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Building Radiator Covers

Paul Fredricks_3
Paul Fredricks_3 Member Posts: 1,557
in THE MAIN WALL
You could even use an emergency blanket, available at your local camping supply, sports authority, wherever. They are thin, cheap and fairly tough.

Comments

  • Kevin_7
    Kevin_7 Member Posts: 16
    What to use for the back?

    A quick question for anyone here that may have made their own radiator covers - I copied the design of a couple that came with my house, and basically built a wooden frame for the front (with a decorative aluminum screen and a couple inches of clearance across the bottom), with a top and two sides.

    That took care of the cosmetic issues, but for evenly distributing heat, these covers should probably have a reflective back on them. What have you used for this? The existing ones have foil insulation (foil-backed craft paper) stapled to the back, but this is not easy to find at the local Home Depot. And the places I've found online only seem to sell it in 500 sq ft rolls (I need maybe 1/50th of that). Does anyone have any other ideas? What has worked for you in the past?

    Thanks for your help...
  • Howard_4
    Howard_4 Member Posts: 15


    what about heavy duty aluminum foil at your local supermarket
  • TCR_2
    TCR_2 Member Posts: 24
    1/2 rigid foam boards

    Home depot/ Lowes should have these. The have a reflective foil face on one side..
  • Steamhead (in transit)
    Steamhead (in transit) Member Posts: 6,688
    You want to put the aluminum screen

    across the top also. Otherwise you can reduce the radiator's output by up to 33%, with commensurately higher fuel consumption.

    Radiator covers belong to an era when fuel was cheap. We'll never see that again.

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  • Xc8p2dC_2
    Xc8p2dC_2 Member Posts: 150
    Watch too much TV

    Ask This Old House did a show on how to... check thier archives
  • HitzKup_2
    HitzKup_2 Member Posts: 45
    Radiator cover

    I made one in my home out of 1/2" birch plywood and 1/2" tuff r foil faced insulation with an open top and 30% open in the bottom front as per Dans description in EDR. Dan says it increases the radiators capacity by 10%. I liked it better without a cover, but I had to cover it for the safety of my children. I added some dentil crown to it with columns, I stained it to match the furniture, I covered the opening with an expanded metal sheet with large holes so that it's open to air, and I installed a Danfoss TRV on it.
    I don't have a digital camera to upload it here, but it looks and works great.
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