DIY Unknowns: UK Most Googled Questions During The Home Renovation Boom
Lockdown gave us more time at home than ever before. For many, this caused us to get home-renovation happy- from building a large-scale extension to redecorating or switching up our home décor.
In fact, DIY-related searches on Google increased by a total of 14% between the years of 2019-21. This not only shows an increase in demand, but it also shows that no matter how handy we think we are, we’re still relying on Google to solve our DIY problems for us.
Toolstation looked at search data across the years of 2019-21 to uncover the most popular home DIY queries that we asked Google.
The top 15 most searched for DIY queries of 2020-21
First on the list, is how to bleed a radiator with a total of 503,730 searches between 2020-21. While this task is something that experts advise you to do annually, it seems that many took last year’s winter lockdown as a chance to catch up on those annual radiator bleeds.
With autumn and winter just around the corner, searches for how to bleed a radiator are expected to increase further in the coming months.
| Keyword | Aug 2019 – Jul 2021 | Aug 2019 – Jul 2021 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | how to bleed a radiator | 503,730 | 378,790 |
| 2 | how to fix a dripping tap | 216,720 | 198,890 |
| 3 | how to unblock shower drain | 170,580 | 169,610 |
| 4 | how to read electric meter | 163,920 | 112,140 |
| 5 | how to unblock a drain | 129,500 | 119,700 |
| 6 | how to read gas meter | 123,470 | 98,190 |
| 7 | laying laminate flooring | 84,530 | 70,390 |
| 8 | how to hang a door | 51,340 | 48,410 |
| 9 | how to put up a curtain pole | 50,620 | 42,640 |
| 10 | how to change a light bulb | 48,880 | 39,220 |
| 11 | how to read a smart electric meter | 40,740 | 30,160 |
| 12 | how to hang pictures without nails | 27,580 | 25,360 |
| 13 | how to put up wallpaper | 15,380 | 16,770 |
| 14 | how to read a smart gas meter | 6,268 | 24,800 |
| 15 | how to change a tap washer | 2,843 | 32,200 |
Other seemingly simple queries also made the list with ‘how to read an electric meter’ taking the fourth spot with close to 164,000 searches. This is something that many of us do per quarter and yet searches for how to do this increased by 25,280 from 2019.
Close to 50,000 people also searched Google for ‘how to change a lightbulb’ in 2021- an increase of 25% of searches from that seen in 2019.
Toolstation spoke to Mark Biles, Operations Director at M & M Mechanical Services, who provides his top tips for bleeding a radiator:
“When filling the system make sure all bleed valves are closed. Some people forget to close the valve when draining the system and this can be very messy if one is left open when filling the system and can cause potential damage.
One by one, start at the lowest radiator and gently open the bleed valve, using a cup and bleed key. Have a paper towel to hand to wipe off any excess drips. Continue opening until water is present and all air has left the radiator. Then close valve. Repeat process on each radiator in the house.”
He also says, “You should look to bleed your radiator every few weeks in the winter because cold spots can appear at the top of the radiator which is evident of air lock in the radiator. If you don’t bleed them then air can travel round the system and cause issues with flow rates and potentially lead to rust over time.”
