Tall pretty radiators

[masochists-r-us]

Thanks Skier-Hughes you have just resolved our dilemma for the bathroom and it's keenly priced too.We're going to order one today.
This forum is so useful!

 

[skier-hughes]

No problem, weeks of research involved for me. Our bathroom is now the warmest room in the house, helped by great rad, several feet of insulation and lowering the ceiling by about 2'
I've just bought a smaller one for our utility, yet to fit, but it'll be done by Xmas!!!!!!

 

[Moo]

We're going to replace and reposition the radiators in our sitting room (dictated by need for power sockets in alcoves, and copious bookshelves elsewhere). In the front half of the room the only place available is in the bay window (typical splayed shape) and I thought it would be lovely to have one tailor-made to fit the shape of the wall. It would be 30cm tall and about 2m long.
I had a very pleasant 'phone conversation with a most helpful young man, and was getting that warm feeling of anticipation at the prospect of another step forward in the refurbishment, until it came to the price.
£450+ for a single. A double would cost nearly twice as much.
I don't need to go on, do I?

 

[DJH]

Moo, have you considered using three radiators in the bay connected together using slightly bent pipes top and bottom? You would need radiators that have threaded connections both top and bottom each end so that you can use male iron to copper fittings to make the connections and also to maintain circulation between them.

Just an idea. I've done it before and it looks fine to me.

Doug

 

[robgil]

Here are the photos of mine, I had to go and dig it out of the cottage. The seller told me that he got it as part of a bathroom suit from an old house owned by one of the members of Boyzown (sp?), along with it was a nice copper bath and a few other period bits and bobs. I already had most of my bathroom things bought by then so regretfully didnt buy the rest of the fittings from him.

It needs a good polish but when cleaned up it looks fantastic although still quite subtle in the correct setting. I am not a fan of matching fixtures and furniture anyway, especially furniture, I believe everything should be sitting pretty all by itself without the need of help from its surroundings.

I also think that modern in a period setting can work if tastefully done however quality plays a key roll, antique furniture tends to be of very high quality compared to its modern counterparts so a poorly built or cheaply built item will not, in my opinion , tune in with its surroundings if surrounded by good quality antiques.

 

[JoceAndChris]

Oh, I do so agree with you about the quality of antiques, in general, being so much better than your modern furniture warehouse stuff.

The problem I have is the comfort versus 18th C feel, I've opted for comfort so we've got squashy sofas and TV and big old hifi cabinet to house all the gubbins, with modern speakers on top. But it kills the delicate pretty Georgian drawing room, and in many ways I'd like to excavate under the dining room to create a room adjacent to our snug Rayburn, which would be quite modern with home cinema and underfloor heating, etc. There'd just be a small window but for evening watching it wouldn't matter. And then the drawing room could be purely ornamental with a tea table in the Belvedere windows and delicate chairs placed around the fire, and not much else.

Anyway, that's digressing from my compliment to Rob on his copper towel rail, a really lovely thing, and beautifully restored. Well done Rob.

We still haven't bought anything but will soon.

 

[dans]

I've put these in almost all my rooms. They're lovely quality and look great. I've gone for different colours in each room. The 'ancient bronze' look great in the bedrooms, whilst the polished looks great against exposed brick. The princess are quite slim for column rads.

http://www.carron.uk.net/carron-radiators-princess.asp

I've bought a LOT of these and as such get a good discount, so let me know if you need any...

Dan

 

[plasticpigeon]

Hello. I'm not sure that the copper towel rail is old, to me it looks like it is made from bar fittings!!!! It does look very nice, but it means that anyone handy with a blow torch could custom make one quite easily!!! And those valves are available too!!! Could be an idea for a shower enclosure too!!!

http://www.william-hopkins.co.uk/shop/?/Bar-Rail-Tube--Fittings/Ball-Fittings/

 

[DJH]

Made a few of them in my time. Some using brass fittings others with copper fittings and some just bending the pipe into zig zags for use in closets or cupboards where raincoats etc were hung up. Should that be 'hanged up'?

Doug

 

[robgil]

You could be right , the copper pipe however is imperial and has a lot of deformities in it, not at all like modern copper tube, it is also a different colour from any copper tube I have ever bought, who knows.

 

[DJH]

They still use imperial sizes for copper tube in Ireland for some reason. I have used thick wall copper pipe in the past that we threaded and used like iron pipes. That always looked a darker colour.......

Doug

 

[robgil]

I am not convinced that mine isnt old, it may not be victorian but I would say most are not anyway. My guess is it is 1930's 1940's ish. They still made bar fitting back then and used them for this very purpose, however they do still make them today. The wall brackets on mine do not look like modern fittings, the brass looks crudely cast and had a n nice honey colour unlike todays brass that looks more golden, also there are no signs of any lacquer.

It could be made up out of reclaimed parts but it is a lot of effort for little return, at 13 quid each for the fittings alone the materials cost would be quite high.

These guys say they can make them , this one looks like it could be quite an old one but you never know.

http://www.arcsal.com/items/2676.aspx

 

[Sonyaclegg]

The Traditional Radiator Company do a similar item in brass plated with chrome for half the price. If someone tells me how to post a link on an iPad, I will have a go!

