How to add inhibitor to your heating system via a heated towel rail

This article will show you how to add inhibitor to your heating system when you have a towel rail located somewhere on your system. Many of you will have heated towel rails in your bathrooms and these rails normally have a removable air vent in the top where you can add the inhibitor. This is, by far, the simplest way to add inhibitor into your central heating system. The beauty of this particular method is the fact that all you need is a towel, an adjustable spanner, a plastic tub and the inhibitor (available on our website). A real positive is you don’t need to turn the heating system off and you usually don’t need to alter the pressure or top up the system. It’s a simple case of adding the inhibitor, opening up the two rail valves and letting any air out. To get started, turn off both the valves - if you’ve got a towel rail that’s got a thermostatic radiator valve on it, then shut the TRV. Take your radiator bleed key and open up the air valve to dissipate any pressure in the system. You should find that nothing comes out of the bleed because both of the valves are closed. The next step is to slacken off a nut on one of the valves and to use your plastic tub to catch water coming out of the towel rail. Wrap your towel around the pipe to catch any leaks or spillages. When draining your rail, make a note of the size of the inhibitor bottle and drain a similar amount of water from the rail into the tub. This is a good way of ensuring you don’t drain too much or too little out of the rail. When you’ve drained the right amount of water from the rail, shut the air valve that was previously open at the top of the radiator. Then take your adjustable spanner and remove the bung that contains the air valve. All you need to do now is pour the inhibitor into the hole where the bung was. If you don’t trust the steadiness of your hands when doing this, you could also use a funnel to avoid spilling the inhibitor. Once you’ve emptied the bottle, put the bung back and tighten it with the adjustable spanner. In addition, use the radiator key to ensure the air vent is shut. Go down to the bottom of the rail and open the valves and add the valve caps. Go back up to the air valve at the top and let any air out (though there shouldn’t be much) and then tighten back up again. That’s it! If plumbers have to inhibit a system, usually the first thing they will do is look for a towel rail, because it really is the easiest way of doing it. If they cannot locate a heated towel rail, they have other ways of inhibiting a system. These alternative ways will be explored in further articles. You can view a video of the process of adding heating inhibitor here. If you need to add or upgrade a towel rail in your home, be sure to check our fantastic heated towel rail range. The radiator featured in the main image is the 1400 x 600mm Ferroli Chrome Straight Heated Towel Rail. Article by Benjamin Clarke