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85 years of paint on radiators

leaking
leaking Member Posts: 80
in THE MAIN WALL

An apartment building maybe 85 years old has ever increasing layers of paint. Would I notice much heat output increase by stripping easily accessed areas ? Is there any ideas in degrees f? Apartment is hard to heat, radiators double vented D Gorton , angled properly in apartment.

Comments

  • delcrossv
    delcrossv Member Posts: 1,293

    Are they silver or other metallic paint?

    Trying to squeeze the best out of a Weil-McLain JB-5 running a 1912 1 pipe system.
  • Kaos
    Kaos Member Posts: 184
    edited December 2

    Radiator is a misnomer. Most rads deliver the bulk of their heat through convection so so unless you have a 1/2" of paint on there it simply doesn't have enough R value to change output much.

    Steam rads do run hotter so they do radiate more. There is a small extra output gained by using metallic paints. You still don't need to strip them, just add one more layer.

    EDIT. Got it backwards, metallic reduces radiation.

    delcrossv
  • leaking
    leaking Member Posts: 80

    I’m sure after nearly 100 years and repaints when tenants move , maybe 20-30 repaints . There is every thing on them. Old oil, metallic , latex .

    pecmsg
  • Jamie Hall
    Jamie Hall Member Posts: 24,727

    Actually metallic paints reduce the output of a radiator slightly, not increase it.

    And almost any kind of paint could be buried a few layers deep. Including lead. So if you want to take paint off a radiator, be aware that there may be lead paint in there.

    Br. Jamie, osb
    Building superintendent/caretaker, 7200 sq. ft. historic house museum with dependencies in New England
    delcrossv
  • jesmed1
    jesmed1 Member Posts: 667
    edited December 2

    If your apartment is hard to heat with 212 degree steam, the problem is not paint on the radiators. We have 100-year-old cast iron hot water radiators that probably have a dozen layers of paint on them, and we have no problem heating our apartment with 120 degree water.

  • CoachBoilermaker
    CoachBoilermaker Member Posts: 340
    https://forum.heatinghelp.com/discussion/comment/1823752#Comment_1823752

    100 year and 30 repaints is every 3 years. No way. More like every 10-30 years. Under 10 repaints in 100 years

  • leaking
    leaking Member Posts: 80

    No way, you don’t know . It’s been family owned since 1940!!!! My first residence in 1957!! I think I know I did the paint as I was a paint contractor since 1985. I know what I’ve done! PAINT !

  • leaking
    leaking Member Posts: 80

    I was just asking if I might see a degree more heat. All I hear is something else about something else. I will do it this week and learn.

  • GGross
    GGross Member Posts: 1,258
    https://forum.heatinghelp.com/discussion/comment/1823885#Comment_1823885

    It certainly can't hurt to get rid of the old paint. I doubt it will increase the overall temp in the room, but worst case scenario it functions the same and looks nicer!

  • leaking
    leaking Member Posts: 80

    I’ll try the top and sides , there was a time in the 80s when I was told “it’s a metal radiator use Metal paint, I did , and when tenants moved, sometimes every year. The tops and sides were dirty and repainted in latex . All that buildup does not transfer heat like Metal. Maybe no R value but it is Tranference of Heat I’m thinking . Well it can’t hurt as you say

  • EdTheHeaterMan
    EdTheHeaterMan Member Posts: 9,312
    https://forum.heatinghelp.com/discussion/comment/1823799#Comment_1823799

    …unless the tenant changes every 3 years, then the landlord will send in the paint crew and swap out the carpets for the next tenant moving in. Your building is not the same building as this building @CoachBoilermaker There could be more that 10 coats on those radiators.

    I can't find it right now but the US Government did a test back in the early part of the 1900s that shows that Terra cotta is the color that will radiate the most heat from a cast iron radiator. So get some terra cotta colored paint and have at it.

    Edward Young Retired

    After you make that expensive repair and you still have the same problem, What will you check next?

  • EdTheHeaterMan
    EdTheHeaterMan Member Posts: 9,312

    I found the link for the paint color here https://assets/Uploads/Radiator-color.pdf but it did not work. I wonder if @HeatingHelp.com can find it somewhere else?

    the link is on this page

    https://heatinghelp.com/systems-help-center/does-the-color-of-a-radiator-matter/

    and the story is still there but the link to the archive with the actual test results is no longer working.

    Edward Young Retired

    After you make that expensive repair and you still have the same problem, What will you check next?

  • GGross
    GGross Member Posts: 1,258
    https://forum.heatinghelp.com/discussion/comment/1823986#Comment_1823986

    I'm pretty sure the hottest radiator color is actually Hot Pink Ed

    hprad.JPG

    😁

    EdTheHeaterMan
  • HeatingHelp.com
    HeatingHelp.com Member, Moderator, Administrator Posts: 65
    https://forum.heatinghelp.com/discussion/comment/1823989#Comment_1823989

    Thanks @EdTheHeaterMan. And sorry about that! I've fixed the links and you can also find the chart here. Sorry it's not the best image quality. I don't have the original source.

    Radiator_Color_Chart.jpg

    Forum Moderator

  • leaking
    leaking Member Posts: 80

    ok great, very informative. Surprising painted releases more BTU. One question, does the last coat need to be Oil or Latex? Painting oil in 15 degree weather in Chicago, the paint will smell the apartment very bad if oil is best . Latex will work , it will stick !

  • Jamie Hall
    Jamie Hall Member Posts: 24,727
    https://forum.heatinghelp.com/discussion/comment/1824043#Comment_1824043

    As I have said elsewhere, I've had very good success with using a high quality acrylic, such as Benjamin Moore's Aura. This is NOT a latex paint, although it is water cleanup.

    Br. Jamie, osb
    Building superintendent/caretaker, 7200 sq. ft. historic house museum with dependencies in New England

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