Fitting another radiator.

Ahleckz · 25 Oct 2011 at 20:48

Plumbers of OcUK!

My living room only has one small radiator in one corner and it really doesn't heat up the room at all well. I can go into the hallway and be nice and warm but coming back into the living room leaves me with a chill.

Would fitting another radiator at the other side of the room be a complicated and expensive job, or quite straight forward?

I have a combi boiler at the other end of the flat and it's gas CH.

Obviously, without dimensions it's a bit of a guessing game for you guys but the living room isn't that big. I can edit this post with dimensions when I'm home later on.

Alternatively, would replacing the radiator be a good idea? Can you get 'good' radiators or are they all the same.

Ahleckz · 25 Oct 2011 at 21:00

challengedavid said:
is the top of the rad getting hot? if not it might need bleeding
or as you put it it might be too small

i had a similar problem needed a bigger rad, but i put a small fan underneath it, that combo warms up the room quite quickly

Nah, it's just too small for the room.

shroomz said:
Fairly big to huge. Depends on whether you can run pipes behind the skirting boards. If you can, then get the plumber to do so. I'm guessing you're renting in which case I'd leave it and buy an electric one, obviously the safety precautions apply.

I'm not sure if I could... I own the property, so can do what I want. I don't want an electric one. The skirting boards are old though, and more just bits of wood on the wall rather than clean skirting boards you'd see in a newer property so maybe that prohibits me?

ZG002 said:
What type of floor do you have? Floor boards or concrete? Where do the pipes on the original rad come from? (below out the floor, from the side, out the wall etc)

They come from out of the floor, bendy pipes if that matters? To be honest, I have no idea what type of floor I have!

Ahleckz · 25 Oct 2011 at 21:08

Mickie said:
the main reason he's asking about the floor is, if its concrete, it'll be harder to sorce the heating pipes to repipe the new rad, rather than if its a wood floor, it wouldnt be as hard to pipe up a new rad

Yea, figured that. How much would these things cost? Are we speaking £100-£200 (excluding the price of a new radiator) or £400+?

robskinner said:
Why not replace current rad with a decent size double or is there no room?

Yea, that would be ideal but there isn't the room. The radiator is just in a gap between a corner and where the door lives.

Though, I do have bendy pipes like I said so I wonder if it would be possible to add an attachment onto them and them put a large radiator on another wall...

I think the best thing to do would get on that Ratedpeople website and get a few plumbers round to have a look and give me some quotes. If it's going to be very expensive, then I won't bother (I'll just spend that money on jumpers!) but I can afford a few hundred quid.

Ahleckz · 25 Oct 2011 at 21:36

OK, I'm home now.

Just did a quick measurement and B&Q reckon I need 5694.948 BTU/hour.
I have wooden floors. This is good news, I assume?

I guess the radiator would be best situated diagonally across from the existing one. About 15ft away.

Any idea on costs then?

Ahleckz · 25 Oct 2011 at 21:43

910x600(mm). It's a double.

Ahleckz · 25 Oct 2011 at 21:54

ZG002 said:
Giving out about 5500 btu then (or as little as 4500 btu depending on rad it would seem), it possible to go slightly bigger? or is there really no space?

There's 1300mm to play with, that would make it flush against the wall and the door.

The recommend BTU is slightly off, as my kitchen comes off the living room. The kitchen is small, but doesn't have a radiator in it. I'd need a radiator outputting 823BTU/hour for that size of room...

Ahleckz · 25 Oct 2011 at 21:56

Todge said:
Radiators are actually quite reasonable in cost. A 5700 BTU one though is going to be about 600mm high by 1000mm long and will be 2 panels with 2 sets of fins (one per panel). A Stelrad Compact in that size and output is £106 on one website I quickly looked up.

What size is the one you currently have? how many panels and are there fins on all panels? has it been painted?

Also I THINK you are better actually going too large on radiator size, fitting a thermostatic valve (Drayton TRV4 for example) and then turning it to whatever setting you like. That automatically shuts down when the room is at the right temperature. You aren't supposed to put TRVs in the same room as the thermostat though (if you have one). I also THINK that having larger than needed rads is also better if you have a condensing boiler as they are more efficient if the water going back to the boiler is colder than the water that it pumps out. It will always be colder obviosuly, but the bigger the temperature difference the more efficient they are.

All of that paragraph needs to be confirmed by a CH person though. I could have it all arse about face

Is it the height or width that you cannot change? And is that size WxH or HxW? I think i know but its best to check!

Width that I can't change.

wxh
900x600.
Double rad.

Don't have a thermostat, just set the heat (which is full) on the boiler and turn it on.

Ahleckz · 25 Oct 2011 at 22:09

It has two rows of fins. It's the door to the hallway.

Aye, sorry. I have carpet and then under that it's floorboards.

Ahleckz · 25 Oct 2011 at 22:36

Main room: 144" x 162" x 103"

Side room: 108" x 68" x92"

1 outside wall, one wall sides onto a communal corridor though with no heating. 2 windows, double glazed.

Ahleckz · 25 Oct 2011 at 23:07

So, how much is it going to cost to run the pipes to the other side of the room (15ft ish) under the floor?

Ahleckz · 25 Oct 2011 at 23:19

Right, that sounds great!

Now to find a plumber...

Thanks for the help, it's cheaper than what I thought.

Ahleckz · 26 Oct 2011 at 09:31

bushmins said:
If that radiator is working properly and its not heating up the room i doubt two radiators will do much, youll just be loosing twice the heat. You need to find out why a perfectally good radiator isnt heating up the room.
A plumber will be only too happy to agree with you in saying that you need a new radiator because he will make money out of you.

If the radiator is too small and you dont have the space to put a bigger one in then you could then move the radiator location to another place in the room - somewhere there is space for a larger one. Having two radiators is a mad idea.

Why is having two a mad idea? Many rooms have two radiators... My radiator isn't giving out enough BTU/hour to keep the room warm and isn't a "perfectly good radiator" for the size of the room. I therefore need more BTU's. A second radiator would give me this.

Granted, insulation may be a problem but I'm not sure how I can get insulated as I live in a old tenement with brick walls. If there are some people that know about insulation here I'd be happy to listen.