Traditional Cast Iron Radiators.., Yeah or Nay?

[Steel]

Decisions...Decisions...

DH and I are desperately trying to add some character to our new build property; without breaking the bank.

I love love love the look of these radiators and have seen ''new'' cast iron rads, salvage old cast iron rads and replica aluminum ''cast iron'' rads.

Do you have these radiators...are they cast iron or aluminum...old or new...would you buy them again if you were starting over...what are the pros/cons?

 

[Steel]

.

 

[basil]

I have these...mine are cast iron and old. I think my house was built in the late 40s. They mostly have wooden covers over them so that you can put things on top of them, which is nice.

Mine are a little noisy, but I don''t know if that''s just the heating system or the fact that they are old.

Personally, I would put money into some nice moldings, window/door frames, chair rails or nice wooden doors to give character before I would buy radiators.

 

[iheartscience]

I have cast iron radiators in my apartment. I love them and so do my cats-they lay on them all the time in the winter! (There is a metal shelf piece on the tops of them.) If they go with the feel of your house I would definitely get them!

 

[neatfreak]

Nay. I would never spend money on cast iron radiators when there are other places to spend said money that would have much more of an impact IMO. I think they're cute if they are already there, but they also take up valuable space and you need to decorate around them.

We had them in our apartment and our landlord renovated and took them out. Can't say I miss them even though I love old charming things.

 

[eks6426]

I''ve lived in a few houses with these. I love the heat that they give off. It''s warm & toasty without the constant blower like forced air heat. They are slow to adjust though so if you want to get warm quickly you can''t...nor can you make the house cooler quickly...hot water/steam heat takes time to adjust.

I think they''re a real pain to decorate around. I''d much rather have radiant flooring than radiators.

Are you putting in AC?

 

[Steel]

Date: 11/22/2008 5:08:47 PM
Author: basil
I have these...mine are cast iron and old. I think my house was built in the late 40s. They mostly have wooden covers over them so that you can put things on top of them, which is nice.

Mine are a little noisy, but I don''t know if that''s just the heating system or the fact that they are old.

Personally, I would put money into some nice moldings, window/door frames, chair rails or nice wooden doors to give character before I would buy radiators.

Thanks Basil,

Hmmm, I didn''t consider the noise. I wonder if they are more noisy than ordinary rads?

Our house is a shell at the moment. So any features will be new. We plan to wood panel most of the rooms (probably all) and will do traditional 4 panel doors with wood plank flooring (screwed not nailed). It is such a risk, to buy something you have no real experience of, when it is so expensive...

 

[Steel]

Date: 11/22/2008 10:40:28 PM
Author: thing2of2
I have cast iron radiators in my apartment. I love them and so do my cats-they lay on them all the time in the winter! (There is a metal shelf piece on the tops of them.) If they go with the feel of your house I would definitely get them!

See that is the think Thing2of2, there is no feel to the house yet, there is not even plastering! But if our cats will give them the four paws up, that is a tick in the pro column! Thanks for the input.

 

[Steel]

Date: 11/22/2008 11:48:12 PM
Author: neatfreak
Nay. I would never spend money on cast iron radiators when there are other places to spend said money that would have much more of an impact IMO. I think they''re cute if they are already there, but they also take up valuable space and you need to decorate around them.

We had them in our apartment and our landlord renovated and took them out. Can''t say I miss them even though I love old charming things.

Hi Heatfreak, thanks for posting.

Hmm, in a big reception room, for example, we will have a large fireplace, 4 large windows (2 on each wall) and patio doors, wood paneling and thats about it for the moment. I want all storage hidden and all furniture to be antique/repo. I wonder if I put in standard rads (like pic except our hot water pipes will come from the floor) then the room will lose something. Argh!

When you mean waste space - what do you mean. They are wider than usual rads - is that it?

When the landlord took the rads out, what did you get in place of them?

 

[Steel]

Date: 11/24/2008 2:29:35 PM
Author: IslandDreams
I've lived in a few houses with these. I love the heat that they give off. It's warm & toasty without the constant blower like forced air heat. They are slow to adjust though so if you want to get warm quickly you can't...nor can you make the house cooler quickly...hot water/steam heat takes time to adjust.

