Vertical Radiators versus Horizontal Radiators for Effective Heat

Leodogger

We are having French windows installed in our living room which means the radiator which was under the window has to be removed and replaced.    We were thinking of having a Vertical "Designer" Radiator of which there are many put vertically up the wall on the internal wall next to the window wall where the French windows are going, but our plumber has advised against it saying that traditional convector radiators give off more heat but this will need to go behind the sofa.    He says the sofa will not stop much heat and has more heat output because of the "fins" on the double convection that the vertical ones which he says are more a fashion item than effective heat source.

Can anyone verify this or is he spinning me a tale because it is more awkward to put the vertical one where we wanted it which would involve the gas pipe going underneath the French Doors because of the piping layout and our concrete floor, whereas the horizontal one would entail taking the piping through the loft and down the internal wall of the lounge on the opposite side to the window.

Rosa_Damascena

I have long radiators in my bathrooms and I have to say that I am very unimpressed with them. 

I'd go conventional every time unless space-constrained. Of course UFH is the gold standard...

Ajmason42

Confused as to why the gas pipe is being changed as surely radiator is fed by water. We have a tall narrow rad in the kitchen and have to say it’s not fab sometimes get really warm similar to the rest and on another day it’s lukewarm.  We had no choice about having it as no room for anything else. 

Leodogger

Rosa_Damascena said:

I have long radiators in my bathrooms and I have to say that I am very unimpressed with them. 

I'd go conventional every time unless space-constrained. Of course UFH is the gold standard...

What is UFH ? I also asked the plumber about the ladder radiators in the bathroom and he also said they are more "fashion" than heat productive which I agreed with.   Even when ours is on it never seems really warm.   Perhaps a plumber on here can explain why ?

Rosa_Damascena

UFH - underfloor heating, which is a BIG job. I'm having it done in an extension but it would be one big hassle to install a wet system in an existing space.

Leodogger

Ajmason42 said:

Confused as to why the gas pipe is being changed as surely radiator is fed by water. We have a tall narrow rad in the kitchen and have to say it’s not fab sometimes get really warm similar to the rest and on another day it’s lukewarm.  We had no choice about having it as no room for anything else. 

Sorry, I meant to say water pipe !

TELLIT01

Leodogger said:

Rosa_Damascena said:

I have long radiators in my bathrooms and I have to say that I am very unimpressed with them. 

I'd go conventional every time unless space-constrained. Of course UFH is the gold standard...

What is UFH ? I also asked the plumber about the ladder radiators in the bathroom and he also said they are more "fashion" than heat productive which I agreed with.   Even when ours is on it never seems really warm.   Perhaps a plumber on here can explain why ?

I'm not a plumber but the reason bathroom 'ladder' radiators, otherwise known as heated towelrails, produce so little heat is that they have very little surface area compared to a conventional radiator of half the size.

mrschaucer

Some vertical rads and towel rads are not much cop and some chuck out serious amounts of heat.  Usually with a towel rad it's the bigger the better (and white tends to throw more heat than shiny).
You absolutely need to work out the heat requirement of the room first, which your plumber should have told you - lots of online calculators - and then spend some time looking at the BTUs of the radiators you like the look of.  It is simply not true to say that traditional rads "give off more heat" just because he finds it easier to put a radiator behind the sofa. 

DRP

Rosa_Damascena said:

I have long radiators in my bathrooms and I have to say that I am very unimpressed with them. 

I'd go conventional every time unless space-constrained. Of course UFH is the gold standard...

Presumably the op means vertical column radiator or similar, rather than a bathroom towel rail radiator?

Ive had vertical column radiators in my last 2 houses and would do so again. No issues and no noticeable poorer performance than a standard stelrad or similar. If you’re concerned just over spec the vertical radiators. 

Leodogger

mrschaucer said:

Some vertical rads and towel rads are not much cop and some chuck out serious amounts of heat.  Usually with a towel rad it's the bigger the better (and white tends to throw more heat than shiny).
You absolutely need to work out the heat requirement of the room first, which your plumber should have told you - lots of online calculators - and then spend some time looking at the BTUs of the radiators you like the look of.  It is simply not true to say that traditional rads "give off more heat" just because he finds it easier to put a radiator behind the sofa. 

This is why I wanted expert advice because he said he was happy to put in either,it was our choice, but he said he thought he would not be doing his duty as a central heating engineer not to give me the expert advice on heat output and would always recommend horizontal convection radiators as opposed to vertical ones.   I did look at output as he said our room was large so I looked at the one he recommended (horizontal one) and it has twice the heat output as the one I chose which was quite a large vertical one putting out over 5,000 btu's when the one he recommended gave out over 10,000 btu's.

Rosa_Damascena

DRP said:

Rosa_Damascena said:

I have long radiators in my bathrooms and I have to say that I am very unimpressed with them. 

I'd go conventional every time unless space-constrained. Of course UFH is the gold standard...

Presumably the op means vertical column radiator or similar, rather than a bathroom towel rail radiator?

Ive had vertical column radiators in my last 2 houses and would do so again. No issues and no noticeable poorer performance than a standard stelrad or similar. If you’re concerned just over spec the vertical radiators. 

These are vertical column rads, and tall ones. They barely heat up vs the conventional ones in my landing and bedrooms.