Positioning Radiators

Ashfield

I need some advice on positioning rads in the bedrooms,
Since we willl have nearly 5ft windows, we are struggling for space to put the rads under the windows,
All house mags recommend putting them there to counteract any cold air from the window.
Is it much of a problem to place rads opposite to windows or even on a wall perpindicular to the window?
Thanks

ircoha

Ashfield wrote: »

I need some advice on positioning rads in the bedrooms,
Since we willl have nearly 5ft windows, we are struggling for space to put the rads under the windows,
All house mags recommend putting them there to counteract any cold air from the window.
Is it much of a problem to place rads opposite to windows or even on a wall perpindicular to the window?
Thanks

you just lose another wall for built-ins, wardrobes, St Andrews cross etc..

have u considered fan assisted type rads such as Solo?

They are compact and very efficient

karen3212

op could you try longer length, lower rads, that still fit under the window?

is there a way of lowering the floor under the windows?


cold air falls, warm air rises,

if the rads are opposite the window it will defo cause a draft.

tipperary

A possible alternative to the solo radiators is the aluminium radiators like alurad. Again they are more efficient than standard rads. You would have to check the output though to make sure you get enough heat output.

MrLNB

do people still do this? i plan and have always planned on having no rads underwindows, they are useless. I find that you have hot rad air meeting cold "window air" behind curtains giving warmer but not hot temperatures. take this for example.

I am currently living/renting in a semi D, with rads under windows, in the sitting room the curtain goes right to the ground (covering Rad completely), and in the bedroom it falls to about half way over the rad.

one cold evening last winter, i said surely it would be warmer if the curtain was the other side of the rad or if the rad was on another wall, so i lifted up the whole curtain and sat it on the window sill, (thank god it was wide enough, a lot of curtain) the heat that came into the room was unbelievable, couldn't put a % increase but id say if the room was 20 with the curtain down, it felt about 30+ with it up. also the speed at which the room heats up now is much quicker. its what we did all last winter, I thought herself would be annoyed with the curtain, but no no no the heat was to much/costly to loose. we even pushed the curtains on the bedroom windows up on to the sill, again huge plus, I have designed and planned my house now (going for planning next week) for all rads to be as far from windows as possible. ill heat the room before heating around the window.

is this ok? why does every still put them under the window? and how is this a benefit, i can see that it might improve circulation with the cold air, but as its heating the coldest air in the room, its also if you think about it, cooling the hottest :rolleyes:

LNB

dardevle

putting rads under the window openings is a
throw back to the days of single glazing when the windows
were the greatest source of cold entering the room.... these days with
x2 and x3 glazing it does'nt make much difference where you put
them......old habits etc etc.

10-10-20

This is true, but I can tell you that I have a double-insulated bay window with 4"6' windows and no radiator fitted underneath. There are no leaks. The draft is noticeable when sitting on the couch beside the window. So it just goes to show that it also depends on the amount of glass which is exposed to the cold to make a draft.

sinnerboy

an exceptionally good , expensive triple galzed window will achieve a value of 0.7 wm2k

this would be a pathetic and un aceptably low u value for an external wall - b regs min 0.25 wm2k

so the window will by far the coldest part of the room - single , double or even triple glazed

now - warm air flows to displace cold - so if you place a rad any where else but below the window - warm air from the rad will flow towards the window causing cold air to flow acroos the room

the best location for the rad is below the window - very hot rad air rises over the window - yes it cools in the process , but a current of air movement is set up which distributes warm air throughout the room . curtains over the rad destroy this . curtain stopping at cill - reduces the cooling affect of the window but the beneficial heat flow still remains and the heat flow establishes to distrubute warm air around the room

http://www.sei.ie/uploadedfiles/InfoCentre/RadiatorsSizePosition.pdf

Dixy

Sinnerboy is correct, its not a draft comming through the window thats the problem its the surface of the window is cold, transfering that cold to the air inside the room and as it cools it drops and feels like a draft accross the floor. Placing your rads under the windows counteracts this by heating the air under the window, and as it rises it heats the air dropping off the windows nullifying the draft.
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