Designer radiators

bluedrop

Hi all,
Does anyone here have designer radiators? I need 8 radiators... Standard ones will cost me less than £500. Designer ones appx£2200. Wondering if anyone thinks its worth tht extra money?

Thx

phoebe1989seb

I do think it depends on the style/type of house. In a newer house (unless an uber-trendy *Grand Designs*-type place or one with a design-led interior), you can get away with standard rads. Personally even if we were into minimalist interiors, I'd still want interesting (think modern, but quirky) radiators as the standard ones are a bit boring!

The previous owner of our (thatched Georgian) house had recently installed an new oil-fired boiler and modern radiators - they looked ugly and totally out of character with the age of the property.

We bought the house two years ago as a partially finished project and whilst we've a long long way to go with the restoration works, we've gradually started replacing the modern rads with period style cast iron ones which suit the surroundings much better. They are quite expensive - we bought a pair in Gothic style for the kitchen that cost a small fortune - but they look sooooo good it was worth it

It also depends if you intend to stay a long time in your house I guess - if you are going to enjoy them for a good number of years and it'll make you feel good to see them there every day, I'd go for it........they do throw out masses of heat and stay hot for longer too

lessonlearned

I loathe standard radiaors, they are so ugly.

I think it will depend on your budget and also the style and age of your house.

Period style radiators look good in a period house, while uber modern "statement" radiators can look fab in say a kitchen or bathroom and funky "designer" radiators can look ok in a very modern interior.

Personally if I were designing from scratch and had a generous budget I would look at underfloor heating - no radiators at all. Just towel rails in bathrooms.

A practical and more cost effective way is to disguise them with radiator covers. There are plenty of low (ish) cost diy type options.

bluedrop

What are aliminium radiators like? Are they better / efficient than the standard ones ?

evoke

We have a couple of beautiful designer rads. They cost us around £500 each so not _that_ expensive. It's worth considering the layout of your house as most of our standard rads are fairly hidden and the designer ones were bought to stand out (one in the kitchen/diner and the other in the bathroom).

Try Wickes as they have some nice ones.

JournalGirl

Our plumber also advised that most designer rads are not anywhere near the efficiency of the standard ones - so take some advice before you take the plunge

phoebe1989seb

We bought some of our cast iron rads from Holloways of Ludlow - each one has an output of over 7000 BTUs so nice and toasty They're not the cheapest, but have a good range IMHO......

savemoney

I been looking at them myself as we are having a new bathroom fitted next week and space is a premium. We already budgeted for a towel rail which is only for towels and not used for premier heat source. A designer radiator may fit the bill as you can get them that go vertically up. I am aware that many of them still no where near as good as a conventional modern radiator. I am trying to get most of my stuff from trade supplier to keep costs down, BIL is plumber so can get it at trade.

bluedrop

I've decided to go for fancy looking ones. Dh is insisting!

I've looked around and i short listed 2 that suit my taste.

Option1 : Saxon
http://www.plumbtraders.co.uk/product/saxon-590-x-1148-white-88165/

Option2 : Trade radiators -own brand
http://www.traderadiators.com/acatalog/Own-Brand-Aluminium-Radiator-Series.html

For the seven rads I need, option1 comes to £1600 ish and option2 £1000ish

Which one should I go for?

puddy

they look clunky and a abit 'storage heater' to me

but that aside, i have never understood why radiators are so horrible and why nice radiators are so expensive. like many, we have hidden many of ours, the bathroom and living room are behind radiator covers (and the living room is freezing most of the time as a result as the sofa is also in front of it)

the hall has a chest of drawers in front of that one

given the money, i would have the whole house converted to the skirting radiators that i saw on dragons den years ago, they are radiators in the skirting boards

peachyprice

bluedrop wrote: »

I've decided to go for fancy looking ones. Dh is insisting!

I've looked around and i short listed 2 that suit my taste.

Option1 : Saxon
http://www.plumbtraders.co.uk/product/saxon-590-x-1148-white-88165/

Option2 : Trade radiators -own brand
http://www.traderadiators.com/acatalog/Own-Brand-Aluminium-Radiator-Series.html

For the seven rads I need, option1 comes to £1600 ish and option2 £1000ish

Which one should I go for?

I think they look like commercial office rads