Radiator Replacement Question (sizing)

Aack08

Hi everyone,

I recently made another post regarding an entirely different issue (loose nut turned out to be the problem) and thought everything was back to normal, but our upstairs vents started to vent much more loudly again and our angle stem valves started pushing out some condensation once the steam started reaching them on two of our bedroom radiators. In the past this has indicated to me something was off in our system (like a failed vent somewhere and/or failed mains), and I went in search of the problem to find out we have a radiator that has a hole or crack in it (it is hard to tell which due to rust/buildup around the area now but we had our heating company come out and confirm; I also know this because I can hear air coming from that spot on the radiator even when the vent has closed and is no longer venting).

The problem I'm running into now is the whole system seems to be out of whack and I know we need a new radiator, but it's taking longer than I was hoping to get confirmation on the estimate we were given from our company for a new radiator. I'm pretty desperate to resolve this and I found a radiator online (not sure if links to specific items are allowed, will happily edit this out if needed) BUT ours is 3 inches shorter (length-wise, not height) than the new one I'm looking at buying and installing. We had our boiler replaced 2 years ago and it was sized based on our radiators we had.

What I'm wondering is if that 3 inches is significant enough of a difference to warrant waiting for the custom order from our heating company? The picture of our radiator in question is attached, and then for reference we have column radiators in our living room, 3 column radiators upstairs, and 3 baseboard steam pipes downstairs (not our choice, these were what was here when we moved in, I know they're not ideal for steam). I can take measurements of our other radiators if needed because I know 3 inches for one radiator may be very relative. Just trying to get an idea if it's worth pursuing buying a radiator on our own or not.

Additionally, the vertical measurement in the picture is from foot to top, just from the bottom of the tube to the top is 23" so depending on how the radiator we're looking at is measured we also may be off by an inch or two vertically.

Current radiator: 14.5"x4.5"x25.5" (or excluding the feet, 23")
Potential new radiator: 17.5"x4.5"x25.5"

Much obliged to any advice!

20260127_165457.jpg

Jamie Hall

Three inches won't make much difference…

Aack08

Great news thank you!