Tell me about radiators!

Snakey

So I moved in to a new flat a few weeks ago. Apparently the central heating pipes are too small and need to be replaced by larger ones. So I'm going ahead with this, and at the same time I'd like new radiators (so that I can forget about the central heating indefinitely from then on. The boiler, I'm told, is newish and in good nick.)

I want the new-style ones that go right up the wall but aren't very wide.

I've been told to get:
a) Main room 7000 BTU (room is 14 foot by 11'6)
b) Two bedrooms 6000 each (14 by 11 and 14 by 10'6)
c) Hall 3000
d) Kitchen 4000 (if I want one in the kitchen, apparently many people don't bother. So I probably won't.)
e) And a heated towel rail thingy for the bathroom - because I eventually want the bathroom refurbished and the rad moved, this needs to be 40cm wide or less.

Other than that, I have a completely free hand as to where the rads should be and what sort I get.

So, I'm looking for advice please! In particular:

1. If anyone knows about BTUs, is the above OK? If I go higher, will it be more efficient or less?

2. At the moment, the (old-style) radiators are on the outside wall in the two bedrooms. The building is notorious for condensation and cold, although I haven't been here for a winter yet so I can't say for sure that this is a problem in my particular flat. Do I want rads on the outside walls? It might be better from a use-of-space perspective because I am not putting furniture against outside walls if there might be mould, but won't I just be heating half of central London if I put rads there when there's no insulation? Windows are floor-to-ceiling so they can't go under the windows.

3. Do they still do that shiny stuff that you put behind radiators to reflect heat back into the room instead of into the wall, or is that obsolete nowadays? If I should have it, should I get the guys to put it in when they do the installation or is it easy to do it myself afterwards (I've no idea how it is fixed on or anything)?

4. Any reason why I *shouldn't* get the tall, thin rads? The reason I want them is that it looks more modern, which I like and which I also think would be attractive to a future purchaser, and also because it gives me more wall space to have furniture.

5. Any recommendations for some neat-looking ones that aren't too expensive? I don't want cheap-and-nasty, but nor can I afford top of the range.

Thanks for reading this far!

jenfa

Ok so I'm not a professional but what I have learnt from doing a similar thing in my house I am happy to share.

I found websites where I could put in my room dimensions and it would tell me what btus I needed.

There is quite a large difference between different manufacturers on the standard type of radiator to the point with some you don't need as big a size to get the same btus as larger ones with other companies.

You need to check what btus your boiler is, you are supposed to allow a certain amount of btus for your hot water and so you need to check your new radiators don't overload the boiler - our heating is not as efficient when it is also trying to heat the water for this reason.

Rads in kitchens is a personal thing, our flat didn't have one in but the kitchen was quite small, whereas in our current house we have 2 and it is only a kitchen not open plan.

I think you can get the shiny stuff to put behind rads but there are mixed reviews on whether these do any good.

Heated towel rails do look lovely but I find with ours that they don't seem to give out much heat especially when they have towels on them, we were going to replace the kitchen rads with these but found the btus were about half for a rad the same size and 4 times the price, again personal choice.

Hopefully a professional will be along to give you some advice soon.:)

wr1ght

get your measurements in this


http://www.diy.com/diy/jsp/bq/templates/content_lookup.jsp?content=/content/knowledge/calculators/btu_calculator/btu_calculator.jsp

wr1ght

i have heard white radiators give more heat

ariba10

wr1ght wrote: »

i have heard white radiators give more heat

And even more if you change them on a Thursday.

frisbeej

That's going to be a hugely expensive job. Who says the pipes are too small?


Personally I would try it as is through a winter and see what the heat and costs are like.

southcoastrgi

wr1ght wrote: »

i have heard white radiators give more heat

white towel rails do give out more heat than chrome ones, but they don't look as nice

andyhop

Aluminium tall verticals work well, use less water and are more thermally efficient

Stainless steel towel warmers in polished or brushed finish look better than white and unlike the chrome which are generally rusty when taken out the box don't corrode

gmgmgm

Replacing pipes is probably not necessary: double-check that carefully. It will increase your costs hugely.