I think they're a real pain to decorate around. I'd much rather have radiant flooring than radiators.

Are you putting in AC?

Hi IslandD thanks for posting.

How did you find decorating a problem?

We looked into underfloor heating but are worried about skilled workmanship and having to rip up the flooring if it is done incorrectly - so we are def going for rads.

If you had to choose rads would you choose them?

ETA- No AC, We live in Ireland and have short summers, only hot for a few weeks at most. We will heat our home via a back-burner from our solid fuel stove.

 

[neatfreak]

Date: 11/24/2008 4:09:37 PM
Author: Steel

Date: 11/22/2008 11:48:12 PM

Author: neatfreak

Nay. I would never spend money on cast iron radiators when there are other places to spend said money that would have much more of an impact IMO. I think they''re cute if they are already there, but they also take up valuable space and you need to decorate around them.


We had them in our apartment and our landlord renovated and took them out. Can''t say I miss them even though I love old charming things.

Hi Heatfreak, thanks for posting.


Hmm, in a big reception room, for example, we will have a large fireplace, 4 large windows (2 on each wall) and patio doors, wood paneling and thats about it for the moment. I want all storage hidden and all furniture to be antique/repo. I wonder if I put in standard rads (like pic except our hot water pipes will come from the floor) then the room will lose something. Argh!


When you mean waste space - what do you mean. They are wider than usual rads - is that it?


When the landlord took the rads out, what did you get in place of them?

He put in floor vents and a new heating system. It takes SO much less time to heat up and it is so much quieter. The radiators can really be noisy too.

As for decorating around it, you just can''t use the space at all on that wall to place furniture or anything. You need to keep things like sofas a fair distance away, so it just eats up a bunch of wall and floor space.

 

[iheartscience]

Well if you''re going to have radiators no matter what, I would definitely get traditional cast iron ones!

And I must be the only one, but my radiators are completely silent. I''ve actually never lived in a place with noisy ones and all of my apartments have had them...I guess I''m lucky!

 

[eks6426]

I found decorating around them a pain because they were rather bulky and my places were small. So, frequently, there was a radiator where I wanted to put a piece of furniture or needed a walk way. Also, you should keep furniture & such several inches away from the radiators.

I have lived in a house with radiators that were not bulky like the normal ones, but looked more like baseboard electric heat except they had the hot water tubes running through them. These were easier to decorate around.

I believe there are 2 types of radiators: hot water and steam. My experience has been that the hot water ones are quieter. I also was able to make mine quiet by bleeding the extra air out of the system. Are you going to use hot water or steam radiators?

I think you have different heating types in Ireland than here in the USA. It seems most houses now put in forced air furnaces for heat with duct work. I don''t know of any new construction homes that use radiators.

They do provide lovely heat, so if your house is big enough to handle the bulk of the radiators, I''m sure you''ll be fine.

 

[purrfectpear]

My condo is in a 1922 historical hi-rise. I have cast iron hot water rads. They only make noise for about 3 minutes when the building turns up the boiler at 5 a.m. from being turned low at night.

The heat is quite effective but drying. Ditto the fact that once the rooms are hot the only way to cool them quickly is to open a window.

 

[Loves Vintage]

I had my cast iron radiators like these in my first home. The heat was steam, rather than hot water. Occasionally, the radiators would release steam (not really perceivable by sight), but the sound they make when they release steam is one of the most pleasing sounds in the world! The heat was wonderful -- I always thought of it as bone warming -- not at all like forced hot air, which still leaves me feeling a bit cold inside (if that makes any sense?!?!)

Depending upon where they are placed in a room, it can make furniture placement more difficult. In my living room, I could not put the sofa in front of it because the sofa would be too far into the room. Of course, if your rooms are huge, this wouldn't be an issue.

If I had a choice between my old steam radiators and my current hot water baseboard/radiator heat, I would choose my old steam radiators without question. I loved them, and they are quite charming too!

