Quiet control in heating systems, IMI’s Eclipse thermostatic radiator valve aims to stop balancing headaches

Reviewed: ad hoc news Lifestyle & Consumer desk. Edited and checked on 2026-06-19, 08:55. Details in the imprint.

With the Eclipse thermostatic radiator valve, IMI wants to solve a problem that every badly heated apartment knows too well - one room is sauna-hot, another stays stubbornly cold. The small brass body hides a flow limiter that quietly does the balancing for you.

What Eclipse does differently

At first glance the Eclipse looks like a normal thermostatic radiator valve, with the usual knurled body and temperature head on top. The key difference sits inside - a built-in automatic flow limiter that caps the water volume for each radiator.

Instead of fiddling with manual pre-setting rings and trying to guess the right value, installers simply dial in the desired flow rate on the Eclipse scale. The valve then keeps that flow constant across pressure fluctuations, which should reduce cold spots and overheated rooms in multi-storey buildings.

Everyday impact in real apartments

In practice, the effect is most noticeable in houses where the first radiators on the riser always ran too hot and the last ones barely warmed up. With Eclipse, excess flow at the front is choked off automatically, so more hot water reaches the end of the circuit.

Residents experience something quite unspectacular - and that is the charm. Radiators heat up more uniformly, the familiar hiss and rushing noise in the evening quiet often calms down, and thermostats no longer need constant micro-adjustments.

Installation, settings, maintenance

For installers, Eclipse is a practical shortcut compared with classic hydronic balancing by hand. They still have to calculate target flows per radiator, but the valve setting is then a simple numeric choice rather than a half-blind compromise.

Retrofitting typically means draining at least part of the system, unscrewing the old valve body and threading in the Eclipse with suitable adapters. Once in place, the automatic limiter is maintenance-free in normal operation, apart from the usual occasional exercise to prevent sticking after long summer breaks.

Who benefits most

Big winners are owners and operators of older apartment blocks and office buildings that were never properly balanced. Here, small brass parts like Eclipse can trim energy waste without tearing open walls or replacing boilers.

For new builds with low-temperature systems and underfloor heating, the gain is smaller but still real. A well-balanced radiator circuit helps condensing boilers and heat pumps stay in their efficient operating windows more consistently, which slowly shows up in annual energy bills.

Where it fits in IMI’s portfolio

Eclipse sits in IMI’s heating and cooling controls line-up, alongside traditional thermostatic valves, differential pressure controllers and balancing valves. Together they form the plumbing toolkit that engineers use to tune distribution in complex hydronic systems.

The product also gives IMI a tangible answer to tightening building efficiency standards in Europe and beyond. Regulators increasingly demand verifiable energy savings measures, and pre-settable or self-balancing valves are one of the relatively low-cost ways to tick that box.

Company context and stock reference

IMI plc, headquartered in the UK, positions itself as a specialist for fluid control and HVAC optimization, with products like the Eclipse valve bridging the gap between comfort and energy efficiency in everyday buildings. Shares of IMI plc (GB00B1905F76) trade on the London Stock Exchange in pounds sterling.

This article was AI-assisted and editorially reviewed. Product information without guarantee; prices and availability may change at short notice. No investment advice, no buy or sell recommendation. Stock-market transactions involve risks up to total loss.