Need advice on radiator!

frank_25

You should get either a plumber or a mechanical contractor to talk to you about the use of a recessed radiator. They are 20" high, 5" deep and of various widths depending upon the size. They are costly to install, as a portion of the wall must be removed, headers installed and a pocket cut into the floor. Most of the time, a carpenter is needed to do the wall work, although a good plumber should know how to do it all. What happens is that most of the depth of the rad is behind the wall and only 1-2 inches is exposed. The right thing to do would be to install reflective paper behind the rad before the final placement. Good luck

Kate_2

Radiator Question

Hi - hopefully someone out there can help me out...

Our son's bedroom is a teensy bit cramped right now, and about to be more so when our second baby is born in a few months. To make room for the extra furniture, we've realized our rad is a huge impediment to furniture placement. It's one of those older rads that's quite bulky (it sticks out about 15 inches from the wall, and is about 3 feet wide).

The room is 9' x 12' (roughly) with a big window. We don't lose much heat from the window, as it's brand new low e-argon, but we do lose heat through the walls. The room is a corner bedroom, and there is no insulation between the brick exterior and the drywall (what were they thinking back in 1940?).

I'd like to replace the rad with one of the newer smaller and more efficient models, but I'm not sure where to begin. Do I contact a plumber about this? Are there certain models I should be looking at / avoiding?

Also, with small children, are there some types of rads that don't get dangerously hot to touch? We constantly fret about our son touching our rads, since they do get hot enough to seriously burn him.

Any help you can provide would be great! Thanks.

Kate

PS - I'm located in Canada (Toronto to be exact)

DanHolohan

Kate,

is this a steam system?

Brad White_84

Some thoughts, Kate

As Dan asked, is this a steam system or might it be hot water? Is there only one pipe connecting to each radiator? That would mean one-pipe steam. If two pipes, it may still be steam but in a house more likely it is hot water.

(Given your experience and concerns I am guessing steam too.)

There is a reason we would ask this. Principally it is the material of the radiator we would want to know. If the rest of your house is cast iron as this one appears to be, it behooves you to make or keep this radiator as cast iron.

If you do not and instead replace it with a finned tube copper baseboard, this room may well feel quite cool. This is because that kind of radiation rapidly reaches room temperature. This happens when the rest of the house is basking in the massive warmth of cast iron over time between steam cycles.

Let's assume for now that you have steam. Here are some thoughts:

If your current radiator is the old standing type (probably 38 inches high, 8 or so inches wide and maybe 2 to 3 inches long per section, how did I do?) you can replace it.

But to replace it, it must be cast iron, perhaps a "small tube" type which are between 19 and 25 inches high, maybe 6 inches deep and as long as you need. This then may have a cover installed over it to protect against contact burning. If you have these correctly made, you can preserve and sometimes increase the heat output.

Long story short, you have options but they involve cast iron in a different form.

And with two kids and diminishing space?

Two words: Bunk Beds.



Brad