replacing radiators

[xyz321]

hi guys

in our house we have old double panel style radiators. they dont seem to be enough to warm the room. Strangely the radiators themselves are quite warm when touching but due to the old design without fins a hand few cm away on top or side doesnt feel any warmth. the boiler is bosch and 2 years old and seems to work ok.

so i am looking to replace radiators with new ones with fins. any idea how much it costs to get them replaced. I have total of 7 radiators that i am looking to chnage. dont know exact size but they all are around a 1000 mm long.

I appreciate i may not have given all details but would appreciate some guidance to rough figures!

thanks a lot
J

 

[Breesey]

It'll be a day's work, so probably anything from £120 for that; depends who it is!
Rad prices are all over the net, or call a merchant! They'll be from about £125 each.
You'll also need to include TRVs, inhibitor etc...

 

[xyz321]

It'll be a day's work, so probably anything from £120 for that; depends who it is!
Rad prices are all over the net, or call a merchant! They'll be from about £125 each.You'll also need to include TRVs, inhibitor etc...

Thanks. Silly me but i never though rads can cost more than £100....may be time to rethink the plan!

 

[dcawkwell]

New radiators they will work much better. I had the same problem in my house. Approx £500 for a set of radiators for an average house.
Go for double panel double convectors unless space is tight like a coridor in which case single panel single convector or double panel single convector.

 

[Breesey]

It'll be a day's work, so probably anything from £120 for that; depends who it is!
Rad prices are all over the net, or call a merchant! They'll be from about £125 each.You'll also need to include TRVs, inhibitor etc...

Thanks. Silly me but i never though rads can cost more than £100....may be time to rethink the plan!

Depends on size and quality! I'm assuming full doubles at least 600x1000.

You can get these under £100 of course.

 

[JohnD]

are all the radiators hot all over, including the bottom and the middle?

the flow pipe should be "too hot to hold" and the return pipe should be "too hot to hold for long"

Is the boiler stat set to about 60C?

How big are the rads, and their rooms?

Do you keep the internal doors shut during the heating season?

 

[xyz321]

are all the radiators hot all over, including the bottom and the middle?

the flow pipe should be "too hot to hold" and the return pipe should be "too hot to hold for long"

Is the boiler stat set to about 60C?

How big are the rads, and their rooms?

Do you keep the internal doors shut during the heating season?

yes doors are kept shut whenever possible. dont know about boiler stat. the temperature knob on boiler goes from min to max and its set at max.

havent tried to hold flow pipes but will try and report back.

rads are about 1 m long. rooms are standard size i guess for a 3 bed semi in london suburb.

 

[JohnD]

A rad 1m long is too small. I would go for at least an 1800mm rad (which, single, would give you about 1500W output) in a typical bedroom, and a typical living room would have two.

I would actually have a 2m double with fins which might be overkill, but with TRVs it will not heat the room excessively, and will warm it faster from cold.

You can calculate the radiator sizes required using an online calculator

try this
http://www.homesupply.co.uk/radiator_output_calculator.php

boilers run more economically about 60C, and this will reduce the actual output of radiators below what the calculator suggests.

 

[xyz321]

A rad 1m long is too small. I would go for at least an 1800mm rad (which, single, would give you about 1500W output) in a typical bedroom, and a typical living room would have two.

I would actually have a 2m double with fins which might be overkill, but with TRVs it will not heat the room excessively, and will warm it faster from cold.

You can calculate the radiator sizes required using an online calculator

try this
http://www.homesupply.co.uk/radiator_output_calculator.php

boilers run more economically about 60C, and this will reduce the actual output of radiators below what the calculator suggests.

i checked the sizes. all rads except the one in small bedroom are 1300 wide by 600 high.

 

[xyz321]

are all the radiators hot all over, including the bottom and the middle?

the flow pipe should be "too hot to hold" and the return pipe should be "too hot to hold for long"

Is the boiler stat set to about 60C?

How big are the rads, and their rooms?

Do you keep the internal doors shut during the heating season?

yes doors are kept shut whenever possible. dont know about boiler stat. the temperature knob on boiler goes from min to max and its set at max.

havent tried to hold flow pipes but will try and report back.

rads are about 1 m long. rooms are standard size i guess for a 3 bed semi in london suburb.

i touched the pipes and they were hot to hold on for any longer than 2/3 seconds.

 

[JohnD]

It sounds like they just aren't big enough then. Modern condensing boilers run most economically at about 60C, which also means you need them to be bigger than if they were hotter.

I'd give the system a chemical clean as well, if you are going to change the rads, as you will have to drain down. If you are DIYing, certainly add TRVs on all except the main living room where you have the wall stat. Danfoss RAS C2 is a very good one. Luckily the warm weather will soon be here so you can work on the heating system at your leisure.

If you haven't already got cavity wall insulaton, look into it. It will make a noticable difference to comfort and economy.

 

[xyz321]

It sounds like they just aren't big enough then. Modern condensing boilers run most economically at about 60C, which also means you need them to be bigger than if they were hotter.

I'd give the system a chemical clean as well, if you are going to change the rads, as you will have to drain down.

How do i find out the temperature of the boiler? on my bosch worcester 24Ri there is a dial that simply reads maximum to minimum. Dont have any manuals as it was not installed by previous owners 3 years ago.

 

[JohnD]

it's possible to buy Pipe Thermometers at plumbing merchants. Put them on the hot pipes coming out of the boiler.