Wooden Radiator Covers archived

http://www.woodenradiatorcabinet.com/english/home.html

we ordered from these guys and it's a beautiful wooden cover...

http://www.eradiatorcovers.biz/

I just purchased radiator covers and discovered that one of the reasons you'll mostly see metal covers is because wood, while more expensive, retains all the heat. I don't know how true this is, but everyone I spoke to about it said the same thing.

bklyngirl

go here:
http://www.southorangevillage.com/vc/comments.php?DiscussionID=15109&page=1#Item_17

we had wooden radiator company do ours and (we think) they are gorgeous. Expensive, but they look like furniture, so well worth it to me.

Wooden Radiator Co is the best.

Take a look.

later,
George

Posted By: bklyngirlI just purchased radiator covers and discovered that one of the reasons you'll mostly see metal covers is because wood, while more expensive, retains all the heat. I don't know how true this is, but everyone I spoke to about it said the same thing.

bklyngirl

Sounds like an old wive's tale to me. Wood is actually a reasonably good insulator (certainly compared to metal). With a properly designed enclosure, a wood cabinet should actually direct the heated air out into the room. A metal enclosure may "feel" like it's doing a better job since it gets quite hot to the touch, but the airflow into/out of a wood cabinet should make the distant parts of the room feel warmer...

JG--that is beautiful. How big is that cover and if you wouldn't mind sharing, what's the price range for something like that? I also have always wondered if you can place things on top of the radiator cover like you have in your photo...doesn't the top get very hot? Thanks!

Dennis Barna is a local Maplewood artist/woodworker who does lovely radiator covers--973-761-7313.

catch22....

Posted By: catch22
Sounds like an old wive's tale to me. Wood is actually a reasonably good insulator (certainly compared to metal). With a properly designed enclosure, a wood cabinet should actually direct the heated air out into the room. A metal enclosure may "feel" like it's doing a better job since it gets quite hot to the touch, but the airflow into/out of a wood cabinet should make the distant parts of the room feel warmer...

but it's not a wives tale, and you explained it yourself..... because metal radiates heat faster than wood (your '..quite hot to the touch..'). wood insulates (also per you...)... which does mean it retains heat within itself rather than transmitting/radiating it, as metal does.....

airflow design notwithstanding (which is a valid design necessity whether the enclosure is metal or wood..).

How big is it? Exactly size of your current radiator plus 3 inches in width. (1.5 per side) The depth width is 1.5 inches from the current radiator. As you can see the back seals to the wall, or very close to it.

From a design perspective, in one room, we had a cover made 8' wide to cover the entire wall. It is of red oak and is quite impressive while still functional.

Price? I bought the one you see 5 years ago from the Wooden Radiator company, so prices must have gone up, but I would guess that it was around $350-400 then.

Yes you can place what ever you want on them as the top is made of a high tech wood (MD-80) or what ever it is called, and has a high tech insulation insert glued to the inside bottom. The heat on the top is almost nothing.

Do your research. In my research I found that these covers were designed to keep the heat transfer at maximum design of the radiator. It is all about proper air flow. Other units that we looked into blocked air flow and thus became quite hot.

Unlike the experience of some people, I find that these units do not retain any more heat than any piece of furniture in your home as the air flow in and around them is quite impressive.

Later,
George

Thanks to all! George, I love your cover. Calling them now.

Posted By: jeffbryant

but it's not a wives tale, and you explained it yourself..... because metal radiates heat faster than wood (your '..quite hot to the touch..'). wood insulates (also per you...)... which does mean it retains heat within itself rather than transmitting/radiating it, as metal does.....

airflow design notwithstanding (which is a valid design necessity whether the enclosure is metal or wood..).

This may be a duplicate, as I thought I already posted but...

Right back at ya

The issue is "what is the purpose of the enclosure". The idea behind the design of these things is to set up a regular convective pattern in the room. Cold air (denser) enters through the lower opening and warm air (less dense) flows out through the upper louvers (or louvres?) Wood has somewhere near an order of magnitude less thermal conductivity than an equal amount of mild steel, so it does a very good job of helping to direct the convective flow. A steel cabinet actually acts like... well... a radiator, shooting heat off every which way. So, it tends to be less efficient for the intended purpose. In fact, many of the higher end manufacturers of steel cabinets advertise that the tops and sides are... insulated. Guess why?

