central heating radiator sizes

Beans on toast Dave · 2 Sep 2009 at 09:15

any heating engineers here?

just after a bit of advice regarding radiator size

my bedroom does not get warm enough in the winter
if the heatings on for 3pm and its very cold outside it does not get warm till around 8-9pm rest of the house is fine (when the radiators are on)
so i am looking at replacing the current radiator with a bigger one

room is roughly 29 meters squared
roughly 3m long 4m wide 2.4 high, 2 small double glazed windows and 1 full outside wall
current rad outputs around 3200 btus (single panel single convector)
according to my measurments i need a rad outputing 4500 btus

but i am thinking of putting a bigger rad in (5400 btus) double panel single convector
and controlling it with a thermostatic valve

is this an ok way of doing things or would it be better to put in a rad of around 4500 btus?
and hope this will be enough?

current rad is 1120 wide and 500 high
will be going to use a double rad single convector (1120 x 600)

hope that makes sense

Heliospherez · 2 Sep 2009 at 09:21

Would it be possible to get another Radiator fitted easily & have 2 (leaving the original) - rather than fitting a massive big one.

Also - Where is the room located - what side of house - and is it insulated, double glazed etc. Does the Radiator feel hot to touch or just warm when the other radiators feel hot ? It it located behind anything or covered ? It may be that your radiator is getting a bad flow, or limited flow. Is the central heating balanced properly in the house - or are all the radiators on full blast everywhere ?

Beans on toast Dave · 2 Sep 2009 at 09:25

divosuk said:
Would it be possible to get another Radiator fitted easily & have 2 (leaving the original) - rather than fitting a massive big one.

Also - Where is the room located - what side of house - and is it insulated, double glazed etc. Does the Radiator feel hot to touch or just warm when the other radiators feel hot ? It it located behind anything or covered ? It may be that your radiator is getting a bad flow, or limited flow. Is the central heating balanced properly in the house - or are all the radiators on full blast everywhere ?

thanks for the reply

fitting the radiator should be easy enough might have to extend the pipes slightly but cannot have 2 radiators
room has 2 outside walls
it is insulated and has double glazing (old wooden type)
rad is hot same as others in the house and its not covered by anything

Beans on toast Dave · 3 Sep 2009 at 18:55

anyone, needing to buy tommorow

thanks

Beans on toast Dave · 4 Sep 2009 at 12:46

no one?

YouBunt2 · 4 Sep 2009 at 13:18

Furton · 4 Sep 2009 at 13:46

Have you bled the radiator? Although it might feel warm to touch, you might have pockets of air somewhere?

a1ex2001 · 4 Sep 2009 at 14:30

You will be fine to put a bigger rad on and control it with a thermostatic valve, every room in my house is like this it is quite common practice. While your draining the system you might want to consider giving it a good flush out with a cleaner and putting thermostatic valves on every radiator to save you money.

The best option as always is to put on another jumper or an extra blanket.