Vertical Single radiator
- Thread starter Barter78
- Start date
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Definitely won't if it's a designer column that you're think of.
Designer rads look great and if you are within 3 ft of them then you'll be nice and warm, any further away and you won't be.
The most efficient way for central heating to heat a certain room space is through convection. Standard Type11/21/22 (K1/P+/K22) radiators have a flat panel(s) and convection fins attached. Those fins increase the surface area of the rad greatly and also allow air to be convected up though the rad transferring the heat from the panel into that air flow and heating it up as efficiently as possible. That delivers a heat profile of 90% convection > 10% radiation, therefore it transfers 90% of the heat of the rad into the air.
Designer solid column rads don't have any of these fins therefore they are very poor at creating convection currents, that then delivers a heat profile translates to ~ 70% radiation and ~ 30% convection, therefore it only transfers 30% of the heat of the rad into the the air, the other 70% heats things that are close by.
The end result is usually a room that takes a great deal longer to heat up properly, if at all.
That applies to any designer column radiator that has solid tubes be it round/oval/square etc. Those figure are with a double column in mind, the singles would be a lower convection rate ~10%
The old columns worked better as they have slots and air channels cut in them to allow a greater airflow through them that or they were really heavy oversized cast iron, so were a bit more efficient and heat transfer.
They can work in smaller rooms quite nicely but the only way I have found they work in larger rooms is to way oversize or use (edit spell) multiples of.
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Well, this has definitely thrown a spanner in the works…..
I just wanted to get away from the traditional looking rads and get something a little more trendy looking…..
Any suggestions, nothing too expensive, mid range that looks good and gives good heat?
I just wanted to get away from the traditional looking rads and get something a little more trendy looking…..
Any suggestions, nothing too expensive, mid range that looks good and gives good heat?
Apart from the way a "tall" column rad distributes its heat, it can be quite difficult to get the rads themselves to heat up properly due to internal waterway restrictions etc, some do give their rated output by having internal baffles installed to assist circulation. If you are buying one you should insist that it has these baffles, or walk way if you are told they don't. As suggested maybe look at Stelrad, whatever design you choose.
A 4520 Btu (1325 watts) column rad (and any rad) will emit that amount of heat and because you are sizing it +30% bigger than the calculated heat lkoss of 3500 Btu (1025 watts) then it probably will compensate reasonably well in a small 3Mx3M room for the way it distributes the heat.
All these designer rads will emit the heat they advertise, they have to, they just don't do it in a way that heats the space in the room efficiently.
Depends which ones - As long as the rad is a convecting rad then yes so it would need to be a type 11/21/22 IMO
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