A question about “loop” styles for Bundy radiators

NealJ

The museum house I’m maintaining has mostly Bundy radiators of mid 1880’s vintage. Looking at their 1888 catalog, the ‘loops’ come in 3 different styles (Standard, Enlarged, or Extended Surface), but nowhere in the catalog does it tell what’s specifically different, so I don’t know what style we have (which determines square footage of heating surface). Anybody know?


This is a 2-row, typical of what we have (mostly 2-row with a couple of 3-row)

EdTheHeaterMan

In the 1886 - 7 catalogue there is these illustrations of the different loops.
. You can clearly see the Extended version has an extra extension of cast iron added to the casting of the loop. The interior of the radiator (the heated medium side) is equal to the standard interior on Page 31. Since the radiator you have pictured does not have that extension, you can rule that one out.

The standard and enlarged loops have similar exterior appearance however the standard is smaller and will have a side surface that is about 2.25 that of the edge surface. The enlarged loop has a side surface that is 3.76 that of the edge. So to measure the short edge of the hexagon and compare it to one of the longer sides may help you. Since this book indicates that the illustrations are “Full Scale” you can measure them to determine which one you have.

EdTheHeaterMan

The close up of the measurement I made is not exact but enough detail to see the difference. The dimension W on the enlarged loop. The dimension X is on the standard loop. Hope this helps.

NealJ

Thanks guys! This is exactly what I needed. This isn’t in the 1888 or 1895 catalogs.

Mad Dog_2

I love my Bundy radiator..itscthe most unique one in the home and its too bad our couch blocks it. But I WILL pull the couch out to show the interested.    Mad Dog 

Mad Dog_2

Mad Dog_2

Its too bad, I always think of TED when I think of Bundy...Part of Americana I suppose...Mad Dog 🐕 

EdTheHeaterMan

Mad Dog_2 said:

I love my Bundy radiator..itscthe most unique one in the home and its too bad our couch blocks it. But I WILL pull the couch out to show the interested.    Mad Dog 

Perhaps Ted can sell you some of those kids shoes with wheels on them. Use them to put on the couch legs to show off that radiator

EdTheHeaterMan

Looking at this page in the 1895 catalog,
it appears that the radiator size is based on the total of the base + the loop + top connector for 2 reasons.
1. The text states that "For heights of Hot Water Radiators, add 3 inches to above for Upper Circulating Chamber."
2. Looking at the 11" loop in the illustration, if the dimensions are accurate to scale, that loop is not 11" tall based on the front surface dimension of less than 1".

That is only my interpretation and not based on any factual information.

NealJ

Thanks Ed. Makes sense to me. I appreciate the research.

Just FYI: I have one radiator that appears to be a replacement for something else based on stains and construction on the basement ceiling below (most of the first floor is heated by ceiling mounted convectors with floor grates above or ducted to a room above). This one radiator is one-pipe connected (the rest of the house is two-pipe, vented). This one radiator appears to be a Bundy in all respects, and includes the “A.A. Griffing Patented…1874” cast into the base like all of the others, but below the “Patented” line, there is “Bates and Johnson, NY” cast into the base. I suspect this radiator was added later, and possibly Griffing licensed Bates and Johnson to cast them, or they were cast by Griffing specifically for B&J. I wasn’t able to find much on B&J, though they were certainly in the business.

vonglahnp

I'm working with a neighbor on specifying a steam systems. They have 4 Bundy radiators. I'm trying to determine the if they are the standard or the enlarged so I measured the tubes. The edge surface of 10 mm and a side surface of 30 mm so the ratio is right between the 2 listed above. I will use the median between the two loop area numbers for my calculations, but I do wonder what the radiators really are. Perhaps they are older than the types described above when there was only one loop style. Thoughts?

vonglahnp

BTW, 3 of the radiators are 24" tall while the 4th is 35"

Steamhead

We have a lot of Bundy info. Go here:

https://archive.org/details/illustrated1890900aagr/page/8/mode/2up?ref=ol

and here:

https://archive.org/details/bundyradiatorsfo00aagrrich

and here:

https://www.heatinghelp.com/systems-help-center/ratings-for-gold-nason-bundy-and-reed-radiators/