Online Radiator Purchases warning...

Asker

Hi

As my username suggests I generally come here to ask for help/advice so it's lovely to be able to pass on something I hope is useful!

I need new radiators in my home so I worked out the size required (based on BTU) for each room (many online calculators available) and proceeded to search for the style I wanted at the right BTU and price.

I found one I liked on "bathempire" and ordered it only to do a bit more research and realise that I was duped somewhat.

It turns out that BTU figures (and I'm sure any resident plumbers may be able to confirm further) can be given at various "delta" temperatures i.e. delta T50 means that when the water in the radiator is 50 degrees hotter than room ( I think) temperature the BTU heat output is such and such. A BTU figure for delta T60 for example is the heat output when the water in the radiator is SIXTY degrees hotter than air and T70 is when it's 70degrees hotter etc. It's obviously the case that the hotter the water in the radiator the more BTU it will pump out! Making yoru boiler run hotter is cheating, less economical (especially for condensers). That's not an accurate reflection of how powerful the radiator is because the standard is T50 or T60 (depending on Europe or UK I believe). It actually makes a lot of difference because if you have a radiator with a quoted BTU at delta T70, in reality when you're comparing like for like with other places that quote at the more reasonable T50 or T60 you're getting figures that are inflated so you have to decrease the value by 1.4 to make it like a T50. Eg/ one shop has a radiator with BTU 6000 at T50 but you see one online a little cheaper quoting a BTU of 7000 and so you go for it... if the online was quoting a BTU at T70 then in reality at T50 the BTU is only 5000 hence it's not as good as the shop one hence it being cheaper.

I've made a hash of the explanation I know, but I hope it makes sense to someone who can put it better!

So back to bathempire - they're actually a decent bunch of folk who cancelled my order etc and were friendly throughout so I'm not knocking them much, but it took me a while to find out that their BTU figures are at T70 which is actually misleading. So basically divide their figures. Thankfully I researched this and cancelled in time but what abotu poor sods who buy rads, fit them then wonder why the room remains cold???

I ended up buying from another company (bestheating) but even them I'd be wary of because I've been quoted various figures for the BTU from T50 to T60... I'm not sure which is true. So in any case I got something a fair bit bigger than I needed just in case it's actually T70.

So this is just a warning to anyone going by online BTU figures - make sure youknow what delta the BTu figures are quoted for so you get the right thing. If something seems too cheap to be true, think again.

!!!

cyclonebri1

Asker wrote: »

Hi

As my username suggests I generally come here to ask for help/advice so it's lovely to be able to pass on something I hope is useful!

I need new radiators in my home so I worked out the size required (based on BTU) for each room (many online calculators available) and proceeded to search for the style I wanted at the right BTU and price.

I found one I liked on "bathempire" and ordered it only to do a bit more research and realise that I was duped somewhat.

It turns out that BTU figures (and I'm sure any resident plumbers may be able to confirm further) can be given at various "delta" temperatures i.e. delta T50 means that when the water in the radiator is 50 degrees hotter than room ( I think) temperature the BTU heat output is such and such. A BTU figure for delta T60 for example is the heat output when the water in the radiator is SIXTY degrees hotter than air and T70 is when it's 70degrees hotter etc. It's obviously the case that the hotter the water in the radiator the more BTU it will pump out! Making yoru boiler run hotter is cheating, less economical (especially for condensers). That's not an accurate reflection of how powerful the radiator is because the standard is T50 or T60 (depending on Europe or UK I believe). It actually makes a lot of difference because if you have a radiator with a quoted BTU at delta T70, in reality when you're comparing like for like with other places that quote at the more reasonable T50 or T60 you're getting figures that are inflated so you have to decrease the value by 1.4 to make it like a T50. Eg/ one shop has a radiator with BTU 6000 at T50 but you see one online a little cheaper quoting a BTU of 7000 and so you go for it... if the online was quoting a BTU at T70 then in reality at T50 the BTU is only 5000 hence it's not as good as the shop one hence it being cheaper.

I've made a hash of the explanation I know, but I hope it makes sense to someone who can put it better!

So back to bathempire - they're actually a decent bunch of folk who cancelled my order etc and were friendly throughout so I'm not knocking them much, but it took me a while to find out that their BTU figures are at T70 which is actually misleading. So basically divide their figures. Thankfully I researched this and cancelled in time but what abotu poor sods who buy rads, fit them then wonder why the room remains cold???

I ended up buying from another company (bestheating) but even them I'd be wary of because I've been quoted various figures for the BTU from T50 to T60... I'm not sure which is true. So in any case I got something a fair bit bigger than I needed just in case it's actually T70.

So this is just a warning to anyone going by online BTU figures - make sure youknow what delta the BTu figures are quoted for so you get the right thing. If something seems too cheap to be true, think again.

!!!

As it's said, "there's no such thing as a free lunch".

I don't get in