Where have all the radiators gone

j a_2

On a slow boat to China...Then they come back as something else at an incredible mark up....What is wrong with us...First off ff if I were young and full of energy  I would be buying up and salvaging all the radiators I could...refinishing them and selling them with some of my installs, as those mod/cons love them...I truly am finding more and more of my city customers loving them,as that is what there homes are calling for...Baseboard has its place but not in the older vintage homes of the city, to me it ruins them....Maybe its just me but that is something that's been on my mind...A true heating guy knows what I mean   J A

kcopp

I hear you....

I troll craigslist looking for them and seeing if any are available... I do have a number of them but how much room can I make for them and at what cost....my dream house would use them all cleaned up and designed to run at low temp @ -10f.

Steamhead

Proving once again

you can't fix stupid! Especially when the typical duct system loses 20% of what goes into it................

A.J.

dido

I love them , we even have a system hooked up to a heat pump .

A.J.

RayFrechette

cast iron radiators

Man, I sure wish I knew where to go to sell mine without scrapping them.



I have had Craigslist adds with little effect.



I have removed 2 apartments worth of big cast iron radiators and replaced with baseboard. 



Lowered thermal mass of system has paid definite dividends in heating oil savings from doing so.  I can see however where there would be applications where the cast iron radiators would have benefits...

Charlie from wmass

I buy them and refinish them as needed

I only have 30 or so in the shop now. I even keep the good sections out of the broken ones in case I need to enlarge or repair another one.

jumper

where have the hammers gone ?

how many hammers are used up ?

insignificant scrap value.

but stores are still selling them.

why aren't we overrun with hammers ?

Most radiators are plain and not so attractive.

After windows are replaced, radiators are oversized.

Terminals with dampers make more sense.

Jells

Where the marketplace for them?

I just got a price on ripping radiators from a 4 family and replacing it with forced air in each unit. I then wondered what he was going to make on all the radiators.  I'm in the NYC area where I'm sure there's a healthy market in them for the high end brownstone reno's you mention.

Steamhead

Don't do that......

they will never be comfortable again. 

BobC

Try

posting them in the Buy, Sell and Barter section of the wall.



Also what city are you in?



Bob

Paul48

?

"Lowered thermal mass of system has paid definite dividends in heating oil savings from doing so".

    I've never heard that as a reason to remove cast iron radiators.Taken to extreme, in the absence of all radiation, savings on oil would be outstanding.

nicholas bonham-carter

Unwanted rads

You could check your local Craigslist to get an idea on the asking price. Then remove them yourself, and deliver them to the sandblaster/painter, and pressure test, finally take them over to the new owner.

You may make a lot or a little.

I am sure you will be disappointed in the forced air later, and wish you still had the radiators.--NBC

Charlie from wmass

Lowering the mass of the heat emmitters

would have no positive effect on reducing the oil usage. Reducing the mass of a boiler may in certain cases lead to fuel savings but that is usually due to the boiler simply being the right size for the heat loss not the fact the boiler is smaller. Large radiators, especially over sized ones can be run at lower temps to provide the same b.t.u. output per hour and will give real fuel savings. Your fuel savings have nothing to do with having baseboard when the numbers are crunched and may have been even higher had the radiators been left in place.

What people see is often not what is really going on.