Glass radiators (Dan H.)

Steamhead

European car makers were using it in the late 1950s. I don't know if Detroit was using safety glass then, hopefully they were.

I'd still want to know what happens when one of these rads is "crash-tested" to avoid any nasty surprises down the road....

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DanHolohan

So what do you think

of the glass radiators? Link is in the Blog.

Jamie_6

Interesting idea! They look very elegant and pristine.

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S Ebels

I take it........

They are electric only. They wouldn't match any decor in my house with Noburst running through them.

steve gates

I just

started looking for a towel warmer that is floor mounted and had to look good tru a glass shower wall.

jerry scharf_3

Electric

I think they are electric. I was trying to figure this out, and they make other electrically heated glass products. They also had a self cleaning window and windows that were huge LCDs. They definitely have some "outside the box" people there.

jerry

DanHolohan

Yes, they are.

I was just wishing for hydronic.

Mike T., Swampeast MO

My aunt's house has hydronic glass panel radiators in the bathrooms. About 30" x 18" if memory serves. From the late 50s or early 60s I think. Not crystal clear like those, but textured and slightly greenish like old Coke bottles. You can though make out the water channels inside. Priority zoning and they really crank out the heat.

leo g_13

Mike

we want pictures!

Leo G

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Mike T., Swampeast MO

Will try to remember next time I'm there.

Steamhead

Safety concerns

in at least one of those pics, you can hardly see the radiator at all. We don't know if they're made of safety glass. If someone with poor eyesight ran into one of these radiators, it might break and hurt them badly.

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Constantin

It's pretty safe to assume...

... that this is safety glass. Saint-Gobain allegedly invented it in 1929 and manufactures safety-glass for cars, architectual applications, etc. Their version of tempered glass for home applications is called Securit/Sekurit and every glass panel I have examined in the EU has that name or the "tempered" logo in a corner (just like here).

For a small intro to the process of making glass, look no furthere than this neat page. All in all, these could make great panel radiators for public spaces for heating and cooling applications.

Constantin

It's my understanding...

... that all glass in autos is tempered at this point. Sekurit presumably was the first to market and hence the first to get a brand name out there. I would be surprised if ongoing patent protection, etc. was still powerful enough today to make Saint Gobain the only choice in the field.

What sets the windshield apart from the rest of the car is that it is tempered and laminated in such a way to be very hard on the outside (i.e. hard to break) and very soft on the inside (i.e. easy to break). That way, objects, occupants, etc. inside the vehicle that are not restrained have the possibility of not being turned into chopped liver in the case of a head-on collision.

Some car manufacturers like BMW experimented with two-layer glass in the sides as a thermal control measure, but that may have gone by the wayside (too expensive, IIRC). It's certain that a two-pane system with a thermal film like V-Kool in the middle would provide much better comfort than the single-pane systems that are common today.

Incidentally, when we moved old windows into the bathroom, we were required to install tempered panes into them. Ditto on the windows flanking the stairwell. Saint-Gobain is just a short drive south of where I went to B-school in France... a strategic location for glass manufacture due to the fine clean sand that can be mined there.

Mike T., Swampeast MO

Here's a Photo

Digital cameras and e-mail do work wonders!

Unfortunately the hydronic system hasn't worked in years. The rest is cast iron baseboard. Installed sometime in the early 1950s.

During the last energy crisis they shut off a huge unused portion of the house and heated the rest with a fireplace insert. Pipe running through outside wall burst.

Got that fixed, but a few years later my uncle (a very good auto mechanic) somehow converted the gas boiler to electric and it's never been the same...

Matt Clina

How about their quote?

"Think of radiators and one conjures up ungainly metal structures with complicated plumbing and inconsistent temperature control. "

leo g_13

Thanx

Mike!

Leo G

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