Replacement of radiators

[JamieTriner]

Hi there,

I have a really old cold cottage that has old radiators connected to a oil fired boiler on a gravity system.

The old radiators seem to get really hot but don't seem to let off a lot of heat and my bedroom gets really cold in the winter.

Before spending my weekend and hard earned money on new radiators, i thought id ask the guys that know what there talking about.

Will replacing the old radiators with new radiators, exactly the same size help heat the room better or will i need to go bigger?

My only worry is when we had 2 radiators fitted in my lounge the plumber that did the job said if i fitted bigger radiators up in my bedroom that as its gravity fed it the system would struggle to heat them up?

I thought it would depend on the pump near the hot water cylinder?

If anyone could direct me id be grateful, as if i could straight swap the radiators i was going to do it myself along with my friend who does the odd bit of plumbing when it comes along at work.

Cheers!

 

[Agile]

Gravity is usually interpreted as open vented.

But ages ago circulation was by thermal gravity and not pumped.

You need to see how hot the rads get. If too hot to hold they are probably pumped.

To get more heat you need larger rads but really it needs to be properly calculated. But generally 200 watts per square meter would be enough in an old badly insulated property.

Modern types have fins on the back which increase output by about 25% but before replacing each room needs to be carefully assessed to be sure of getting it right. That will involve temperature measurements!

Why not call your local heating engineer to advise?

Tony

 

[JamieTriner]

Hi there,

If i do have a pump would it naturally be near the cylinder?, as the radiators do get hot to be honest.

Would it be a case to increase the pump size for the bigger radiators?

Might have to get someone to take a look to be honest but i just wanted to get some information before going down the route of spending a lot of money and getting no results.

Cheers

 

[Agile]

The pump is almost certainly of the right size.

It can be fitted anywhere.

If it is not planned properly you could spend a lot of money and still not meet your objectives!

Tony