Updating Radiators – help with BTU's

jhs14

bpk101 wrote: »

No idea... we've recently bought the place, have no record of the current radiator BTU's and don't currently live there (awaiting refurb) so haven't tested the current system.

You can work out the BTUs by googling the size of radiator (making sure you search for single or double or double plus etc).

Does the system look like it was installed professionally rather than diy? If so, then copying the existing BTUs will give you the professional sizes you seem to be looking for. If I were you, I'd try a few calculators, choose the highest figure, add a bit more on for luck, and go for that. The more the merrier. If the system produces too much heat, it's very easy to rectify that with lockshields and TRVs. It's impossible to rectify the situation if there's not enough heat.

bpk101

jhs14 wrote: »

Does the system look like it was installed professionally rather than diy?

To be honest, the radiators – along with the rest of the house – looks like it was fitted by monkeys :mad: Every radiator is tilting by at least 5 degrees! See DINER photo on original pic.

It doesn't fill me with the greatest of confidence that the radiators are currently of the right size and in the right place which is why i question the huge rad in the hallway?

jhs14

I hadn't looked at the diagram/photos, a few things stand out. The hall rad is single, the dining room rad looks like a double, so in that case the hall rad isn't much larger (heat wise) than the dining room rad.

As the hall is open to the dining room, it's possible that the hall rad has been oversized to attempt to compensate for the dining room rad - which looks a bit on the small size for the size of room - perhaps because there's no wall space in the dining room for a larger rad?

One thing to consider is with the whole of downstairs being open to the stairs, you will lose a lot of heat to upstairs and so will need bigger rads.

Radiator in main bedroom looks too small, and ideally you should move it away from the corner of the room.

trailingspouse

From my experience (Edwardian end-of-terrace in Yorkshire), BTU's are a rough guide at best.

In our main bedroom (large, with a high ceiling), the BTU calculation meant that we needed quite a large radiator. But, because of the low window-sill we were restricted as to the size of radiator we could put in. We put in the largest that would fit, but it wasn't nearly as big as the BTU required. And it's fine!! Here we are in February, the temperature hasn't gone above freezing all day, but the bedroom is a perfect temperature. However - the dining room is much the same size as the bedroom, but without the height restriction of the window, so we were able to put a bigger radiator in. It never really feels warm in there!

teneighty

jhs14 wrote: »

You can work out the BTUs by googling the size of radiator (making sure you search for single or double or double plus etc).

Does the system look like it was installed professionally rather than diy? If so, then copying the existing BTUs will give you the professional sizes you seem to be looking for. If I were you, I'd try a few calculators, choose the highest figure, add a bit more on for luck, and go for that. The more the merrier. If the system produces too much heat, it's very easy to rectify that with lockshields and TRVs. It's impossible to rectify the situation if there's not enough heat.

A quick word of caution. Some of the calculators I tried gave ridiculously high results, almost double, especially the ones from the radiator retailers. Those column radiators are not cheap to buy. If you over estimate the size too much you could be spending an awful lot of money uneccessarily.

jhs14

teneighty wrote: »

A quick word of caution. Some of the calculators I tried gave ridiculously high results, almost double, especially the ones from the radiator retailers. Those column radiators are not cheap to buy. If you over estimate the size too much you could be spending an awful lot of money uneccessarily.

True - I'd still argue that it's money well spent, the larger the rad the quicker the room will heat. Obviously for some people this will be more of a consideration than others - if you're home all day and have the heating on constantly then it won't make any difference, if like me you have the system coming on and off at various times it makes it a lot more responsive - and ultimately I'm looking to get a fully zoned system so fast heating times will be even more of a consideration.

Admittedly i was answering with normal rads in mind, where adding a few thousand BTUs only increases the rad cost by £10 or £20. Once you decide to get column rads, be prepared for the cost!

bpk101

In terms of placement... do you think it's a good idea to move the radiator in the second bedroom to the internal wall that our bed in the main bedroom backs onto?

My thinking is the heat across the wall would benefit our room too? Or do we face problems with it being opposite the window?

jhs14

bpk101 wrote: »

In terms of placement... do you think it's a good idea to move the radiator in the second bedroom to the internal wall that our bed in the main bedroom backs onto?

In terms of radiator efficiency, not particularly - I doubt it will make much difference and could be a lot of work. Of course there may be practical reasons (furniture placement etc) to want to move it.

My thinking is the heat across the wall would benefit our room too?

It will be negligible - at the best it could slightly warm the wall but won't make any difference to the air temp. If you want a warm master bedroom get a bigger radiator in there.

Or do we face problems with it being opposite the window?

It wouldn't circulate heat around the room as well as it would near a window, but it's not as big a deal as is made out.

bpk101

jhs14 wrote: »

I doubt it will make much difference and could be a lot of work.

We're paying to switch the panel rads to traditional style column rads anyway and it's no more cost to move them... anyway, if the actual effect on the main bedroom isn't noticeable we'll leave it where it is (next to window)

jhs14

bpk101 wrote: »

We're paying to switch the panel rads to traditional style column rads anyway and it's no more cost to move them... anyway, if the actual effect on the main bedroom isn't noticeable we'll leave it where it is (next to window)

Do you know there's no extra cost? It's certainly more work - unless pipes are already there, floorboards will have to come up, joists notched etc etc.

By all means move it if you want, but it won't have any effect on the room next door.