Sizing a Radiator for an Entrance Hall

SewardWasRight

I am not sure how much of the hall and the stairwells I am supposed to consider when sizing a radiator for an entrance hall. It seems a waste to have a huge radiator there in a space that is not primarily used, but with all of the house space devoted to hall and stairwells, it might be right-thinking. So, am I measuring all of this space or just the area near to where the radiator is? Thanks, BH

icesailor

Entrance Halls:

Entrance halls are big animals. I use the IBR method. It has always worked for me. Infiltration through walls are considered by how many outside walls are present in the room. One outside wall, two outside walls, or three outside walls. You can't have four. Regardless of how many outside walls you have in an entrance hall, the factor used is equal to three outside walls. Because of the door.

Then it gets tricky of it is an open stairway that is open to the lower floor. The heat rises and makes the entrance hall cold. Unless there is another reason not to, I put the baseboard emitters on the second floor with the first floor.

If you go in a house that the old dead guys did, there's always a big radiator in the front hall. An d no one ever complained about being cold.