Plenty of web sites will tell you what BTU is recommended for a room. Bear in mind that having "too-small" radiators just means the room will take longer to heat up. It won't cost materially different.

So by all means change some rads to bigger or more efficient ones, but you can probably leave most of your rooms exactly as they are.

Consider "option 6. Do nothing until you've lived there for one winter to see if there is a real problem".

uk_messer

Unless you find the heating is not suffice don't spend money on the say so of someone else. Was this a resident of another flat?

If the radiators don't heat sufficiently, there may be numerous things that are failing rather than the pipes being too small.

A.Penny.Saved

Snakey wrote: »

So I moved in to a new flat a few weeks ago. Apparently the central heating pipes are too small and need to be replaced by larger ones. So I'm going ahead with this, and at the same time I'd like new radiators (so that I can forget about the central heating indefinitely from then on. The boiler, I'm told, is newish and in good nick.)

I want the new-style ones that go right up the wall but aren't very wide.

I've been told to get:
a) Main room 7000 BTU (room is 14 foot by 11'6)
b) Two bedrooms 6000 each (14 by 11 and 14 by 10'6)
c) Hall 3000
d) Kitchen 4000 (if I want one in the kitchen, apparently many people don't bother. So I probably won't.)
e) And a heated towel rail thingy for the bathroom - because I eventually want the bathroom refurbished and the rad moved, this needs to be 40cm wide or less.

Other than that, I have a completely free hand as to where the rads should be and what sort I get.

So, I'm looking for advice please! In particular:

1. If anyone knows about BTUs, is the above OK? If I go higher, will it be more efficient or less?

2. At the moment, the (old-style) radiators are on the outside wall in the two bedrooms. The building is notorious for condensation and cold, although I haven't been here for a winter yet so I can't say for sure that this is a problem in my particular flat. Do I want rads on the outside walls? It might be better from a use-of-space perspective because I am not putting furniture against outside walls if there might be mould, but won't I just be heating half of central London if I put rads there when there's no insulation? Windows are floor-to-ceiling so they can't go under the windows.

3. Do they still do that shiny stuff that you put behind radiators to reflect heat back into the room instead of into the wall, or is that obsolete nowadays? If I should have it, should I get the guys to put it in when they do the installation or is it easy to do it myself afterwards (I've no idea how it is fixed on or anything)?

4. Any reason why I *shouldn't* get the tall, thin rads? The reason I want them is that it looks more modern, which I like and which I also think would be attractive to a future purchaser, and also because it gives me more wall space to have furniture.

5. Any recommendations for some neat-looking ones that aren't too expensive? I don't want cheap-and-nasty, but nor can I afford top of the range.

Thanks for reading this far!

Re: the small pipes. That sounds a bit ridiculous to me because there are many properties that use pipework which is smaller than the standard 15mm. Smaller pipework could be more prone to blockage if a lot of deposits/rust build up in them if no radiator protector is used. I doubt it will be a problem and sounds like someone is trying to create work for themselves.

I think that the need for a radiator in the kitchen depends a lot on the property but can be of benefit for very cold weather to help prevent any freezing and to ensure that the room cannot get too cold. Cooking might not keep it warm enough on it's own.

1/ The BTU radiator size should be over rather than under sized to take account of very cold weather, remember the -19C winter we had a few years back? If there is excess in reserve, they are always going to be able to keep the rooms as warm as you need them. Thermostats and thermostatic radiator valves deal with preventing wastage of heat.

3/ Yes, the foil backed bubble wrap or foam. I am not certain that it makes a big difference, possibly a little bit to radiated heat. It's not difficult to fit and could be done on some cardboard and hung on the radiator brackets with some clips. If you wanted it fitted to the wall, it would be better off done when radiators are fitted.

southcoastrgi wrote: »

white towel rails do give out more heat than chrome ones, but they don't look as nice

If I remember correctly when I was looking at them, stainless steel put out more heat than chrome plated radiators but slightly less than white.