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Radiator size for Kitchen Remodel

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jtonzola
jtonzola Member Posts: 54

Finishing up a kitchen remodel where we made two rooms into one. The room size is 21' by 13', with 9' ceilings. There is a nook in the back left corner, 8' wide, that we are getting a bench and table made. I installed electric floor heat under tile.

I would like to add a steam radiator under bench in the nook area, leaving the front open under the seat. The only one i can find low profile is with castrads, which is 14" high. When I do calculations for room size I am getting 7000 BTUs needed. However we have not had a radiator in kitchen this winter and last and the kitchen is comfortable with both the floor heat and the heat coming from the nearby room. There is a 5 foot opening to the adjacent room.

When I got my electric bill last month, it got me thinking maybe reinstalling the steam heater will help lower this cost.

So my question is what would be recommended for BTUs. I am thinking 7000BTUS may be a bit much in the nook area even though the room is about 250 sq ft. I was thinking maybe 4500-5000 BTUs?

I attached pictures of our messy kitchen. The one with the day bed is where the banquet with bench and table will go. The other is of our kitchen area which the nook opens to show size and the third is the opening to the adjacent room.

IMG_6216.jpg IMG_6215.jpg IMG_6214.jpg

Comments

  • mattmia2
    mattmia2 Member Posts: 16,117

    I would probably slide the banquette out from the wall 10-12" or so and put a taller radiator up against the wall with a grill underneath an on top behind the seat to allow air to pull through the radiator. You will lose some output with it in the enclosure so I probably wouldn't go less than the calculated load. You could also put a TRV with a remote probe on the vent to turn off the radiator when cooking is heating the room.

    You also might look at US Radiator for radiators, castrads makes some beautiful stuff, but a plain radiator might be more cost effective if it is just going to be sitting behind a booth.

  • jtonzola
    jtonzola Member Posts: 54

    thank you. What are your thoughts on blitz aluminum die cast radiators. I understand they heat up faster so it may not be good to mix with cast iron. But they are slim, only about 4”.

    There will be a back to seat but I will have a 4” ledge on top where I can put grate. It will be wider at bottom because the back will be angled some

  • mattmia2
    mattmia2 Member Posts: 16,117

    i would stick with ci. in addition to the differing heating and cooling to the rest of the system, aluminum can dissolve in hot water if the water isn't inhibited.

    there are flat wall hung radiators that were once very common but i don't think anyone makes them new, you'd have to find a salvaged one,

    jtonzola
  • mattmia2
    mattmia2 Member Posts: 16,117
    edited January 28

    i thought they were us radiator by us boiler but looks like it might just be us boiler, but there are 4 tube slenderized radiators that are a little over 4" deep. if my math is right for 7000 btu/hr you need about 30 ft^2 of edr.

    https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/catsy.782/Baseboard+and+Radiators+Product+Data+Sheet.pdf

  • jtonzola
    jtonzola Member Posts: 54

    will these work for one pipe systems

  • jtonzola
    jtonzola Member Posts: 54

    Oh I thought you meant the baseray which looks really sleek. I see the 4 tube slender radiators. Thanks! I think Oswald has these too

  • mattmia2
    mattmia2 Member Posts: 16,117

    yes, those will work for steam.

    if the other radiators are oversized you probably need to oversize this one a similar percentage for them to balance. there is a note to give them 1" clearance to the wall. it looks like even a 19" high radiator can give you enough output if you get enough sections.

    jtonzola
  • jtonzola
    jtonzola Member Posts: 54

    by oversize you mean getting enough btu output to match other radiators? so don't go too much lower than what is recommended for room.

  • pecmsg
    pecmsg Member Posts: 6,933

    Id be worried a steam radiator under a bench will make a Hot Seat!

  • dabrakeman
    dabrakeman Member Posts: 931

    That can be nice but it does reduce the radiator output 10% or so.

    jtonzola
  • TheClevelandSteamer
    TheClevelandSteamer Member Posts: 14

    @jtonzola

    Burnham Base Ray is really nice. Low profile, unassuming, and they CRANK out heat.

    jtonzola
  • mattmia2
    mattmia2 Member Posts: 16,117

    say the loss of the living room is 10,000 btu/hr but they put a 15,000 btu/hr radiator in there, you would need to oversize the other radiators by about 50% to balance with it so the other rooms would heat in the same heat call time as that room. you have another source of heat in there so it is less critical.

    jtonzola
  • mattmia2
    mattmia2 Member Posts: 16,117

    an inch or so of rockwool panel or rigid foam on the back will solve that if it is a problem.

    jtonzola
  • jtonzola
    jtonzola Member Posts: 54

    thank you.

    These do look nice but can't use them with one pipe systems!

  • mattmia2
    mattmia2 Member Posts: 16,117

    you can use short sections with one pipe. you can set them up as 2 pipe air vent on one pipe in a number of ways for longer sections. you can either connect the far end return back in to the 1 pipe runout through a water seal below the radiator or you can run the return to a wet return somewhere like any other drip. you slope it away from the supply side, the return takes the condensate and you vent it normally like any other 1 pipe radiator. not sure if baseray would have enough output for you.