 

[luvinlife]

We have them and we L O V E them. We live in Upstate NY and they makes our house nice and toasty! However, they are very expensive! We recently put an additon in our house and put ONE of the in and it cost us ......drum roll please....$600.00.
As far as decorating.......they can be spary painted to look fabulous again.


LL

 

[asscherisme]

I had one of these in my first apartment in Washington DC. It was a studio and I hated it. I don''t know why, Just did not like it at all. I would put your money elsewhere.

 

[Steel]

Date: 11/24/2008 4:50:05 PM
Author: neatfreak

Date: 11/24/2008 4:09:37 PM
Author: Steel

Hi Heatfreak, thanks for posting.

He put in floor vents and a new heating system. It takes SO much less time to heat up and it is so much quieter. The radiators can really be noisy too.

As for decorating around it, you just can''t use the space at all on that wall to place furniture or anything. You need to keep things like sofas a fair distance away, so it just eats up a bunch of wall and floor space.

I wonder if that was Freudian - calling you Heatfreak, not Neatfreak?
I am used to a certain amount of noise from rads, not pleasant but I''m ok with it.
I see- thanks for clarifing about the decorating problems. That is a bugbear of mine, when i designed this house it was important to me that no furniture ''had'' to sit against a wall unless it was purely decorative. All rooms are designed so the sofas and chairs sit with walking distance away from each wall.

Thanks a mill for your replies!

 

[Steel]

Date: 11/25/2008 10:13:29 AM
Author: thing2of2
Well if you''re going to have radiators no matter what, I would definitely get traditional cast iron ones!

And I must be the only one, but my radiators are completely silent. I''ve actually never lived in a place with noisy ones and all of my apartments have had them...I guess I''m lucky!

I will put you down for a vote FOR the trad rads! Thanks thing2of2!

 

[Steel]

Date: 11/25/2008 10:47:14 AM
Author: IslandDreams
I found decorating around them a pain because they were rather bulky and my places were small. So, frequently, there was a radiator where I wanted to put a piece of furniture or needed a walk way. Also, you should keep furniture & such several inches away from the radiators.

I have lived in a house with radiators that were not bulky like the normal ones, but looked more like baseboard electric heat except they had the hot water tubes running through them. These were easier to decorate around.

I believe there are 2 types of radiators: hot water and steam. My experience has been that the hot water ones are quieter. I also was able to make mine quiet by bleeding the extra air out of the system. Are you going to use hot water or steam radiators?

I think you have different heating types in Ireland than here in the USA. It seems most houses now put in forced air furnaces for heat with duct work. I don''t know of any new construction homes that use radiators.

They do provide lovely heat, so if your house is big enough to handle the bulk of the radiators, I''m sure you''ll be fine.

Thanks for responding IslandD.

I tried to anticipate the areas which would cause minimal disruption for decoration but I am sure I will have gotten it wrong somewhere and NEED to put X right in front of the rad

.

I am already getting queer looks when asking about availability of the trad rads, I imagine if I asked for the ones hidden behind the baseboards they would try to comit me. Really.

I get quite cranky about attitudes to progress here, everybody is fanatical about solar energy and geothermal energy but mention wood paneling or cast iron rads and you gget looks like you are the crazy woman. When I asked for square rooms and symmetry in the house I was poo poohed (I got my way in the end!).

I would LOVE to know how you guys heat your homes. How are the furnaces fueled? I have NEVER heard of steam fueled rads, how does this work. We just have hot water. I will start a heating thread I think...

Thanks for your info!

 

[Steel]

Date: 11/25/2008 12:17:23 PM
Author: purrfectpear
My condo is in a 1922 historical hi-rise. I have cast iron hot water rads. They only make noise for about 3 minutes when the building turns up the boiler at 5 a.m. from being turned low at night.

The heat is quite effective but drying. Ditto the fact that once the rooms are hot the only way to cool them quickly is to open a window.

Hi PP,

That sounds like a PRO vote. Thanks.

