Tell me about radiators!

Snakey

Thanks everyone for the advice. I'll check the boiler BTU thingy - the previous owners left me the manuals and I expect it will be in there somewhere. I hope it won't mean I need a new boiler.

I think that the size of the pipes is a problem because during the purchase I saw a letter from the Environmental Health about black mould in the flat, saying that the heating was inadequate and the pipes would have to be changed to a bigger size before the property could be rented out again (the seller was a BTL landlady), and I believe she successfully got £1,500 out of British Gas (who installed the system) which I assume they wouldn't have paid if there hadn't been anything wrong with having pipes that size.

It may well be that the tenants dried washing inside, took hour-long hot showers, had a pan of boiling water on the hob at all times and never once cracked a window open, but I haven't spent all these years in rented accomodation dreaming of the day I'd have my own place, just to spend my first Christmas shivering and inhaling spores while black mould creeps up my legs if I stay in one place too long. So I want to get it done, and before the winter.

I did a bit of internet searching yesterday and apparently you should put the radiator in the coldest part of the room, so I guess the outside walls are the right place after all.

Ok, extra bonus question for anyone still reading: if I leave some of the radiators as they are, does this make a difference to anything? Specifically, a) if it has gunk in it, or is more prone to producing gunk due to being older, will it "infect" my shiny new rads? and b) there aren't special radiators for each pipe size so that small-bore ones won't fit a large-bore system are there? Sound stupid now I've typed them out, but then I'm feeling pretty stupid all round lately. If only I'd left school at 16 and done an apprenticeship in something useful, rather than grabbing an office job that helps me not one bit in my everyday life (well, other than internet access during the day I suppose).

uk_messer

How old is the building?

Yes, if your pipework is gunked up it will mess up your new rads. There are plenty of tutorials on checking the health of your system so I won't write it out here.

Snakey

It's a council flat and the estate was built between 1951 and 1958, apparently. So before the days of double glazing, or of everyone having a hot shower every morning. On the upside it has tons of windows that I can open to let the air in (which is more than can be said for most of the flats around here which tend to be building conversions and you're lucky if you get two windows in the entire flat). The central heating, I assume, is an awful lot more recent. The radiators just look like normal radiators, if you know what I mean. Not the old "school" sort, but the usual "home" sort.

I was thinking maybe leave the one in the bathroom, since I'll be getting that room refurbished properly in a couple of years' time and could get a new one then to "go" with whatever look I choose for the room. But I don't want to do that for the sake of saving a couple of hundred quid if it's going to pollute the new ones. They're going to power-flush the system when they're done, which I was thinking might make it OK.

And yes, doing lots of internet research is on my list for the weekend (but thanks for not being harsh about it). It's just so easy to be "lazy" at work and ask people on forums then come back to collect the responses from people who already know, rather than skip from site to site reading up on it all from scratch. Sooner or later I'll be able to pay it forward as I'll be a total expert on everything - or at least have some horror stories to share about how I ballsed it all up.

uk_messer

Built in that period it shouldn't have issues of humidity from the outside elements. If it's poorly vented to release moisture from baths etc then that can be sorted with decent extractor fans. That should have been on the list of advice from this environmental health guy first. Just heating a place is not going to stop mould. You need to remove high humidity. High humidity and more heat will compound the problem.

WestonDave

Re radiators - I may be misunderstanding you but have a look at Purmo radiators - we've got some standard sized ones which are slimline and close to the wall.


re towel rail - stainless steel has been mentioned - not only do they not rust but they are also more thermally efficient than the chrome ones - ours came with a lifetime warranty which may be relevant if you want to keep it and move it. Ours is on the radiator circuit but also has an electric element in it which enables us to use it in summer when the heating is off but we still want warm/dry towels.

bob_a_builder

Could the too small pipe size be to do with the gas feed to the boiler ? rather than the water pipes ?

since it seems BG coughed up 1500 to cover 'something' related to the install ?

Snakey

Hmm good point, hot wet air doesn't sound healthy either. The building's listed on the outside, which makes solutions involving knocking holes in walls etc either difficult or impossible (not sure which). The letter was a summary letter and it said that he'd suggested insulation to a couple of the walls which back on to communal outside stairs and lift shaft, and also to the floor in one room (which is above a passageway through the building on the ground floor), but went on to say that none of this could be done because of the listing.

I can do what I want inside the flat, so perhaps there's some scope for lining walls or whatever, but I definitely want to see it for myself before I do anything like that. It might have been exacerbated by uncaring tenants. (I occasionally walk past a flat I used to rent, and I cringe to see that they have a load of black mould on the window-side of their wooden blinds. There was never the slightest hint of it when I lived there.)

A.Penny.Saved

Snakey wrote: »

Ok, extra bonus question for anyone still reading: if I leave some of the radiators as they are, does this make a difference to anything? Specifically, a) if it has gunk in it, or is more prone to producing gunk due to being older, will it "infect" my shiny new rads?

Old radiators will have the sludge in them but you said that you were having a power flush which should clear it all out. Providing that radiator protector solution is added to the system it should help limit radiator rusting which contributes a lot to the sludge.

and b) there aren't special radiators for each pipe size so that small-bore ones won't fit a large-bore system are there? Sound stupid now I've typed them out, but then I'm feeling pretty stupid all round lately. If only I'd left school at 16 and done an apprenticeship in something useful, rather than grabbing an office job that helps me not one bit in my everyday life (well, other than internet access during the day I suppose).

Most radiators have standard 1/2" BSP tails (the holes where the valves fit) but there are other sizes so it pays to check that the valves will fit the radiators that you select. The radiator valve which will probably need changing to fit larger (15mm?) copper pipe. You might want thermostatic radiator valves so providing you get the ones to fit the copper pipe size that is being fitted & radiator tails then there should not be a problem. You will most likely have to change the current valves if the copper pipes are changed.

This site stocks some uncommon radiators such as glass radiators! which you might like to look at for ideas. I have never ordered from that site so check it as you would any unknown site if you decide to order.