What am I doing wrong

maybemark

Thanks Carl
I was thinking this could be a big booboo .covering the rads, is better than turning down the valves?

Paul48

Stick a thermometer in the cover in the living room. Run your fan for a bit. If the temperature in the box remains well above the temperature in the room, you need to make some changes. This is your cheapest alternative Mark. With your skills, you can make it a showpiece, but it still has to function as a heat source for the room.

maybemark

Paul
I can't take credit for the front living room enclosure of the radiator, that was my fathers work, I think..
The living room the heat is staying more behind the cover than the temp outside. I can tell even without putting a thermometer there. It does help with the fan, but still a lot of heat is in that cavity, that is not coming out

maybemark

if I would put a line of 3/4" holes toward the front of the deck, do you think that would help get more hot air out?

maybemark

or maybe the holes should be closer to the back, by the windows. I wonder if that would be better than the front

maybemark

a long skinny grill would probably look better than holes, I'm not sure if it would hurt the integrity of the structure of the deck

maybemark

I looked into doing this before, and i found the over the radiator, under the deck is cement and sheet metal, it is this way

Paul48

As nice as it might be, it doesn't belong there. Radiator covers, of any kind, have to be carefully thought out.

Gordy

Zman said:

It is nearly impossible to compare the output of radiators mathematically based on surface area when some are covered with home made covers and some are not. You have thrown in a huge unknown.
I think it is down to trial and error...

Carl I agree it was nice to know for a starting point at least. Until now. I never knew the other rads were covered so I'll quit banging my head. It's,swollen pretty bad.

maybemark

all I can say is that I am sorry.
I didn't realize it at the beginning, I should have said about it earlier, but I didn't
I'm very sorry

maybemark

this is one of my enclosures I made
I have an open space on the bottom and grill on face
as you gurus of hot water heat, i understand you want to have the radiator exposed. As a carpenter contractor as I was, this is not what the customer wants in upscale houses..
I made this front, as simple as possiblefor cold air to come from the floor, and gets warm coming through the radiator and out through the screen

maybemark

I know you guys think of whats best for heating the house. With todays radiators they can blend in very easily exposed, but I know the other side of the coin, people don't want to seee those big cast iron tubes of a radiator.
I made a huge mistake by not saying this sooner, and i hope you won't hold it against me

Gordy

Elegance is in the eye of the beholder.......

maybemark

Gordy
I won't argue with that.
So, are you holding this against me?
I did not realize the importance of it being open sooner, only knew, all my life, the living room was always the coldest room in the house.
I put new windows in, added insulation on the walls, put a new energy efficient damper on the fireplace and added like 18" of insulation in the attic.
I was hoping that would be enough, it's not

Gordy

No I'm not Mark. It's those variables we don't know about via Internet help. The homeowners just don't understand the little things that's all. It really changes nothing compared to the old system. It may effect water temps slightly.

maybemark

the water temps have been much lower with this new boiler, and only a small % of the gas that it uses. I know, we did not get down to 0 or -0, I would think the water temps will be higher, and the flame % will be much higher.

I guess I can take all the enclosures off, i don't have a wife to deal with. If you would think this would be better

Gordy

So long as those rooms heat fine leave them if you like them. The problem child Is the living room......right now.

See what happens with the rest when it gets real cold.

maybemark

I am wondering if I tweak down all the radiators a little and put the circs on high, do you think that is a good idea?

BobC

Perhaps if you put a piece of 1/64" aluminum sheet behind the radiator and curved it up over the top of the radiator it would direct the heat out through the grill.

Bob

maybemark

Bob
Thanks for your input.
that is exactly what they did in the old living room enclosure. I don't think it is aluminum, but there is some kind of sheet metal and behind that is some sort of cement

maybemark

Bob
I did not do that in the enclosures i built, like the picture I posted.
Maybe I should consider that, though, I'm not having a problem with the kitchen temp, but having that aluminum might help get the heat out better
thanks, I just might do that some day

BobC

You could try using some corrugated cardboard if you can find something like a refrigerator box.

Bob

maybemark

I have aluminum, that's why i think its a good idea

Paul48

Your enclosure isn't bad. I would say that it could be improved by grating over the top of the radiator, and the shelf behind. Let's see the living room enclosure.

maybemark

I didn't build the living room, I think my father built it, or, it was here when he bought the house 65 years ago

Paul48

Yeah...It was a beautiful day today

maybemark

here is the living room

maybemark

see how deep the bay goes? there is a radiator behind the one you see

maybemark

I was wrong, there is no metal in back of the living room panel, but the top, over the top of the radiator is screen mesh with cement

Paul48

Take it out, and rebuild it with a grated top.

maybemark

that probably would work, but, I won't have a home for all those plants

maybemark

that would be a huge job, not one I doubt i can do.
all of that cement over the top of the radiator.
it's an i

Paul48

Find another place....they are on top of a box that shouldn't be there. Cacti and other succulents will probably be fine. Open the window and give the others a shove.

maybemark

I have to figure something else out
on both sides of the grating, there are 30" wide walls

BobC

ou are loosing the convection on those radiators because of the boxed in top on that cabinet. As i see it you have two options assuming you don't want to lose that shelf.

Put a shaped baffle behind and above the radiator so it comes out to the level of the grating on the front of that cabinet. The baffle should sweep towards the front of the cabinet so the air can flow easily and not get trapped at the boxed in top. To make it more effective put a couple of 4" fans under the radiator blowing up through the radiator into the new baffle.

The second possibility is to cut some 1" wide slots in the 4" wide(?) band of wood just below the shelf. That would let the air convect out and still have enough strength to support that shelf. I don't think this would be as effective as the baffle above.

Bob

maybemark

I am missing your thought about the baffle

maybemark

Paul
I do not want to loose the top
do you mean like aluminum curve that meets the floor in back of the back radiator, and go to the top of the radiatorand then to the face of it

if this is what your thinking, I don't have the room back there to work, to do that
you maybe get your arm in, but remember, it goes 2 radiators back, no way will i get to the floor

BobC

You don't have to get to the bottom of the back wall, you just have to touch the wall so the heat is directed to the face of the grill and not trapped in the box created by the shelf and frame. You want the heated air to flow easily out of the enclosure.

BTW in one photo I see a fan on top of the radiator, that should be on the floor blasting air up through the radiator. I spent years designing forced convention cooling of heatsink assemblies and I can tell you this method works very well at transffering heat out of an enclosure.

Bob

maybemark

what you see is not a fan, it's an attic thermostat that turns the fan on, wheen it reaches the desired temp.
the fan is actually beind the 2 radiators

maybemark

on the floor