 

[Steel]

Date: 11/25/2008 12:27:56 PM
Author: Loves Vintage
I had my cast iron radiators like these in my first home. The heat was steam, rather than hot water. Occasionally, the radiators would release steam (not really perceivable by sight), but the sound they make when they release steam is one of the most pleasing sounds in the world! The heat was wonderful -- I always thought of it as bone warming -- not at all like forced hot air, which still leaves me feeling a bit cold inside (if that makes any sense?!?!)

Depending upon where they are placed in a room, it can make furniture placement more difficult. In my living room, I could not put the sofa in front of it because the sofa would be too far into the room. Of course, if your rooms are huge, this wouldn''t be an issue.

If I had a choice between my old steam radiators and my current hot water baseboard/radiator heat, I would choose my old steam radiators without question. I loved them, and they are quite charming too!

Hi Loves Vintage,

Sounds magical!

I am worried about furniture placement, but I have made that bed already as the pipework is already set in the foundations... Fingers crossed I didnt make too many mistakes.

I will put you down for a YES too

.

 

[Steel]

Date: 11/26/2008 7:27:07 PM
Author: luvinlife
We have them and we L O V E them. We live in Upstate NY and they makes our house nice and toasty! However, they are very expensive! We recently put an additon in our house and put ONE of the in and it cost us ......drum roll please....$600.00.
As far as decorating.......they can be spary painted to look fabulous again.


LL

Hi luvinlife,

You are preaching to the converted here I am havign terrible problems even sourcing the radiators and I hope on hopes that they will cost less than €5 each, but I am probably deluding myself. We need about 20 rads!

I will put you down for a big old PRO trad rads!

 

[Steel]

Date: 11/28/2008 3:11:26 AM
Author: asscherisme
I had one of these in my first apartment in Washington DC. It was a studio and I hated it. I don''t know why, Just did not like it at all. I would put your money elsewhere.

Awh, Asscherisme so I will put you down for a big old NAY! (neigh

)

 

[moremoremore]

no way. i'd spend the money on moldings, real wood doors, windows, and antiqued floors to add charm instead...much better investment!

 

[Tacori E-ring]

We had them in a house built in 1920 (growing up) SOOOO noisy. But I am sure the new ones are improved. I am not sure how it is in Ireland but agree in the US you would NEVER get your money out and it would turn off lots of buyers. But in the end this is YOUR house. Do what you will love.

 

[iluvcarats]

We have them in our house which was built in 1926. The house used to be heated with oil, but we switched to natural gas. We kept most of the old radiators because they were charming and original to the house, but I don''t think that I would go out of my way to incorporate them into a new house. If you do though, you can have a piece of granite custom cut for the top and make a functional shelf out of it here and there.

 

[Steel]

Date: 12/4/2008 7:18:44 PM
Author: moremoremore
no way. i''d spend the money on moldings, real wood doors, windows, and antiqued floors to add charm instead...much better investment!

thanks for responding MoreMoreMore, I will add you to the Neigh (Nay) list!

 

[Steel]

Date: 12/4/2008 9:01:32 PM
Author: Tacori E-ring
We had them in a house built in 1920 (growing up) SOOOO noisy. But I am sure the new ones are improved. I am not sure how it is in Ireland but agree in the US you would NEVER get your money out and it would turn off lots of buyers. But in the end this is YOUR house. Do what you will love.

Hi Tacori,

We hope this will be our 'forever-home', but good point, as you never know. I am still sitting on the fence here, they cost so so much money but our home needs character so badly.. Argh. Why couldn't we build a genuine period home?

That is what we would really love.

 

[Steel]

Date: 12/4/2008 11:39:45 PM
Author: iluvcarats
We have them in our house which was built in 1926. The house used to be heated with oil, but we switched to natural gas. We kept most of the old radiators because they were charming and original to the house, but I don''t think that I would go out of my way to incorporate them into a new house. If you do though, you can have a piece of granite custom cut for the top and make a functional shelf out of it here and there.

Thanks for responding I luv carats. I am jealous of your rads! Bet you never thought you would hear that one in your life. That is the thing for me, I think they are charming too but at what cost, if they are not original. Any what if this is just a phase and I do not like trad rads in 5 years. Argh!