RADIATORS WITHIN TIMBER BOXING????

bobby62 · 12 Feb 2009

I have an old house where the existing radiators are under the windows behind wooden panels, none of the rads currently have TRV's.

I want to replace them all with new rads housed within the same boxing but I am aware that new installations need TRV's on the rads (other than the rad operating the stat.) How would this work when the radiators are fully contained behind timber panelling, would the TRV always think the room is up to temp - or should I just leave install them with no TRV's? It would be difficult to have the TRV's outside the boxing as the panelling is part of the cill and flush with the wall.

Also, how much should a radiator be oversized to cater for them being housed within the timber boxing?

kirkgas · 12 Feb 2009

not sure how much to oversize a rad within boxing in, but if you want to fit a remote TRV they are available from Danfoss for their low surface temp rads which are in effect a rad within a metal box which has a trv fitted to the rad and a trv head attached to the outside of the box connected to the valve by a sensor wire which picks up room temp and closes valve.

swidders · 12 Feb 2009

kirkgas said:
not sure how much to oversize a rad within boxing in, but if you want to fit a remote TRV they are available from Danfoss for their low surface temp rads which are in effect a rad within a metal box which has a trv fitted to the rad and a trv head attached to the outside of the box connected to the valve by a sensor wire which picks up room temp and closes valve.

Agree about the remote thermostat. Since the entire box is likely to become a (Low Temp) heat emiter, I doubt that you need to oversize the rad at all - it will just take longer to get the room up to temp, but once achieved it will stabilize since the output will be sufficient.

The only design consideration that would concern me (and maybe this will contradict my paragraph above) is about the restriction in airflow through the fins in a confined space, in their contribution towards convection currents. Therefore i suspect that rad with few fins will work more efficiently than others.

big-all · 13 Feb 2009

if there are no grills to allow the heat to escape can you not introduce some !!!

on the front for radiation top and bottom for convection

D_Hailsham · 13 Feb 2009

This shows how much heat is lost if rads are boxed in. Your rads may already be sized to take this into account.

Drayton also make TRVs with remote sensors.

View media item 8482

Agile · 13 Feb 2009

swidders said:
Agree about the remote thermostat. Since the entire box is likely to become a (Low Temp) heat emiter, I doubt that you need to oversize the rad at all - it will just take longer to get the room up to temp, but once achieved it will stabilize since the output will be sufficient.

I would expect that if the room is taking longer to get up to temperature then thats because the radiator output is a lot lower!

My experience is that most of them reduce the output by about 50% and so I think that anyone who wants them is mad!

swidders · 13 Feb 2009

Agile said:
swidders said:

Agree about the remote thermostat. Since the entire box is likely to become a (Low Temp) heat emiter, I doubt that you need to oversize the rad at all - it will just take longer to get the room up to temp, but once achieved it will stabilize since the output will be sufficient.

Click to expand...

I would expect that if the room is taking longer to get up to temperature then thats because the radiator output is a lot lower!

My experience is that most of them reduce the output by about 50% and so I think that anyone who wants them is mad!

Fair point - what was I thinking

Knew there was a flaw in my argument somewhere!!!!

diynot

If you need to find a tradesperson to get your job done, please try our local search below, or if you are doing it yourself you can find suppliers local to you.

Select the supplier or trade you require, enter your location to begin your search.

Are you a trade or supplier? You can create your listing free at DIYnot Local

RADIATORS WITHIN TIMBER BOXING????

bobby62

kirkgas

swidders

big-all

D_Hailsham

Agile

swidders

DIYnot Local

Similar threads