Radiators/Heating

Bendy_House

chargesuck said:

Hi Bendy, the attic is insulated with the standard old cotton stuff from the 80s pushed between joists. 
No draughts or holes of such from my room either in the ceiling or skirtings. plastered walls rather than plasterboard (year 91 house)

You think there's no 'holes' in the floor, but I would lay odds that there's a steady percolation of air coming through under the skirting board, and very possibly through the floor itself if it's floor boards and not T&G chipboard.

In my house, that is the main issue when it comes to heating the place.

Kim1965

Modern house. Insulation standards mean rooms need only tiny rads. Its not the rads its probably not insulated well

mrrightfirsttime

You can get fans which clip on under the rad but only turn on when they feel heat

Mutton_Geoff

Have you tried balancing the system? Rads can get hot with water rushing through them but you need to balance them (ie restrict the water flow through each rad so there is a 12 degree C drop across the rad). Once the system is balanced as a whole, the boiler operates more efficiently and the rads have time to exchange the heat in the water within them with the air around them.

Close up the lockshield (not stat side) and open it by half a turn to start with and see how you get on.

Chickereeeee

It's not a chrome rad is it? They are much worse, for the same size, at heating a room than a white or black one. Although this should be shown in the heat output rating, many people take the figure given for the standard white one and assume the chrome one is the same.

stumacdo

I'm looking to replace my radiators with one eye on a future heat pump so was planning to calculate each rooms required BTU rating to operate at 40 degrees and then turn down my boiler temp to mimic an air source heat pump. Does this work logically or am I missing something? New radiators this year, but air source heat pump could be a few years away. Is this going to be a cost effective approach in the medium term or will I end up burning more gas?

BUFF

It should work if properly sized. You probably should have started your own thread though 

Bendy_House

stumacdo said:

I'm looking to replace my radiators with one eye on a future heat pump so was planning to calculate each rooms required BTU rating to operate at 40 degrees and then turn down my boiler temp to mimic an air source heat pump. Does this work logically or am I missing something? New radiators this year, but air source heat pump could be a few years away. Is this going to be a cost effective approach in the medium term or will I end up burning more gas?

This is exactly what you should be doing, and running your boiler - presumably a condensing type - at this temp will save you energy; it'll be pretty much in 100% condensing mode.

(Just check that 40oC to make sure it isn't even a stupid 35...)