Updating Radiators – help with BTU's

stacey777

This is probably not what ur after but I had a power flush done on my radiator! I was going to get new radiators too and then the plumber said it would save me money if I tried the power flush. My house is so warm now and the water which was never warm is always roasting.

Maybe you want to replace them for the look, but I'm glad I just kept mine as they are.

bpk101

We know there's no extra cost as our plumber has given us a fixed labour price of £120 per rad installation including any relocation.

Definitely updating rads for the look, we had them installed at my work (design studio) and they look great!

bpk101

Still struggling with the BTU issues...

Does anyone know if i should be counting a relatively open plan area consisting of:

• Entrance Hallway
• Staircase
• 1st Floor landing
• Lounge
• Dining Room

... as 1 large space instead of separate rooms? Therefore arriving at a single BTU figure that i split across several radiator sizes (1 for each space)?

Or should i count each space separately pretending they have walls??

Here's a diagram explaining the open plans parts of the house:

http://bpkersey.com/images/open-rooms.jpg

Need to order in Rads tomorrow and still not sure of the sizing :mad:

StuC75

Definitely think its best to think of it in separate zones, especially then for thinking where you may need to situate the radiators within those areas as you live around the space..

With such an open space is there any option for under floor heating? as that may also help reduce drafts? as that's quite an open area..

If you went with the single figure then you would maybe have 'overkill' in the hall landing areas, and not as much where you need it in the living spaces.. whereas Underfloor could be balanced through out, and suit that open plan aspect (well obviously not the stairs\landing...

bpk101 wrote: »

Still struggling with the BTU issues...

Does anyone know if i should be counting a relatively open plan area consisting of:

• Entrance Hallway
• Staircase
• 1st Floor landing
• Lounge
• Dining Room

... as 1 large space instead of separate rooms? Therefore arriving at a single BTU figure that i split across several radiator sizes (1 for each space)?

Or should i count each space separately pretending they have walls??

Here's a diagram explaining the open plans parts of the house:

http://bpkersey.com/images/open-rooms.jpg

Need to order in Rads tomorrow and still not sure of the sizing :mad:

bpk101

StuC75 wrote: »

With such an open space is there any option for under floor heating?

No not really... it'll be column style radiators for those rooms and we have plumbers starting Monday to install.

jhs14

bpk101 wrote: »

Still struggling with the BTU issues...

Does anyone know if i should be counting a relatively open plan area consisting of:

• Entrance Hallway
• Staircase
• 1st Floor landing
• Lounge
• Dining Room

... as 1 large space instead of separate rooms? Therefore arriving at a single BTU figure that i split across several radiator sizes (1 for each space)?

Or should i count each space separately pretending they have walls??

Here's a diagram explaining the open plans parts of the house:

http://bpkersey.com/images/open-rooms.jpg

Need to order in Rads tomorrow and still not sure of the sizing :mad:

Treat them seperately, not least because it will be easier to calculate. The better BTU calculators will let you say how many windows there are, what room is above, how many outside walls etc. So each room will have different characteristics.

But remember that heat rises, so being open plan to the stairs, you're likely to lose downstairs heat to upstairs. so be generous with the downstairs rads.

Like I've said, just do the online calculators - do a few different ones to get an average result - then add on a thousand BTUs (Personally I'd add at least 1000, if it was a colder than average room I'd add 2000). The only issue for you will be the cost of larger column rads. From a BTU point of view, be generous. Having too many BTUs is not an issue, there are plenty of ways to reduce the rad's output. If you don't have enough BTUs to start with then you're stuffed.