Will leaving radiators covered with clothes stop the room being heated

curiosity101

Me n one of my housemates were discussing this. I am sure that when the radiators are covered the rooms which have the radiators covered are quite a bit colder that the rooms with no clothes on the radiators.

Obviously this is true for when the clothes are wet.

But I mean once they're dry, I mentioned it because he tends to leave the clothes there for quite a few days at a time (way past when they're dry) and the rooms were getting pretty cold.

I figure in the same way that you can buy fabric radiator covers that stop children burning themselves on radiators by stopping as much heat escaping, dry clothes will do the same.

bryanb

I think you've discovered insulation!

curiosity101

That's exactly what I said! I tried with "What does insulating the water tank do..."

But he was convinced that the same amount of energy will be going into the system regardless, so obviously the rooms had to be heated and the same amount of heat will go through the clothes whether they're there or not.

I tried to explain that less heat escapes into the room so the water comes back to the boiler warmer and so the boiler doesn't work as hard. But he wasn't having any of it... he said he'd accept it if I got a few more peoples opinions though (if they agreed with me). So I'll just see what a few others think.

Funny thing is, I don't even mind the whole drying on the radiator thing, just the part where they're left there for days so make the room cold. lol.

Cardew

Putting clothing on radiators acts as a form of lagging.

Anything will reduce the efficiency of the radiators to a greater or lesser extent in that it will reduce the amount of radiated heat.

Obviously the thicker the clothing, and the greater the area of the radiator covered, the greater the lagging effect. e.g. wrap the radiator completely in a thick quilt and you will get very little heat.

macman

Why not just take them off when they're dry then?

curiosity101

It's not me leaving the clothes on the radiators... lol.

But that was what sparked the discussion in the first place. I said leaving the clothes on there was making the rooms colder so could he move them ASAP if he's gonna dry stuff on the radiator.

I was told I was wrong and that I was imagining it. I just came on here for a bit of verification. This seemed like a good place to come as I figured people would know a thing or two about heating rooms efficiently.

Pincher

Don't reason with the slob!
Put your foot down, throw the dry clothes in his room so he has to pick them up himself.

Show him this post:

PICK UP AFTER YORSELF.
WASH YOUR OWN DISHES.
DO YOU SHARE OF THE CHORES.
YOUR MOTHER ISN'T HERE.

Owain_Moneysaver

Not only will clothes stop the room being heated, but if you have a condensing boiler, with the higher return water temperature the boiler may stop operating in condensing mode and become less efficient and more expensive to run per useful kWh of heat to the radiators.

You can get 4 radiator airers for under £5 which will be much better than drying clothes on radiators. The airers will cut down heat output a bit because they restrict airflow around the radiator, but not by much.