Clank, pop, gurgle, bang, bang, bang!
If your house or apartment is heated by a steam radiator, these sounds are likely to be as familiar to you as Christmas carols during the holidays. There you are lying in bed (of course it’s always when you’re lying in bed), and it starts, making you wonder: Is there any way on Earth to make that ruckus stop? Which means you might want to know a thing or two about how to fix a noisy radiator.
For starters, a reality check: With all steam radiators, some noise is normal, says Will Devinney of Mr. Rooter Plumbing in Rhode Island. For example, you will likely hear some ticking in the radiator when it expands and contracts and as it heats up and cools down. There will likely be hissing and gurgling as well.
But beyond that, there are some problems you don’t have to live with. Here are some of the most common ones and what you can do about them so you can achieve some glorious silence.
Banging radiator
If you hear banging when the radiator itself is holding water, it’s because the hot steam is hitting the cool water, causing the water to move at a high speed and bang against a valve or fitting, which causes the racket.
Solution: Pitch the radiator back toward the valve by using shims (small spacers you can put under the feet of the radiator to lift one end higher than the other). This will allow the condensation in the radiator to drain back toward the boiler and not collect in the radiator itself.
Hissing radiator
If you hear a continuous hissing or banging, it could be the radiator’s air vent going bad. Devinney says usually the vent will be stuck open or stuck closed. When the vent is stuck open it’s a hissing noise; when it’s stuck closed, it’s more of a banging noise in the pipes.
Solution: Have the radiator vent replaced, pronto.
Knocking radiator
A faulty or not fully open radiator valve may make a loud metal-on-metal knocking noise. This can again trap water and cause a good amount of racket.
“Sometimes systems have minor knocking noises, but you know there is an issue when the sound is amplified and throughout the entire house,” Devinney says.
Solution: Check to make sure your steam radiator valve is fully open. Turn it fully to the open position. If it opens and the noise continues, call in a professional.
Is a noisy radiator dangerous?
Most of the noises you hear are nothing to worry about as far as safety goes, but Devinney says it is important to keep systems properly maintained and inspected once a year. If something seems abnormal, always contact a pro.
Though radiators are a dying breed as most new homes use warm air and hydronic baseboard systems, they do have benefits beyond their obvious quaint charm. For one, they’re incredibly sturdy for the most part. Devinney says he’s seen some that are hundreds of years old and still going strong. He said because most of those in older homes are made of cast iron, the average life expectancy of a radiator is 30 to 40 years, while a modern heating and cooling system will typically need to be replaced every 15 to 20 years.
Not only that, radiators are more energy-efficient, too.
“It costs much less to run a steam system, plus the cast-iron radiators hold heat longer after the system stops running,” Devinney says. So, the next time your radiator is keeping you up, just remember that … and perhaps invest in earplugs.
