What radiators for a period property?

[Eastwickwitch]

Old wreck needing refurb.
Would you fork out for those fancy old school rads or something slimline & less obtrusive?

Meant to say, the plumber advises not to go for 2nd hand restored ones. In his experience they're inefficient.

We have an old house, well, flat, and just have the thin white ones. However, I do have a love of the old fashioned chunky ones. They are just a cost we couldnt justify unfortunately.

I think when we refurb the bathroom we will go for a rad like this www.bathempire.com/blog/2011/07/why-we-love-bathrooms-with-a-retro-or-nostalgic-feel/ which is old style but nice and shiny and new.

I agree with mortified: love the cast iron ones, but I'd never be able to have them all the way through. If you've got the money, then great, but otherwise, you could have a mixture: cast iron radiators in more exposed situations, or where you've put a lot of effort into a sympathetic restoration. Elsewhere, try to hide the radiators a bit in alcoves or bays, or behind furniture (be careful to leave room for the air to circulate!) There are also some great designs for radiator covers in the world... I love some of these www.scottishradiatorcovers.co.uk/ though I expect you'd be paying as much as for a cast iron radiator. On the other hand, you might find a local joiner who can knock you up something similar, and they'd be very practical in a hallway, for leaving down your half drunk cup of coffee on your way out the door.

And beyond that, I wouldn't take it too seriously, because depending on the period of your house, it probably didn't have radiators in the olden days anyway. ;-)

Ps. Mortified, I fancy one of those towel radiators if we ever get round to sorting out our manky bathroom.

BrownSauce, that's it, the house wouldn't have originally had radiators or a power shower. I think a compromise is a good idea & I love the idea of simple covers. Thanks.

We got 2nd hand cast iron radiators from ebay. They look fantastic, lots of people have said how gorgeous they are and they chuck out loads of heat.
To be honest, I don't know what your plumber is talking about.

I don't think they are inefficient, but they will have high thermal mass which means they take a long time to heat up and cool down. A hundredweight of cast iron absorbs a lot of heat.

If you get iron radiators it is absolutely essential to get a modern system filter fitted to the boiler first to trap the rust and grit, and get the plumber to show you how to empty out the dirt. You may need to empty it once a month for the first winter, dropping to once a year. Preferably a Sentinel, Fernox or Spiro. Not a Magnaclean as they have a bad reputation for leaks, although they work very well for a year or two.

When you empty a filter you will be amazed and delighted at how much sediment it traps.