Finding quality TRVs for Cast Iron Rads

[surreysteve]

Have 16 cast iron rads in an old cottage and have been suffering for several years with brass TRVs I bought from a period house store. They look great but have been totally unreliable and around 6-8 have either failed or leaked or both.

I'm looking for something to replace them that matches the cast iron rads but is going to work and be reliable over a number of years as well. I've looked at the major makes (Honeywell, Drayton etc) and they only seem to do the modern plastic/chrome types which will look quite out of place on a cast iron rad.

I'm really not that fussy about looks and something plain/metal will be fine - just so long as it is really well made and reliable. NB All of the brass/metal TRVs sold by the cast iron rad sites seem to be similar to the ones I had previously ie unbranded, fancy looking and likely made in China. Of course some may be better than others but I have no idea how to tell which?

Any advice welcomed as I can't be the only person who has had to solve this problem? Cheers

Steve

 

[ShaunCorbs]

My go to trvs are danfoss either rasc2 or chrome rasd2

 

[surreysteve]

My go to trvs are danfoss either rasc2 or chrome rasd2

Thanks for this and I'm sure they are great quality and wont let me down.

Sadly they won't really look right on a cast iron rad in an old cottage :-(

 

[ShaunCorbs]

Thanks for this and I'm sure they are great quality and wont let me down.

Sadly they won't really look right on a cast iron rad in an old cottage :-(

just pipe straight into them and use a room stat non of them look any good on casts hence why most of the time there piped straight (with a lockshield)

 

[Gasmk1]

Bentley Traditional 15mm Antique Brass TRV & Lockshield Valve Set - https://www.columnrads.co.uk/bentley-traditional-antique-brass-trv-valve-set cant vouch for them but thses are the only style that suit cast rads if going for full antique look there are others and ones from radiator compant are mega expensive, but that doesnt mean they are any better just paying for names

 

[surreysteve]

Bentley Traditional 15mm Antique Brass TRV & Lockshield Valve Set - https://www.columnrads.co.uk/bentley-traditional-antique-brass-trv-valve-set cant vouch for them but thses are the only style that suit cast rads if going for full antique look there are others and ones from radiator compant are mega expensive, but that doesnt mean they are any better just paying for names

Thanks for this - these are pretty much identical to those I bought from Period House Store. They looked great but actually never really worked. The pins constantly stuck down and then they started to fail and leak, About 25% became completely useless - and as mentioned because they were so unreliable they were never really used.

NB I have 4 conventional white radiators in a Bothie building with Honeywell valves. These are c20 years old and the valves work perfectly,

I think the brass valves are made in China and just badly made sadly.

Just hoping that someone made a decent TRV product for cast iron rads!

 

[Gasmk1]

The Radiator Company - Valves and Pipe Covers - https://www.theradiatorcompany.co.uk/product-pages/valves-and-accessories/valves-and-pipe-covers/ as i said they are expensive

RadCen TRV Angle Radiator Valve Set - https://www.theradiatorcentre.com/valves-and-accessories/thermostatic-valves/radcen-trv-angle-valve-set more valves here might suit

 

[Chuck]

Any advice welcomed

Use a modern valve chosen to be as inconspicuous (i.e, small) as possible, perhaps a Drayton TRV4. Tell yourself that it's temporary until you come across something better. After a couple of weeks you won't even notice it's there.

 

[surreysteve]

The Radiator Company - Valves and Pipe Covers - https://www.theradiatorcompany.co.uk/product-pages/valves-and-accessories/valves-and-pipe-covers/ as i said they are expensive

RadCen TRV Angle Radiator Valve Set - https://www.theradiatorcentre.com/valves-and-accessories/thermostatic-valves/radcen-trv-angle-valve-set more valves here might suit

Hiya. Thanks for these and they all look good. Have you used them or do you know that they are good quality innards as well?

I'm finding it hard to see whats made in China and whats not. Of course good stuff can come from China but ideally I'd like to find a company with a good track record after my previous experiences.

 

[surreysteve]

Use a modern valve chosen to be as inconspicuous (i.e, small) as possible, perhaps a Drayton TRV4. Tell yourself that it's temporary until you come across something better. After a couple of weeks you won't even notice it's there.

It may come to this..and I'm sure you are right!