Radiators!!

tred

Folks, there are so many different options out there regarding the heating system of the house. I have decided to go with a effecient condenser oil burner system. I now need to decide radiators!. I started looking at Solo Rads, Seem to be effecient, but people complain about the fans. I am also considiering aluminium radiators, as these also use up less water and are quiet effecient. If I have a very good insulation spec, is there really a massive difference in what Rads we go with?. Is the biggest difference with solo/Alu over conventional radiators, the amount of water needed to heat them? In theory one could argue, a radiator with less water, cools down much faster, therefore, oil needs to be on longer???

items

Alu Rad can be considered a feature rad, Alu is used for being a light weight metal / better to work with over higher output, its just a coincidence that Alu rads have a higher output, majority of Alu rads that I know of and fitted were purely for aesthetics than higher output.

Solo Rad / Myson fan convectors should only be used where convection (movement of hot air) could be a problem. The idea behind the fan is to boost convection so I find Solos only fitted in large rooms with high ceilings, you might also find small ones located underneath kitchen presses. Solos are really a last resort when all else fails, I'd sooner heat a large area with underfloor heating over fitting a Solo. Fan is noisy, their may have been some improvements since last on I fitted but still only so much can be done to reduce fan noise. Another thing I notice with Solos, maintenance, they are the only Rad I know of which gathers / collects dust and lint etc, you'll find removal of covers to clean filter mesh often.

When heating a room everything boils down to heat requirement, if you can match a standard rad output to rooms requirement then that is best route to take, if you find look of living room is taken away by fitting a standard rad then best look at Alu / feature type rad. If you find room is to large for a standard rad to work under natural convection then look into fitting a Solo.

Different type of rads are designed for different types of situations / working conditions, its not really about efficiency. You wont make any real savings by choosing a solo over a standard rad. With rads all you do is select right output sufficient enough to heat room and right type of rad depending on room situation.

When looking at efficient side of things, look into house hold insulation, boiler and heating control.

tred

items wrote: »

Alu Rad can be considered a feature rad, Alu is used for being a light weight metal / better to work with over higher output, its just a coincidence that Alu rads have a higher output, majority of Alu rads that I know of and fitted were purely for aesthetics than higher output.

Solo Rad / Myson fan convectors should only be used where convection (movement of hot air) could be a problem. The idea behind the fan is to boost convection so I find Solos only fitted in large rooms with high ceilings, you might also find small ones located underneath kitchen presses. Solos are really a last resort when all else fails, I'd sooner heat a large area with underfloor heating over fitting a Solo. Fan is noisy, their may have been some improvements since last on I fitted but still only so much can be done to reduce fan noise. Another thing I notice with Solos, maintenance, they are the only Rad I know of which gathers / collects dust and lint etc, you'll find removal of covers to clean filter mesh often.

When heating a room everything boils down to heat requirement, if you can match a standard rad output to rooms requirement then that is best route to take, if you find look of living room is taken away by fitting a standard rad then best look at Alu / feature type rad. If you find room is to large for a standard rad to work under natural convection then look into fitting a Solo.

Different type of rads are designed for different types of situations / working conditions, its not really about efficiency. You wont make any real savings by choosing a solo over a standard rad. With rads all you do is select right output sufficient enough to heat room and right type of rad depending on room situation.

When looking at efficient side of things, look into house hold insulation, boiler and heating control.

Great Post and its sort of what i was thinking. And you are also making good points, the benefits of Solo rads in certain conditions, over say, normal one.
Would one be future proofing ones heating system, by installed say the alurads over the normal radiator , with regard to being able to work on lower heat?....

items

No bother, not sure if you've priced Alu rads yet? If you haven't your in for a shock, you'd want to have a fairly big budget to kit a house out entirely with Alu rads. You'll never make costs back by possible savings, not in a life time anyway.

When looking at running heating at lower temps to cut down on costs, rad size has to increase almost double depending, cost of installation then goes up again leaving the initial price exceeding efficiency pay back. Then you have to look at hot water, you'll have to fit a blending valve to cut down on heat going to rads leaving enough heat from boiler to heat water above 65, its that or pipe hot water storage separate from heating. All this adds even more to costs of install.

When trying to improve efficiency its difficult to balance everything out, you'll prob make more savings by triple glazing entire house for example than trying to squeeze most out of heating.

So far your going down the right road by installing a condensate boiler, the only other thing to consider is a decent hot water storage cylinder, one that re covers quick / well insulated. Fit what ever rads to suit circumstance of room, the aim is to hold onto room heat given from rads for as long as possible. In a way their is no such thing as efficiency when it comes to rads, the whole idea of rads is to be as inefficient as possible, giving out as much heat as possible.

Focus a bit more on how to hold onto heat. One thing many people miss out on is system balance, for a condensation boiler to run at stated efficient levels flow and return temperatures have to be optimum. The idea is to have return temp around 10 to 12 degrees lower than flow, this means hot water leaving heat exchanger has dissipated enough through heating system before returning for re heat, not many people can or do balance heating systems to match manufacture recommended temp difference, I don't even think its part of requirement SEI for energy improvement grant when it should be, if your going down that road, watch out as their is still more room for improvement.

Micky Dolenz

You could easliy spend 5 or 6K on Alu rads for your home. this would be enough for most people not to get them.

Solo rads have to have a high flow of water to them as they have very little water volume in them. If they aren't piped right they will cause problems for ever more.
I would go with normal rads, size them slighty bigger and run boiler at lower temperture if you wish.

Installation costs are just as important as running costs.

Normal rads for normal house €1000

Solo €3000

Alu rad €5000

tred

Micky Dolenz wrote: »

You could easliy spend 5 or 6K on Alu rads for your home. this would be enough for most people not to get them.

Solo rads have to have a high flow of water to them as they have very little water volume in them. If they aren't piped right they will cause problems for ever more.
I would go with normal rads, size them slighty bigger and run boiler at lower temperture if you wish.

Installation costs are just as important as running costs.

Normal rads for normal house €1000

Solo €3000

Alu rad €5000

Thanks lads, ye have hit the nail in the head!. exactly the info and guidance i was looking for! it gives you something to think about.