What colour to paint my radiator?

[GhostyDog]

Hi,

I'm new here and hope to get lots of useful tips for keeping my house authentic.

Firstly I'm looking for inspiration; I'm going to be having a radiator fitted in front of a Georgian red brick and lime mortared internal wall in my house and I'm unsure of what colour to go for.

I was thinking of a very subtle off white with a hint of green, thoughts? Alternative could be a red to make it blend in rather than stand out.

I'm replacing a 10 year old modern radiator on a different wall with a cast iron Victorian styled radiator like the Apollo Radiators Firenze Model.

Does anyone have any photos of a similar radiator in a similar situation or thoughts about good colour matches.

Other plastered walls will be a neutral warm colour, there's a white oak staircase and skirting and architraves, etc are to be a matt off white (Pale Mortlake Cream), there are large buttresses and exposed English Baroque Period Masonry (yes my house is a real mishmash).

Any comments much appreciated.

GD

 

[GhostyDog]

Bump

 

[Zebra]

Sage green? Gunmetal grey? Not that there's an authentic colour, your house probably didn't have radiators. Neither did mine, and mine is quite a bit older, but with similar bare brick, lime plastered walls and oak, I was thinking of that sort of colour. Don't know if that helps......

 

[GhostyDog]

Sage green? Gunmetal grey? Not that there's an authentic colour, your house probably didn't have radiators. Neither did mine, and mine is quite a bit older, but with similar bare brick, lime plastered walls and oak, I was thinking of that sort of colour. Don't know if that helps......

Hi Zebra,

Thanks for the reply.

I don't really know to be honest, bits of the house date back to the 13th century, but it was rebuilt in the early 1600's and then extended in the Georgian period, and altered again from a living residence into weaving sheds when the owners built a palladian mansion next door and then back into a domestic building about 10-15 years ago when it was rather unsympathetically renovated (I've now discovered) as part of a development of the site which had become quite dilapidated through lack of use.

I've been searching sites like houzz.com and various google image searches for inspiration but nothing so far. I was hoping someone on here may have a painted period style radiator in front of a red brick wall they could post photos of.

 

[Nigel Watts]

A Victorian style radiator is no more authentic in an 18th C and earlier interior than a 21st century one. One could even argue that it is less so in that it is pretending to be something it is not. Victorian radiators were cast iron and I think they look best painted in a dark colour. I have painted the one in my hall very dark green (the wall behind is dark red). In my drawing room I have painted them matt black. Dark green against red works well in my opinion, red and green being complementary colours.

 

[Flyfisher]

Out of interest, when were radiators first used for domestic heating? Presumably they could have been driven by back-boilers and open fires and operate on gravity for upstairs heating, but would require pumps for whole house heating. Did the Victorians really have such domestic technology or are such things the equivalent of 'Georgian' electrical fittings?

Edit: I should have searched the web before posting the question. Lot's of info online (of course), including this:
http://www.industrytoday.co.uk/hvac/the-history-of-radiators/4582

 

[88v8]

When new, cast-iron rads were typically painted with a thin coat of what might be termed 'old gold'. Perhaps when new the colour was brighter.

If there will be painted woodwork in your room, you could paint the rad the same colour. Bear in mind that if you use standard paint on a rad, it may crack off. Check with the rad manufacturer. There is stuff called Radiator Paint, but the colours are limited. You could however buy it in white and have it put through a colouriser, although the colour outcome might be slightly unpredictable.

In our previous house, all the iron rads were painted cream as a sort of colour theme thoughout the house, even though the room paintwork was in varying colours. We had some of them powder-coated, with varying results in terms of durabiity.

Ivor

 

[GhostyDog]

Thanks for the responses, Nigel, could you possibly post a photo of your radiator/wall?

Flyfisher, http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radiator_(heating)#section_1 may help

We were also thinking about potential for underfloor heating as an alternative but I'm not sure it's worth it for just one room and may have to be part of a different phase of our changes to the house.