Designer radiators / column radiators advice request

lunarmoon2030

Hi

Has anyone got any of the designer radiators or column radiators and if so how effective are they at radiating heat please? Pros and cons . Would yoi recommend them. Where did you buy them from. Anything to be aware of?

jbainbridge

Check the specifications - radiators will have a BTU value - this tells you how much heat they can put out into the room.

Also find an online heat loss calculator to give you an idea of how much your room is likely to need.

Hope that is good start?

NewPieman

We have a towel rail in our bathroom.....bathroom is 10fr x 8ft approx....

I looked at the calculators and went high, you can always turn them down. The rail we went with is 6 ft tall and keeps the bathroom toasty when the heating is on...…

Like the previous poster says have a look at online calculators and scale from there.....

lunarmoon2030

Do you have a link to the one you have please? thanks

lunarmoon2030

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81905477#Comment_81905477

thank you. Any advice which ones to that heat up quickly and look nice e.g https://www.heatandplumb.com/acatalog/prestige-aspen-horizontal-designer-radiator?variation=2773268 or https://www.bestheating.com/milano-aruba-vertical-designer-radiator-everyday-colours-78656?msclkid=eeee488c3fcd1d7a70d021293bf24fa8&utm_source=bing&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=PMax_SHP_UK_High&utm_term=2322993192531791&utm_content=Designer%20Radiators%20-%20High&gclid=eeee488c3fcd1d7a70d021293bf24fa8&gclsrc=3p.ds&gad_source=7&gad_campaignid=22114182853#371=1996&372=1999&373=2001&374=2020 or I quite like these https://www.amazon.co.uk/product-reviews/B0936VC3DD/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_paging_btm_next_2?ie=UTF8&reviewerType=all_reviews&pageNumber=2

bjorn_toby_wilde

We have 3 Oscar aluminium radiators https://www.theradiatorcompany.co.uk/oscar-stock.html?srsltid=AfmBOoreJ4707jiouNEUY4ABaTxPOsaphllVN3bAiQa_B8-rnUfwdTHR

They’re quite light in weight so easy to lift when fitting but they kick out a lot of heat. Not a scientific method but you can really feel it as you walk past them. The plumber was impressed with the quality and took the details from me for his son’s home. They do lots of sizes and colours but I think they’re quite pricey from memory.

You linked to Milano and whilst it’s not the same model I also fitted a Milano towel rail in my eldest’s house last year. It was well made and the paint quality was good.

WIAWSNB

Hi Lunar.

Pros? They look nice. The tall column sizes will fit in spaces where normal rads won't. And, I think that's it.

Cons? More costly. Less output for physical size. A touch more awkward to install (tall ones). And, I think that's it.

When choosing sizes, make sure the same 'delta t' is used to provide the btu or kW output for all the rads you are comparing, regardless of type. Ie, the btu/kW outputs are based on the same water supply temp. If you do this, then you should find the rads all heat the same. (I understand the 'delta' - the difference - is between the water supply temp, and the reference room temp?)

I fitted a couple of tall column rads in our new extension as there were obvious locations for them to go, and I think they do look good there. I made the 'calc' that the combined output of - I'm trying to remember - 2.4kW, I think, would be adequate, as it would be built to current insulation standards, even tho' it was 6m x 6m size. To be honest, I was simply limited by the desired locations, and was prepared to back them up with a leccy heater in winter months if needed, just for the aesthetic. As it happens, they do the job admirably, tho' take a while to get the room to temp from cold. Mine are anthracite, have a lovely light-textured finish, and are doubles, so chuck out the heat well. They were also surprisingly cheap - bought on eBay - solid and heavy - no obvious compromise on build.

So, if you want them, go for it - no reason not to.

Bear in mind what has been said above - CH heat sources are moving towards lower water supply temps, whether ASHPs or modern gas boilers - the lower the temp they work at, the more efficient they are. So, try and take this into account and fit 'oversized' rads if you can (lower 'delta'), but this is likely to be less possible using 'designer' rads.

silvercar

We have vertical radiators in a couple of rooms. They work well but I do notice when they are first turned on that they start heating the room from the mid point up. If you think the mid point on a vertical radiator is a lot higher than the vertical mid point of a conventially shaped radiator and heat tends to rise.

silvercar

they can be great at creating a better use of the space, our lounge has patio doors on one wall, a TV and fireplace on another. So the radiators were on the other 2 walls. This was also the obvious place for the sofas. So the sofas had to moved forward from the walls by a few inches to allow for the radiators and then a few inches more to allow the heat from the radiators to escape into the room. Replacing both with vertical radiators gave us a foot more length and width.

rob7475

I've fitted a few Reina Neva vertical radiators in our house over the years. I went for these as they have a high BTU for their size (or at least were higher than most others when I started buying them about 15 years ago).

They are made from steel and are heavy but they hold heat well and do stay hotter for longer after the heating goes off.

These types of radiators don't distribute the heat as well as a standard convector radiator due to their design so something to think about if your house has a high heat loss

ComicGeek

I'm a big fan of the Ultraheat Tilbrook vertical rads - they produce a lot of heat compared to their size, and come in a range of heights and widths https://www.inspiredheating.co.uk/ultraheat-tilbrook-radiators?ff=1&fp=1475

I've installed them in my own kitchen/dining room, and they heat up really quickly and provide a nice even heat. L shaped room, so I've installed 4 narrow units spread around the room. I always find a traditional horizontal radiator gets in the way - it's not going to be effective if you put a sofa in front of it.

But if you're specifically looking at 'radiated' heat, then radiators only provide about 30% of this - the other 70% is convective.