Radiators

[Zandana123]

Hi, pretty dull topic but let's try and make it more exciting!

I've just removed 3 rads from our 90s house as we've done up the rooms and they're a bit old looking.

Trying to find some nicer new ones.

The kudox ones from screwfix are ok but not particularly inspired and a little bulky.

Does anyone care about radiators, and know which ones are nice, and where to view/buy them?

Talking strictly the standard horizontal type.

I can't pretend to know about radiators but they are on my to do list too, so I'm checking in ready for tips :-)

Anyone have any ideas?

Hot interiors is where we got ours from. They have everything imaginable

Nice is a relative thing. What I find nice may not be nice for someone else.

I have the modern ones. Really wanted the cast iron ones, but good ones were above the budget.

I got mine from soak.com but the site closed down... check other bathroom stores? I found them cheaper than screwfix too

Mine are the same as Schrodingers black ones but white. Some are vertical.

@Babs709

I got mine from soak.com but the site closed down... check other bathroom stores? I found them cheaper than screwfix too

Oh that's a shame! They had great stuff

We bought Zehnder column radiators www.radiatorshowroom.com/zehnder-charleston-2-column-white-1356-p.asp 20+ years and they haven’t dated at all. I still see them being sold in all the best radiator shops.

Thanks all, gives me something to go on! My wife was complaining yesterday when the house was chilly, as I've already chucked two of the rads. This may become urgent 😀

There are free on line calculators where you input size of room, height, windows, wall type and it will tell you size required by heating output. It’s important you get the heat right output. A good plumbers merchant will be able to advise good reliable brands.

@areallthenamesusedup

There are free on line calculators where you input size of room, height, windows, wall type and it will tell you size required by heating output. It’s important you get the heat right output. A good plumbers merchant will be able to advise good reliable brands.

I second that. And think about where to put them if you are changing position and room. When we knocked through we put different sized into different places and it works. As pp said, good plumber should help

It depends on what look you're trying to achieve, and then go from there.
For example I wanted stylish looking rads with optimum heat output (BTUs).
I've therefore got aluminium rads as they are the better conductor. I've got double columns rather than single as more heat output. Size wise, my 1000mm rads have a BTU output of over 8000 each. That's nice and toasty and they look amazing.
I just spent some time looking in to it, and this is what I've found.

So apparently our bedroom needs 1870 BTU. Yours must be mega toasty 😀

What happens if the btu output is too high

If BTU is too high either you get very hot (and spend more on heating than you should) or you set the dial on the radiator to low not max so it reaches a comfortable temperature.

We are open plan, so a lot to heat

@Zandana123

So apparently our bedroom needs 1870 BTU. Yours must be mega toasty 😀

What happens if the btu output is too high

Are you sure? I did example of 4x4, standard ceiling, 1 window, first floor and it showed 3000

Amazon sells cast iron Victorian style radiators. They look better in real life than this pic. Comes in all sorts of sizes.

Neron where did you get yours? I'm about to move somewhere with large rooms and will need to update rads soon.

@Babamamananarama from the Just Radiators website. Lots of choice/styles and one of the better places in terms of prices. I really recommend them

Don't worry too much about exceeding the thermal capacity as you will no doubt have TRVs and a stat elsewhere. The drawback is that the rads will be bigger than they need to be, the advantage is that the room will heat up quicker ( if the boiler is rated high enough). I'm a screwfix kudox fan I'm afraid! But I do know what you mean about being dull, I like column rads but 5rying to keep then clean is a nightmare. Have 6ou thought about basic rads but using rad covers?

I have the modern column ones, very like the Zehnder ones linked to upthread. They look lovely and stylish, but the are an absolute bugger to clean. They're totally hollow between the two lines of columns and they are just dust magnets. They also sit really far out from the wall and for instance are too big really for the modest sized rooms in my house. I would not buy them again.

www.bestheating.com/milano-aruba-anthracite-horizontal-designer-radiator-various-sizes-78654

I got these ones but in white, look really stylish and weren't too expensive

I have a long bendy thing that helps keep them clean and I can push it through all the gaps

What principles would you suggest for choosing where to put the radiators?

Under the window and the heat all goes up and disappears through the glass... anywhere else and the windows get condensation and there's less wall space for the furniture...?

Thermostat - near the door and all the heat is sucked out as it opens... then the other rooms overheat as the thermostat decides it's cold? Or far away from the door, so the thermostat thinks your room is warm enough, although it's freezing cold near the door?

I'm still traditional and like radiators under the window. Heat loss through the window is a room loss so it doesn't really matter where the rad goes (minor impact due to the temperature gradient over the cold surface only). As said above placing rads elsewhere gets in the way. One of the reasons I like wireless thermostats is that you can move them around until you find the spot that works for you.