In the overall scheme of things, it's probably not a big deal either way, but I don't think anyone should be turned off from a wood cabinet due to any concerns about thermal efficiency.

At least that's my opinion, and I'm stickin' with it...

Posted By: bernyauDoes anyone have a recommendation for custom made wood radiator covers?

Mission Woodworking, Inc.
502 Kesco Dr
Bristol, IN 46507
(574) 848-5697 x4
(574) 848-7897 Fax

They have sales reps that come out and measure and custom build. They are great! They are expensive!

I never focused on the heat distribution, retention or circulation issue because I really don't care about that but I do care about covering my ugly radiators. The only type of radiator that I would leave uncovered are the ones built in the mid/late 1800's that have wonderful detail.

Posted By: jeffbryant What I was (not evidnetly successfully) trying to amend/comment on/point out about your post was that it doesn't have to be ONLY a "wood cabinet should make the distant parts of the room feel warmer".... ALL properly designed cabinets will accomplish that. And,,,, I clearly DID state that airflow design is crucial for a radiator enclosure, irrespective of material.

Roger that. I was enjoying the discussion, since it was a good point and made me think, even if I actually wasn't quite getting your point. If you get my point

As an aside, I was an engineering student many moons ago, so a lot of the math and physics behind this stuff is more than a little hazy. But, I recall a really cool thermodynamics demonstration related to efficient design of passive solar houses. The basic concept is that you create a large thermal mass facing south (e.g. a solid stone wall) backed up a relatively large plenum (air chamber) vented at the top and bottom. We built a sample and pumped in smoke to the chamber and photographed the airflow. After about 30 minutes, you can watch a very impressive circulation set up, even with relatively minor temperature differences. Not dis-similar to what we're trying to do in this case.

Cheers.

I highly recommend Kevin Wallace, a local carpenter who does great work. He just installed four custom made wood radiator covers for me today. I wanted them flush against the wall, which required extensive cutting because of the type of woodwork we have and they look great. He has also completed a number of other projects for us that we are happy with. Wallace Woodworking 973-650-1739.

On the energy side, don't forget that part of the niceness of radiators is that they radiate. :smile:

You can google a whole bunch of sites on this topic, but you want to avoid impeding both convection and radiation.

Why covers anyway?

Posted By: catch22good insulator

Which would suggest that it retains more than the metal ones...

I'm guessing a standard wooden bedroom costs about 500, one for the living room more like 1000? Just curious.

"Why covers anyway?"

1. They look better than most radiators.
2. They become furniture, part of the decor of the room.
3. If designed correctly they can add to the heat transfer by causing a chimney function and moving more air into, thru and out of the radiator.
4. They stop the dust collection between the vanes.
5. You can strip the 50 years of paint from them and increase the heat transfer.
6. They redirect the upflow stream of warm air away from the cold window and into the room.
7. They protect your children from burns.
8. No number eight, writers are on strike.
9. They hide the valves and vents.
10. You can put stuff on top of them.

Later,
George

I've been looking at these people: http://www.eradiatorcovers.biz/. They have some nice arts & crafts styles.

We put in the radiator covers to protect my cats from the hot metal. As a plus, the covers look much better than the chipping painted metal radiators we have.

Posted By: hauscatWe put in the radiator covers to protect my cats from the hot metal. As a plus, the covers look much better than the chipping painted metal radiators we have.

No cat-lover I (despite the wife's place), but are your cats really that...uh...canine that they burn themselves on the radiators? Ours seem to love to lounge near them, but I can't recall any of the many ones we've lived with actually harming themselves.

On the aesthetic front, scraping and painting would cost a lot less than covers.

We have two young kittens and steam heat so the radiators get very hot. They are smart but I didn't want to take any chances that they might get hurt - it was well worth the money for me. Here is a picture of one that we did not cover and down below one that we did (only primed at this point).