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Help identifying EDR of uncommon radiators

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regrebleo
regrebleo Member Posts: 2
in THE MAIN WALL
I am looking for some help to confirm that I am measuring my radiators correctly. Almost all of the radiators in our house are of an uncommon style (click here for a photo) so I have not been able to use the charts of column and tube models I found online. I have therefore assumed that sq. ft. of radiation is simply the exposed surface area of the radiator. Is that correct? If so, I have calculated the surface area of the horizontal pipes based on their diameter and length and then added the flat surface area of the end caps. Will that provide me with values that are close enough?

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  • RobG
    RobG Member Posts: 1,850
    edited March 2015
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    Wow! Awsome rads. What is the diameter of the pipes? What kind of home is this that it has these neat radiators? I assume these are hot water rads from the vent?
  • Fred
    Fred Member Posts: 8,542
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    They are awsome rads. Are they Crane's? I see a couple Crane;s in Dan's EDR book but the tubes are vertical rather than horizontal. If we know the number of tubes, the width and heigth of the radiators and the diameter of the tubes, we may be able to get the EDR.
  • regrebleo
    regrebleo Member Posts: 2
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    Thanks, we also think they are pretty great. Our house was built in 1900 and yes, they are hot water. I have been unable to find any sort of manufacturer's name or mark on any of them. There is a Patent number on each of the end caps but it is covered in so many layers of paint that it is unreadable.

    As for the diameter, each tube is approximately 1.3125". To calculate sq. ft. of radiation I therefore used this equation:

    Sq. ft. = 1.3125" * PI * length of tube in inches / 144 * number of tubes

    I also then calculated the outside surface area of each end cap but I am not sure whether that should be used or not. When the rads are hot the caps are about 10 degrees cooler but as they cool they match up.

    Anyhow, my main question is: is sq. ft. of radiation simply a measure of the surface area of the radiator? Based on the charts I have found for standard column and tube radiators this seems to be true, but I wanted to confirm that notion before continuing with any other math.
  • nicholas bonham-carter
    nicholas bonham-carter Member Posts: 8,576
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    If you are calculating the size of a new hot water boiler, then you must do a heatloss calculation. Go to SlantFin .com, and download their heatloss app, and use it to do a room by room survey. If you think one of the rads may not have enough EDR for the heatloss of the room, you can double check using your formula.--NBC
    Charlie from wmassZman

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