Radiator Positioning Dilemma

Mrs_Imp

Our radiator is behind a large chair, which is in the bay window, and our living room is always toasty.
We don't have triple glazing, so our bay window is the cold spot in our living room, hence we put the radiator there.

lstar337

We have a new build and the rad is on an internal wall. There is the short end of a corner sofa in front of it and it works just fine.

Radiators work mostly by convection anyway.

Our house is very pretty well insulated though (A rated), so not much actual heating is required.

Dan-Dan

so basically , radiators send their heat upwards by convection?

If this is true , i can rejig my frontroom for the first time since we moved in

How very exciting!

Ant555

NathanMorgan wrote: »

have any of you got a radiator located behind a sofa and found it effective in heating the room?

Yes, a leather sofa sited away from the rad 2-3 inches. Room warm and the only source of heat.

I very rarely have to mess with the the TRV - middle setting for most of the year and only changed if REALLY cold.

lstar337

Dan-Dan wrote: »

so basically , radiators send their heat upwards by convection?

If this is true , i can rejig my frontroom for the first time since we moved in

How very exciting!

Yes.

They radiate a little, but most of the heating is through convection. Air is heated by the fins at the back or middle, rises, and circulates around the room.

NathanMorgan

would you all recommend getting a radiator which is the length of the window or get one to fit the gap between the curtains when there not drawn as we currently have floor length curtains?

Smiley_Dan

lstar337 wrote: »

They radiate a little, but most of the heating is through convection. Air is heated by the fins at the back or middle, rises, and circulates around the room.

This is true, but that assumes nothing it touching the radiator.

If something is touching the radiator (a sofa), it's also heating by conduction.

Anyone know how the split would work out then?

NathanMorgan

NathanMorgan wrote: »

would you all recommend getting a radiator which is the length of the window or get one to fit the gap between the curtains when there not drawn as we currently have floor length curtains?

Any advice on my question above?

lstar337

Smiley_Dan wrote: »

This is true, but that assumes nothing it touching the radiator.

If something is touching the radiator (a sofa), it's also heating by conduction.

Anyone know how the split would work out then?

I would guess that a sofa is a fairly poor conductor of heat, thus radiation and conduction would still be much less than convection.

Still, I would not push my sofa up against a radiator.

27col

My lounge is 10mtrs long. It has skirting heaters around a good part of it. It one area there is a sofa and in another, there is a long sideboard. It has always been this way since I built the house in 1977. There are 2 large patio windows, so no chance of a radiator there. We have always been quite happy with the heating arrangement.
The fact that radiator is behind a sofa doesn't mean that there is any less heat coming into the room.