Radiators under windows

[butterflyfox]

I am in the process (hopefully) of buying a house with lovely tall Sash windows with radiators under. Both windows and radiators need renovating. I hate short curtains but of course long curtains block all the heat. Would a vertical radiator in the space between the pair of windows (or elsewhere) look odd and modern in a traditional room? I don’t really want to do blinds and curtains as I Iove the coziness of closed curtains. Has anyone successfully solved this?

I had the same dilemma. We're renovating and enlarging a house and i've had big georgian style sash windows with very low window ledges put in and beautiful thick floor length curtains.

In some of the rooms i've accepted having the rads under the windows (very short cylinder style with copper pipes) because there was no where else i wanted a radiator. In other rooms i've gone for the vertical ones (dinning and kitchen). To be honest i've found the cylinder style rads still heat the room up even when behind the curtains.

I refused to have the vertical ones in the living room as i wanted to keep the Georgian feel fully in there. In the dinning room i've had no choice because of the construction of the room. On the plus side - no rads under the window. Minus side - vertical rad very un-georgian 😂 We chose a cylinder style one and tucked it in a corner.

I guess the best solution to all this is underfloor heating. But in old properties it's not always possible.

Underfloor heating. Radiators are an eyesore in all forms and completely spoil the look of any room.

The radiators are usually under the windows as it frees up the rest of the room for positioning furniture but there is nothing stopping you having them in a different place if it suits you better.

I've recently solved this dilema to my satisfaction in my new home (no option to move radiators and didn't want short curtains) with Thermal lined roman blinds, with matching termal lined long curtains. All made to measure, so not cheap, the curtains don't pull shut, but they frame the window and we close the roman blinds. It feels cosy and noticiably warmer than nothing at the windows (as it was when i just moved in).

Radiators are positioned under windows to prevent cold draughts, they should catch the cold down flow of air from the window and its external wall, warm it and send it over the ceiling to then drop on the walls. As the housing stock improves and insulation increases this need might reduce.

Have you checked whether there are shutters? They could be painted shut and might still be there in the casement of the window. Shutters close right up to the window and keep heat in really well- then you can have curtains in front and shouldn’t lose too much heat- plus they are really nice 😊

I went with shutters for this reason. Column radiators underneath the windows and shutters instead of curtains.

Thank you all for your suggestions. I will see if I can stretch the budget to Underfloor heating downstairs (dont know why I did not think of that!) and then tolerate a few vertical radiators in bedrooms I think.

We only close the curtains at night and the heating’s hardly ever on at night, so it’s not an issue. But appreciate this will depend on where you live!

We do have roman blinds in the DC rooms since theirs get shut earlier in the evening

Thing to remember with underfloor heating is if you have lots of antique furniture it's not good for it as it created too warm/dry an environment. But this may not be an issue!

I’ve read on a few occasions that underfloor heating isn’t as flexible as radiators, it takes 24 hours to warm up or cool down.

Plantation shutters are a good option

If the cills are low you can site low column radiators away from the wall sufficient for curtains to be drawn behind them.

The low column rads on legs are stable enough to not have to fix to the wall.

Radiators then still heat up the cold air around the windows but generally throw more heat out into the room.