3 Things to Remember when Choosing Radiators for Your Home

Having recently replaced all of the radiators in my new house, I want to share with you these 3 important things that you need to remember when choosing the right radiators for your home.

* This post is sponsored by UK Radiators

I’m writing this post through experience as we have recently replaced all of our radiators. Let’s face it, it can be a daunting task to tackle right? Rest assured, as you can see from my before and after image above, the results are SO worth it! Choosing radiators is something that needs time and consideration though, to ensure you have the best outcome.

Radiators not only need to be efficient, but we also want them to suit the style of our home and not look dated. I can’t emphasise enough how much this change has dramatically benefitted our home both practically and aesthetically. Now I want to share my thoughts and advice on how we did it, and what needs to be considered throughout the whole process.

In this post, I am going to cover the following topics:

• Heat output: Why this is so important when choosing the right radiators for your home.
• Size: How you can determine what size radiator you need in each room.
• Style and aesthetic: Saving the best till last! I think we can all agree this is the most exciting part…

Heat Output

Picture this, you’ve spent a lot of time choosing a radiator that looks nice in your home and spent your hard earned money on the product and the cost for the installation. Now you want to sit back and relax in your nice warm home and realise the rooms aren’t heating up efficiently. This is last thing you want! Imagine putting in all of that time, effort and money for a result that isn’t satisfactory… It would be soul destroying, am I right?

Heat Output is probably THE most important thing you need to calculate before continuing with any of my other points below.. There’s a reason I have put this as my first topic on this post, it cannot be overlooked!

Let me give you a simplified breakdown of how heat output works as it can be slightly confusing. Don’t worry guys, I’m writing this for the novices out there. We too didn’t understand it before embarking on this radiator journey!

What are BTU’s?

Heat output for radiators is calculated in a measurement called BTU’s which stands for British Thermal Unit. Essentially, it’s a measurement of heat required to to raise the temperature of 1 pound of liquid, by 1 degree fahrenheit. It’s confusing already because who measures in pounds these days? But, in simple terms of relevance, each radiator will hold a different amount of water depending on the size, therefore changing the heat output and temperature in the room. This is why it’s so important to check as it will determine whether or not the radiator will heat the room to a satisfactory standard.

Luckily, UK Radiators have a new BTU calculator on their website which you can find here to help you figure out the BTU’s that each room in your house requires. Factors that need to be considered is the size of the room, the wall type, the size of the windows and where the room is situated in your home (ground floor or upper floor). Ensure you spend the time inputting the information for each room in your home correctly and I can guarantee you will be warm and toasty throughout your entire home.

Radiator Size

Now that you’ve got your BTU’s calculated, it’s time to look at the size of radiator you need for your home. This kind of goes hand-in-hand with checking the heat output as mentioned above. However, there are definitely ways that you can minimise the size of your radiators if you wanted something more discreet whilst still hitting the BTU requirements.

In our home we have opted for column radiators as it suits the style of our period property and we love the traditional style. These radiators can be maximised with different amounts of columns you choose. In our home, we chose to have 3 column radiators, but they are also available in the same sizes as 2 column and 4 column radiators. The more columns you have, the more water they hold, and that means more heat! This means you don’t necessarily have to compromise the size of the radiator as long as it holds the correct amount of liquid that meets your BTU requirements.

Similarly, if you’re wanting a more modern aesthetic you may choose to have panel radiators. They come with different amounts of panel layers (1 or 2) to maximise heat output. So if you want your radiators to not exceed a certain size, look for options that have more panels or columns so that they provide optimal heat.

Style & Aesthetic

Phew, we’ve got through the nitty gritty practical requirements and now we can focus on the aesthetics! We all want our radiators to look good and be in keeping with our homes, so now it’s time to bring the vision to life!

One of the first things both my partner and I noticed after having our radiators installed was how much impact they had on making the rooms feel complete. It’s crazy, right? Normally radiators are something you’d presume would be overlooked and barely noticed but that is absolutely not the case!

These are the main features your radiators can provide, and how they can be suited to certain styles of homes.

The Style Type

Your house and the year it was built may help you determine what style radiator you choose. Column radiators offer a classic traditional look, whereas panel radiators are modern and sleek. Consider the orientation you want as well, vertical radiators are great for rooms with less wall space and rooms with high ceilings!

The colour and finish

Radiators have certainly evolved over the years and can come in various colours and finishes. White radiators no longer have to be the most obvious choice! Think about the colour of the decor in your room, any other hardware you have that you might want to compliment. Choose a finish too, you may want a shiny gloss or a matte finish – The options really are endless!

Decorative Valves

Radiator valves are the jewellery to the radiators. They complete the look and add a decorative feature. Along with that, hey help accentuate the style of the radiator and make any pipework (if chosen to remain exposed) look neat and tidy. UK radiators offer a huge variety of valves in varying styles and finishes. I chose these decorative antique brass valves and WOW do they pack a punch! Aren’t they gorgeous?!

My 3 things to remember when choosing radiators for your home have now been covered! Hopefully by now you feel more confident when it comes to choosing the perfect radiators, it will be SO worth it when it’s done, I promise!

It’s safe to say that after 3 months of renovating throughout the winter we are extremely thrilled to have radiators back up and running. I can finally feel my toes again!

Watch the video below to see the installation!

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