 

[JoceAndChris]

http://www.trads.co.uk/towel-rails.asp

I really want a brass coloured or copper coloured finish, so it is looking like it'll have to be the Broughton also sold by that company. Also as usual I'm dealing with a really tiny space so the one in Rob's link isn't an option, lovely as it is. Plus I doubt the towel rails would be as warm as the Broughton with its integral little cast iron rad. So apologies to those who hate repro, but that's what it's going to have to be.

 

[robgil]

That looks really nice Joce and with the addition of the iron radiator it should still belt out the heat whilst being small enough to be unobtrusive. The design is quite clever in that you can hang towels on it without obstructing the heat from the radiator.
Some nice valves and it will look lovely.

Just one tip , depending on the type of heating system it is sometimes not a good idea to fit TRV's to every radiator and most just fit normal valves to the towel rail, if all the TRV's close down at once if one radiator is left open it will help the circulation of water through the system.

 

[JoceAndChris]

Thanks very much Rob, I'll read that tip our to Chris who'll know what a TRV is. One more question Rob, if you've time. Would you advise I let Chris do this fitting himself or should I book a heating engineer? Is it a big job? I'm anxious to free him up as he's so busy and stressed. We've never had electricians or heating engineers here and I don't know if this is going to mean a really huge bill? It's an oil fired system with 8 other rads running from the subterranean Rayburn, there was a rad in this room which we took to the dump, the pipes are in place, but we're are moving it along a bit so some pipe moving is called for. If the bill would come under under £150 I think I'd prefer to book someone out.

 

[robgil]

You should get it done for 150 easily, it wont take much if the pipes are already there.
You will have to decide on valves to get the pipe center to center so you know where to come up from (if the pipework is under the floor) through the floor and any shrouds etc to hide the pipes if you want to.
It's an easy job if you have the correct plumbing tools , if not then buying the tools could cost more than getting someone in to do it.

I would shop around for prices first to get a feel and if too costly then go for it and do it your self.

 

[Flyfisher]

Just one tip , depending on the type of heating system it is sometimes not a good idea to fit TRV's to every radiator and most just fit normal valves to the towel rail, if all the TRV's close down at once if one radiator is left open it will help the circulation of water through the system.

Is it not normal practice to install a heated towel rail within the hot water circuit rather the central heating circuit? In this way the towel rail can work during the months when the heating is not being used.

Or perhaps that's why some modern towel rails have electric heaters as well, for summer use?

 

[robgil]

Just one tip , depending on the type of heating system it is sometimes not a good idea to fit TRV's to every radiator and most just fit normal valves to the towel rail, if all the TRV's close down at once if one radiator is left open it will help the circulation of water through the system.

Is it not normal practice to install a heated towel rail within the hot water circuit rather the central heating circuit? In this way the towel rail can work during the months when the heating is not being used.

Or perhaps that's why some modern towel rails have electric heaters as well, for summer use?

It is , I would not do it as it might waste energy in my own system, of course if you have a combi boiler it would only work when you turned on a hot tap.

The way I see it is if it is hot enough to not need the heating on then a warm towel wont be all that much comforting anyway and the towel should dry fairly quickly without the need for a warm radiator.

In Joce's circumstances the towel rail doubles as a radiator for the room so it needs to be on the heating circuit.

Edit - just to add if your hot water can heat a radiator it's probably too hot , or hotter than it needs to be.

 

[DJH]

It is common practice especially on gravity fed primary pipework (that's the circuit for heating the hot water in a cylinder) to have a radiator or towel rail connected to act both as a heat leak to dissipate excessive heat and to act, as as been mentioned, to warm both towels and bathrooms during the summer months when the central heating is turned off. This rail or radiator should be fitted with lock shield vales so that they cannot be turned off accidentally and never with a thermostatic radiator valve.

Water from the domestic hot water supply (that's the water that comes out of the hot tap) should never be used in the same circuit as a steel radiator. It will rust it from the inside and will leak eventually. Domestic hot water can be run through a copper or brass rail without any detrimental effect although the rail would warm when you run the hot taps in the bathroom and maybe give you a slightly warm towel providing you don't spend too long in the bath, but the rail would not be able to help dry the towels when you've finished as you wouldn't be drawing hot water through the taps.

The central heating circuit should have at least one radiator without a TRV so that the circulating pump can continue pumping if and when the TRV's have done their job and shut down, stopping hot water going into them. An alternative is to have a bypass somewhere in the circuit with a wheel valve with the head removed and tied on to it with a bit of string or an automatic by pass can be fitted. The wheel valve can be set and balanced to the system requirements and with the wheel removed it can't be tampered with.

This is of course a must with low water content boilers such as combination boilers. To have a constantly on bathroom radiator/towel rail with one of these type boilers can be achieved by spliting the heating pipework in two with a motorised valve for the heating circuit and the other to the radiator /rail. To operate this would mean that the heating/hot water selection should be on all the time with a separate winter switch for the heating circuit valve. The bathroom circuit could also have a motorised valve fitted but again lock shield valves on the radiator/towel rail.

Doug