windows placed above radiators for a reason??? i heard once..tha

Dave Yates (GrandPAH)_2

About 15 years ago, we bid and won the PHVAC on as very large custom home to be built along the edge of a CC golf course. A golf cart spot was included in the huge garage.

A five-zone hydronic system was to live there as were several ducted central air systems. They had hired a ME (no, not our ME, but rather, a Mechanical Engineer - although we'd have fared better with ME!)

The 1/2" IBR-methodology runs to all upper floor BB units ran up & down the outside walls. Think freeze potential! The ME wouldn't let us deviate to run them to center walls & then down to the basement.

But, the real kicker was the ductwork layout. All returns were on exterior walls, which meant there were stud bays with no insulation. All supply registers were on interior walls. I saw cold winter drafts and potential complaints.

So, I questioned the ME about this odd practice & he told me (I'm not making this up) that BTUs are like cattle. Having the supply registers (cold air delivery) on the interior walls would 'herd' those errant much hotter BTUs to the exterior walls where they'd be lassoed and wrangled into the returns for reconditioning! After a few more questions from yours truely, he grew tired of me and snapped that his was the right way because, after all, he had a sheepskin & I had nothing but wrenches - no degree from a higher institution of learning.

I think of those BTU cattle from time to time. Gained a customer a few years ago who asked me to see why her A/C system let in so much cold air during the winter months. Soon as I laid eyes on it, I asked if so&so had been the ME. Surprised, she said yes. We reversed the flow, added a few registers in appropriate spots and filled those exterior stud bays with insulation - end of problem! We're still itching to kill the ME's design for her hydronic system & the owners are about ready. It's a hotel-sized boiler with a, get this, two HP circ that feeds a 2" copper loop circling the home - constant circulation. The boiler maintains 24/7 until they turn off the switch. The 2” reduces in size as it travels and side branches feed hydro-air 3-way with by-pass valved units until rounding for home through – here’s a kicker – ¾” tube. Talk about dead-heading a pump curve! Each year they fuss about their gas bills and each year we point out how much they could save if they’d let us redo the abortion the now long dead ME inflicted on their home.

radiators specialists

windows placed above radiators.......????

i heard a long time ago...that the reason windows were placed above radiators was to actually heat the air comming into the room from the window .....i kinda' believe it cause i do it occasionally and i like the results.....my husband thinks i'm nuts.....!!!!! what do you think????? i'd love to hear from you.....thx.....mary......!!!!

Timco

A rad under a window cancels out the heatloss of the window...and feels like it kills the chill 'radiating' from the glass. You will have better coverage & comfort with rads under windows.

Tim

ScottMP

Your right

But it think its the other way around

Rads under windows

To Learn More About This Professional, Click Here to Visit Their Ad in "Find A Professional"

realolman

what are you talking about...

you put the walls outside the radiators don't you? ;-)

Brad White

Accidental Discovery

It took a generation or so but after years of trying to heat the outside to a comfortable temperature, they stumbled on that very approach.

Next it was found that turning the lightbulb instead of the house was far easier.

But yes to the core question, the older belief was to place radiators and registers in the inside core of the house because that is where the chimney was from Colonial times and even into Victorian times with room coal heaters. It was thought that the heat would pass by the occupants on the way out and besides, the center chimney was all they knew for most houses. It anchored the house in high winds.

About the late 1800's (I am sure Dan H. knows the person, date and time of discovery), placing radiators along outside walls, backed by burgeoning science and awareness of mean radiant temperature, became the way of the world. Placing upward convective heat at the coldest parts, the single-pane windows, made sense, resisted by those who believed that the heat would just go out. Indeed it warmed the air coming in should the sash be open.

realolman

We will return

to the Wiseguy channel ... after these messages.

Brad White

The Old BTU's are Cattle Theory, Eh?

Not cattle. Bull. Pure Bull.

I think "ME" stood for "Meshugina Engineer" in his case. His degree a B.S. in creative writing.


This is why we sometimes have an uphill climb to the status of "primordeal ooze", let alone "human" in the eyes of many.

EDIT: True story: A particular Boston sheetmetal contractor with a gift of gab shall I say. He modified a design to a plenum around a plenum fan which imposed a huge system effect. Airflow was reduced by about 60%. Owner called a meeting and this sheetmetal contractor (known to many in Boston as a legend in some ways), offered up the "Mashed Potato Theory", essentially how air is like mashed potatoes in a Kitchen Aid Mixer; the mashed potatoes get stuck to the outside of the bowl and the beater spins without effect.

The owner started to take notes.

My boss with me at the time said to him, "Do NOT write that down!"

It as B.S., but GOOD B.S.

Dave Yates (GrandPAH)_2

just think

how we "sheppskinless" folk feel!

Crazy indeed! More like loonytunes(G). But he was food for the grist mill and inadvertantly helped me write one of the most popular articles I've written:

http://www.contractormag.com/articles/column.cfm?columnid=62