radiator efficiency

nicmmc

Could anybody offer any suggestions here please?

We have a bedroom at the back of our house which is significantly colder than the rest of the house and so we are looking for ways of keeping this warmer through the night.

We've recently had a new combi boiler fitted. Could changing the radiator itself help convect more heat around the room? Presumably a double radiator would provide more heat than a single?

Would this be cheaper than buying an electric radiator to plug in when needed?

factoryworker

nicmmc wrote: »

Could anybody offer any suggestions here please?

We have a bedroom at the back of our house which is significantly colder than the rest of the house and so we are looking for ways of keeping this warmer through the night.

We've recently had a new combi boiler fitted. Could changing the radiator itself help convect more heat around the room? Presumably a double radiator would provide more heat than a single?

Would this be cheaper than buying an electric radiator to plug in when needed?

it depends on your circumstances; personally i reccomend if you have a modern boiler, always use central heating rather than electric; if you increase the rad obviusly it will increase the heat but also the usage; you have to weigh the cost of new rad and increased gas usage against the cheaper elec rad cost but higher running costs (4p gas against 14p elec roughly).

It really depends on how you intend using this back room; if constantly used/or wanting constant heat get the rad changed and use gas; if rarely used use the elec; i wuld suggest if you are going to have an elec rad on for more than a hour each winter day, go for the gas rad (personally i would never recoomend elec where you can have gas)....hope this helps

Cardew

Does the radiator have a Thermostatically Controlled Valve(TRV)?

Is the system correctly balanced?

When the central heating was installed the radiators should have been sized so the bedrooms could reach the correct temperature. Could it be that it is not getting up to temperature because the wall thermostat turns off the CH downstairs? The other bedroom is above a living room?

The bigger the radiator, the more heat it will disipate and a double radiator(of the same size) will produce about 90% more heat.

Impossible to say which is cheaper option(new rad or electric rad) as it depends on size of room and insulation; how often, and how much extra heat, required. In the long term a new rad(if required) might be cheaper.

Canucklehead

nicmmc wrote: »

Could anybody offer any suggestions here please?

We have a bedroom at the back of our house which is significantly colder than the rest of the house and so we are looking for ways of keeping this warmer through the night.

We've recently had a new combi boiler fitted. Could changing the radiator itself help convect more heat around the room? Presumably a double radiator would provide more heat than a single?

Would this be cheaper than buying an electric radiator to plug in when needed?

Good evening: the radiator could be undersized...check here for a rough guide. Price will be dependent on the size of the replacement rad, modifications required to pipework and your location in the UK. I'd take advantage of the combi's heat output.

HTH

Canucklehead