaced if letting by
- Pipe tails adjusted to the new radiator
- Refilled, inhibitor topped up, bled
- Radiator you have bought yourself fitted too
TRV and Lockshield Replacement
A thermostatic valve that no longer shuts, a lockshield that weeps, or a set of manual valves you want turned into room-by-room control. New body and head fitted, and the radiator balanced afterwards.
What's Included:
- Danfoss, Honeywell Home or Drayton valves
- Pipework frozen or drained as the job needs
- Smart TRV heads fitted if you have them
- Balanced after refitting
- Priced per valve, so a whole house is a quote
Bleed, Balance and Valve Check
Every radiator bled and every lockshield set so the whole house heats together instead of upstairs roasting while the front room stays cold. Up to fourteen radiators for the one price.
What's Included:
- Every radiator bled
- Lockshields set radiator by radiator
- TRVs checked for sticking pins
- Pressure or feed tank checked and topped up
- Straight answer if a radiator is beyond balancing
Radiator Off for Decorating
Radiator taken off the wall and the valves capped so the decorator or plasterer can get behind it, then hung back, refilled and bled when they have finished. Two short visits, priced per visit and quoted as a pair in writing before anything comes off the wall.
What's Included:
- Visit one: radiator off, valves capped
- Brackets left or moved as you need
- Visit two: refitted, refilled and bled
- Good moment to change tired valves
Towel Rails and Column Radiators
Heated towel rails on the heating circuit or dual-fuel with an element for summer, and column or cast-style radiators for the rooms that deserve them. The element on a dual-fuel rail is a straight swap when it fails, at £190 + VAT.
What's Included:
- Towel rails plumbed in or dual-fuel
- Column and designer radiators from Stelrad, Zehnder and Bisque
- Chrome and crosshead valves to match
- Heavy cast-style radiators fixed properly
How a Radiator Is Sized and Fitted
Heat Loss First
Room measured, outside walls and glazing counted, and a watts figure worked out. The radiator is chosen to beat it, with a margin if a heat pump is on the cards.
Position and Pipework
Under the window where the cold comes in unless the room says otherwise. Tails run or altered, brackets fixed into something solid, not just plasterboard.
Valves and Connection
Thermostatic valve on the flow, lockshield on the return, PTFE and paste on every joint, and the radiator hung and levelled with a slight fall to the bleed.
Fill, Bleed, Balance
System refilled and dosed with inhibitor, every radiator bled, and the new one balanced in so it does not steal the flow from the rest of the house.
Expert Radiator Installation
Expert Radiator Installation by Will Gaze
Radiators, valves, pipework and pumps are the wet side of heating, and after 22+ years that is where I spend a lot of my winters. Most of the cold rooms I see were never sized properly in the first place, so the first thing I do is the sum, not the swap.
I am not Gas Safe or OFTEC registered and I do not touch gas or oil boilers; if the boiler is the problem I will say so and point you at a registered engineer. I am G1 trained on air source heat pumps, which matters here because a system that might go to a heat pump later wants its radiators sized for it now. Fixed price in writing, one plumber start to finish, 12 months on the work.
Which Radiator?
Output, wall space and looks, in that order. The pretty one is fine as long as the sum still works.
Steel Panel (Type 11, 21, 22)
The workhorse. A single panel with a convector fin is a Type 11, double panel with one fin a Type 21, double with two fins a Type 22. Same wall space, roughly double the output from 11 to 22. Stelrad and Myson through the trade accounts.
Best for: most rooms, and any room where output per pound is what matters.
Watch out for: a Type 22 is twice the depth of a Type 11, so check the door swing and the windowsill.
Vertical Panel and Designer
Goes where a horizontal radiator cannot. Flat-panel designer types look clean but the plain vertical column versions usually give more heat for the money.
Best for: kitchens and hallways where there is height but no length of wall.
Watch out for: a tall flat panel can have surprisingly low output for its size; it needs the heat-loss check more than anything.
Column and Cast-Style
Two, three or four columns deep, so the output can be enormous for the width. Stelrad, Zehnder and Bisque all do them, in colours if you want them.
Best for: period rooms, and rooms that need a lot of output from a short wall.
Watch out for: weight. A cast-style column radiator full of water needs proper fixings into masonry or noggins, not plasterboard plugs.
Heated Towel Rail
On the heating circuit, or dual-fuel with an element so it works in summer with the heating off. The element is a like-for-like swap when it fails.
Best for: bathrooms and en-suites, and anywhere towels live.
Watch out for: a towel rail is a poor room heater. If it is the only radiator in a big bathroom, the room will be cold and the towels warm.
