Are vertical radiators the answer?

[Baalamooree]

I'm trying the find the most aesthetically pleasing yet efficient way of heating my living room.

At the moment there is a 1.75cm ugly radiator sitting along the wall earnest the hallway. It also happens to be the wall which my sofa sits against, which means moving the sofa forward in the evening whilst the heating is on to feel the benefits.

My living room looks very similar to this one so as you can see, space is at a premium. I had thought of moving the radiator under the bay but as shutters are too expensive I'm planning on putting curtains up and don't wish to lose any heat to the outside. I've also thought of the wall opposite the window but that has a smaller sofa and the door opens on to it.

Would you go for vertical radiators? It is the only solution I can think of but can't think where I would put them. I quite like the column radiators. Where would you put them?

What's the window sill like? Ours juts out above the radiator so curtains in the bay reach the sill.

The window sill protrudes about 40mm from the wall. I would quite like floor length curtains so I guess that may mean no radiator under the window.

No wonder people opt for underfloor heating!

I had a living room like this and the radiator was in the bay. It was such a small room it wasn't difficult to heat up, so it didn't seem to matter about lost heat.

Is there a fire in the fireplace?

Would you consider blinds? I wouldn't have sill length curtains, just personal preference, agree that floor length look much better so with that space, I'd have the radiator underneath the bay window and roman blinds.

Having said that, we have the same set up as you although the bay is much wider - we have the radiator in the bay, a sofa in front of it, and floor length curtains! The room is 15 x 14 and the room still gets warm. Are you sure that the radiator is working properly (and doesn't need bleeding / replacing?)

You'd still have an issue with vertical radiators - there isn't a wall that jumps out as workable. I have seen vertical radiators in alcoves (which you have) but they seem to become quite dominating.

I had a very similar room and put a vertical radiator in the alcove next to the fireplace and was pleased with it.

namechange I currently have blinds but curtains just seem cosier, also my blinds are falling apart and I really don't like cleaning them

I don't have a fire although the fireplace is an open chimney - maybe that's why the room takes an age to warm up. It is an enormous radiator which dominates the room but somehow the room feels either too hot or too cold. I figured a nice set of curtains will keep some of the heat in during the evenings.

I've seen the vertical radiators in the alcoves and quite like them but I have shelves in mine.

Ok, so it's either radiator where it is, perhaps a smaller one? Or, radiator under the bay. At least I could make a feature of it and perhaps buy a traditional column radiator...

Nowt wrong with sill length curtains - looks fine. In fact our window sill is deep enough and at a height where you can actually sit on it. Floor length anything would look daft.

You could put a rad each side of the chimneybreast.

Wide, low radiators spread the heat more evenly in the room than tall narrow ones.

Seal off your chimney for a start - we used a chimney balloon: www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B009MYL5PO and it def helped.

Our sitting room is that layout and the radiator is on the left as you go in. Our door is hinged on the right so it doesn't open into the radiator. We have sofas in the same places you have.

A slightly bigger sofa on the hallway wall. Then a two seater one opposite the bay.

We also put a log burner in the fire place.

Could you rehang the door and then move the radiator to the wall opposite the bay? But not central, immediately as you come in?

wowfudge my sills are no where near impressive as yours. I can't sit on mine and sill length curtains would just highlight all their imperfections. Although, saying that, It may be helpful if anyone could provide pictures of both long and short?

pigletjohn do you mean on the chimney breast? The last owners decided that Victorian fireplaces were passé and built their own wider, ugly, faux brick version so I have nowhere to put it unless I knock the fireplace out!

whothefuck I had thought of the radiator placed in that position but my door is hinged to the left. Apart from that, your room layout is the same as mine right down to the sofas. I love the idea of a wood burner but always thought the living room was too small for one. I may have to rethink that - really would love a wood burner

Caurnie thank you. I'll have a look. Do you think that will stop the gale force wind like noises in the chimney?

Our room similar we've got large curved bay and sills and radiator is a curved one in the bay we've got sill length curtains- left by previous owner but are heavy (probs Made to measure?) so they provide a bit of insulation, I have never had sill length before but they look ok and apparently the rules of curtain lengths is either sill length or to the floor and nothing Inbetween (according to dm anyway) we have a noisy windy fireplace too!

no, I mean in the recesses at either side of the chimney breast.

A shelf above each radiator will help to defect the rising warm air away from the wall so it mixes into the room.

Our room is like that and we have a column radiator behind the door.

I don't understand the aversion to sill length curtains, still you could get long ones but have a roller blind and pull it out of the way during the day and down for privacy at night. You could just have the curtains to frame the window.

I did this in my old house.

I'm not keen on sill-length curtains. They just look odd.

I have sill length ones. Photo attached. I worried for ages over sill length or longer. But the curtain rail I have is kind of recessed back behind the front edge of the sill so long ones wouldn't sit well.

Lots of people still have radiators under window. Makes sense if energy is free, or if you like birds and want to warm the sky, but not if you want long curtains.

Our radiator was originally under the window. Dh moved it as he said it wasn't the most efficient place for it to be.

Radiator now here. Which works well with room layout.

Now, radiators under windows - when I wanted to move one to an internal wall I was advised by the builder that it wouldn't be a good idea. I think he said something about damp?! I wasn't convinced but couldn't find supporting evidence one way or the other!

Out curtains are about 6 inches longer than the windowsill, means we can tuck them behind the radiator when we have the heating on, but they don't highlight the windowsill x

I was sure that there was a reason for radiators under Windows quick googled revealed this:

We often get the question: why are radiators so commonly placed under windows? It seems counterproductive; surely hot air rises and is sent straight into the least insulated part of the room - makes no sense right?
It all comes down to historical building design practices and the reason why is rooted in solid physics. While today most windows are double glazed and therefore provide good insulation, traditional single glazed windows were particularly draughty. By placing a radiator on the other side of the room from the window, you would actually create a convection current which makes the room feel even draughtier. Whilst the hot air rises from the radiator, the cold air from the window sinks and makes its way along the floor towards the radiator, creating a cold draught where people are sitting.
By placing the radiator under the window this floor draught is directed upwards thanks to convection from the rising hot air, making the room feel warmer and providing a more even distribution of heat. Any draught current around the room will thus be warm air, not cold air.
Advances in double or even triple glazing means this practice is less important and in newer homes radiators can be placed anywhere in the room without the draught issues.
So there you have it, the answer is physics

heat passes from a hot object to a cold one, and the rate of loss depends on the temperature gradient (the difference between the temperatures of the hot object, and the cold one). The window, and the outdoors beyond it, is particularly cold, and the radiator is particularly hot. Putting the radiator under a window maximises the amount of heat (and money) that flies outside without warming the room.

When the cost of energy was unimportant, it seemed like a good idea.

A lined, floor-length curtain in front of the window would have been a very effective money-saver and would keep the room more comfortable, even in those far-off days when old builders were told it was a good idea to put radiators under windows. Builders are very traditional and tend to cling to old beliefs.