Replacing radiators help & advice needed

Mohsin125

Hi all,

I am thinking to replace my lounge radiator to increase the heat i.e. more powerful radiator. My lounge currently has a single fin radiator which is quite wide in width. I want to upgrade to a double fin double panel radiator. Can I get help with below questions?

1) Is it something that can be done yourself? I am a novice DIYer I would say.
2) Will the pipework need to be modified if I want to use SAME SIZE radiator but upgrade to double fin and double panel?
3) Will the upgrade from single to double panel increase heat generated by radiator?

Thanks all.

Tom99

1) Maybe but it's probably not the 1st job a novice DIYer would try to tackle.
2) Copper pipe? Even if the rad is exactly the same width it's likely the bottom entry holes will be further away from the wall because a double rad is thicker than a single rad. Depending of how much play they is in the existing pipes they may need to be modified.
3) Yes probably near double the potential max output. The heat output will be listed alongside the new rad you intend to buy, just compare the outputs given for the double and single of the same width.

EmmyLou30

Tom99 wrote: »

2) Copper pipe? Even if the rad is exactly the same width it's likely the bottom entry holes will be further away from the wall because a double rad is thicker than a single rad. Depending of how much play they is in the existing pipes they may need to be modified.

This is likely to be the biggest issue....if there is no play/slack in the pipes (which you won't know till you un plumb it) then you won't be able to move the tails out far enough to meet the new holes of the double rad.

Ganga

I managed to do what you want no problem,if you see some rads that you want most of them have the dimensions on line so you will be able to see how much the pipework needs to move as well as how they are mounted on the walls.

FreeBear

The three most commonly available radiators are as follows -

• Type 11 - Single panel, one set of fins. Projects from the wall by 85mm.
• Type 21 - Double panel, one set of fins in the middle. Projects 100mm.
• Type 22 - Double panel, two sets of fins. Projects from the wall by 135mm.

The increase of heat output is something in the order of 33% for a type 21 over a type 11. A type 22 will throw out some 75% more heat than a type 11. The downside of a type 22 is the amount it projects from the wall - I had considered replacing some of my old radiators with type 22s, ordered them, and took one look before sending them back. Replaced them with type 21 instead, which will be a huge improvement over the vintage type 10 (single panel, no fins) that I have/had.

Aside from the wall projection, you also need to consider if your boiler is up to supplying sufficient water at a high enough temperature. If your total radiator BTU exceeds or is close to the BTU output of the boiler, you'll struggle to get the temperature of the house up to a comfortable level.

Mohsin125

Thanks everyone! The responses have been really useful. I guess I will call someone to get a quote on replacing the radiator. I think ill go with Type 21 too based on FreeBear's advice.

FreeBear

Stumbled across this web site - http://en.lidea.by/radiators/product/2 - Gives you a description of all the standard radiator types as well as the BTU output. If you prefer to work in KW, divide the BTU by 3414.

Also bear in mind, you should be sizing the radiators for the room, taking in to account things like wall/floor/roof construction, location (e.g. internal or external wall), window/door sizes, insulation levels, and room volume. Just whacking in a radiator "'cos it fits" is not a good design decision.

keith969

Also make sure your rads are balanced correctly. I had one rad in a room that was always warmish, not hot. Turned out there was another small rad elsewhere (actually in an airing cupboard) with both valves fully open, allowing HW to recirculate and never properly reach the problem rad. Turning the valves right down suddenly made the problem rad hot and the room nice and cosy.

TELLIT01

Also bear in mind that wide double radiators are pretty heavy and ideally require more than one person for comfortable handling. I've been looking at a 900 x 600 double and that weighs 30kg.

zehua

guys, which brand of radiator is good quality?

dunroving

I've been learning a lot re: this question, as I plan to replace three radiators in this house for different sizes, including changing one regular shaped radiator for a vertical one.

I've been struck by the difference in the amount of advice I got from the central heating companies that have come to provide a quote (3 of them). It ranges from asking what size radiator I want to making suggestions based on BTU. I'd actually used a couple of calculators to figure out how many BTU I need in each location, based on room dimensions, number of external walls, type of windows, type of floor and what is above (e.g., roof, second floor, etc.). One of the companies essentially left it up to me to figure out what size radiator I wanted, and they would fit it (I wondered if they'd do that even if the radiator I chose was too small for the room, for example).

Generally, I learned that size for size (i.e., height/width) the designer radiators generally don't throw out as much heat. This might mean that to get enough heat you either have to go for a double, etc. as Freebear said, or a designer radiator with a larger height or width.

Stelrad came up as a good make with all three CH companies.