During the past two years, many people have been spending more time at home and have had more time to catch up on home renovation projects, from small touches to large-scale extentions.

To find out what DIY projects including door knockers are troubling people the most, Toolstation analysed Google search data from the past two years to uncover the most popular home DIY queries. In fact, DIY-related searches on Google have increased by a total of 14% between 2019 and 2021.

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, a 33% increase compared to the previous year.

With autumn and winter just around the corner, searches for ‘how to bleed a radiator’ are expected to increase further in the coming months.

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.”

Remember to let your radiator cool before beginning this process. 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.”

Second on the list is ‘how to fix a dripping tap’ with over 200,000 searches, followed by ‘how to unblock a shower drain’ with over 170,000

Other queries to make the list include ‘how to read an electric meter’ taking the fourth spot with close to 164,000 searches. While this is task that is often completed quarterly, searches increased by 46% from the previous year.

Close to 50,000 people also searched ‘how to change a lightbulb’ on Google in 2021- an increase of 25% of searches from that seen of the previous year.

Interestingly, there are only three that have seen a decrease in searches compared to the previous year, including ‘how to put up wallpaper’, ‘how to read a smart gas meter’ and ‘how to change a tap washer’.