Valves Are Half the Job
A radiator is only as good as the two valves on it. A thermostatic valve that sticks leaves a room cold; a lockshield that was never set leaves the far end of the house cold. Every radiator I fit gets a thermostatic valve on the flow and a lockshield on the return, and the lockshield is actually set rather than left wide open.
Chrome, white, black, brass or crosshead to suit the radiator. Danfoss, Honeywell Home and Drayton for the everyday ones; designer valves to order for the column and towel rail jobs, like the set in the picture.
Radiator Service Areas
One plumber working out of Wootton Rivers. Every town below is a short drive, and a radiator swap is usually a half-day slot.
Andover and Test Valley
Down the A338 and A342 from Wootton Rivers
- Andover (SP10, SP11)
- Upper Clatford and the Wallops
- Stockbridge and Chilbolton (SO20)
Marlborough and Pewsey Vale
Older houses, thick walls, radiators that were never big enough
- Marlborough and Ramsbury (SN8)
- Great Bedwyn and Burbage (SN8)
- Pewsey and Upavon (SN9)
- Tidworth and Ludgershall (SP9, SP11)
Hungerford and Lambourn Valley
The Kennet valley, over the Berkshire border
- Hungerford (RG17)
- Lambourn and Great Shefford
- Kintbury, Inkpen and Combe
- Chilton Foliat and Shalbourne
Booking a Radiator Visit
A single radiator or a set of valves is a half day; a room refit or a new circuit goes in the diary as the days it needs. Same-day or next-working-day for most jobs; emergency slots subject to availability. You get a named date when Will confirms the booking.
Radiator Guides
Electric against wet, what a cold patch means, and the pump that pushes it all round.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you work out what size radiator a room needs?
From the room, not from the old radiator. Floor area, ceiling height, how many outside walls, how much glazing and what is above and below all go into a heat-loss figure in watts, and the radiator is picked to beat it with a little in hand. The old one was often sized by the last person guessing, which is why a room can have had a cold corner for twenty years. If there is any chance of a heat pump later, I size for a lower flow temperature now, so the radiators do not all need changing again when the boiler goes.
Can a radiator be moved to a different wall?
Usually, and it is one of the more common jobs I do during a room refit. It comes down to where the pipes can go: under a suspended timber floor it is straightforward, on a solid concrete floor the pipework runs in the skirting or drops from above, and either way the system is drained, the new tails run, and everything refilled and balanced. The survey tells you which of those you have and what it costs before anything is lifted.
Does the whole system have to be drained to change a radiator or a valve?
Not always. For a single valve or a like-for-like swap I can often freeze the pipework either side and work on that radiator alone, which keeps the inhibitor in the system and the job short. Moving a radiator or re-piping means a proper drain-down, and then the system is refilled, dosed with inhibitor, bled and, on a sealed system, brought back to pressure. Either way you are told which before I start.
Thermostatic valves, manual valves or smart heads?
A thermostatic valve on every radiator except the one nearest the room thermostat is the sensible default, and current Building Regulations expect them on most radiators when a system is upgraded. Manual valves are fine on a towel rail or a hall radiator that runs all the time. Smart heads such as Hive or Tado screw onto a standard thermostatic body, so if you want app control later the valve I fit today will take it.
Why is one radiator never as hot as the others?
Nine times out of ten it is balancing. The radiators nearest the pump take the easy route and the far ones get what is left, so the lockshield on each one has to be set to share the flow out properly. That is the bleed, balance and valve check above. If a radiator is stone cold at the bottom after balancing, that is sludge, and the answer is a power flush rather than a new radiator.
Important Booking Information
Our professional booking system ensures seamless service delivery from first contact to job completion
Your Call Gets Answered
In Your PA answers the landline in office hours, so somebody picks up when Will is under a sink. They take your details and pass them straight through. Will is the one who quotes the job and turns up to do it.
Arrival Windows
We provide time windows rather than exact times to ensure quality work on each job. We'll keep you updated with a more precise ETA.
ServiceM8 System
Our professional job management system provides SMS updates, online booking, and digital job records for a seamless experience.
What I Fit, and Where It Comes From
Everyday panel radiators are Stelrad or Myson through Plumbfix and Trade UK, which means a standard size is usually on the van the same week. Column, cast-style and designer radiators come from Stelrad, Zehnder and Bisque to order, and I will tell you the lead time before you commit.
Valves are Danfoss, Honeywell Home or Drayton unless the radiator wants something to match. If you have bought a radiator yourself, I will fit it and you keep the manufacturer warranty.
See all the brands I work with
A Room That Never Gets Warm?
Free survey, the room measured, and a written price for the right radiator before any work starts.