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Replace homemade recessed radiator covers

Ereigle
Ereigle Member Posts: 1
in Oil Heating

Remodeling kitchen/living room & need to replace homemade wood radiator covers for recessed cast iron forced hot water heated system (with relective sheets behind them) as none of them match. 13 in the ranch house. What is the most efficient design? Should air circulate UNDER them, or is this not necessary? Tight wad builder built house in 1963 & system is VERY efficient & warm, just surprised some are open at bottom & others are not. We have replaced windows & coal-converted-to-oil furnance w/new oil furnance. We may have goofed by installing a few woven metal covers in the kitchen ones yrs ago. We are handy, but 13 covers is a lot...also, additional radiators in (3)

1000080032.jpg 1000080033.jpg 1000080031.jpg 1000080034.jpg

clothes closets & (5) basement are free-standing w/out covers. Help.

Comments

  • EBEBRATT-Ed
    EBEBRATT-Ed Member Posts: 18,598
    edited October 5

    Open at the bottom and open at the top. The warm air acts like a chimney, cooler return air in the bottom and warmer air out the top.

    My only suggestion would be to locate a GOOD sheet metal fabracator and have them make new panels. Hopefully a bunch of them are the same sizes so you don't have too many different ones.

    If you did the ones in the bottom picture, they don't look bad at all. But I question if the expanded metal provides enough openings, certainly better than the old stuff.

    Getting the right sheet metal guy is the trick where are you located? You need a speciality metal fabricator.

  • EdTheHeaterMan
    EdTheHeaterMan Member Posts: 11,122

    A recessed cabinet heater might have looked like this when it was new:

    Screenshot 2025-10-04 at 10.33.07 PM.png

    What is behind those homemade covers could be cast iron elements or copper elements with fins. All the covers that work best will have a 3" to 5" opening at the bottom to allow cold air under the element. The majority of the cover will be solid to create a channel or plenum for heated air to rise to the top of the cabinet. The top 1/4 of the cabinet will have a louvered opening to allow for the heated air to exit by convection currents into the air in the room.

    Depending on what is behind your covers will determine the best cover design for your individual radiator/convector heat emitters. And I would not rule out having a cabinet maker make custom wooden covers

    Screenshot 2025-10-04 at 11.09.50 PM.png

    Your current covers are amateur at best.

    Edward Young Retired

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

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