How to Choose a Decent Radiator When You’re Overwhelmed with Choice

One thing we can say for certain is that when it comes to choice, there are a many radiator options. As with most things in life, when there is too much choice, it can start to become confusing and we can become stuck wondering if we are making the right decision, flipping from one radiator, to the next, to the next. 

Well, in this article, we are going to try to help you make sense of all of these radiator choices by providing you with some categories that you can choose to limit your search. In other words, when you use the search function on the online retail shops, you can limit your search by these parameters:

Heat Output

Different rooms require different amount of heat, so the first way to limit your search when looking for radiators for sale is to work out exactly how many BTU you need.

To do this, use an online BTU calculator. You can find them on most radiator retail sites and they are free to use. They will return to you a figure, e.g. 3000btu/ph. You then limit your search to radiators that can provide 3000btu/ph.

Size

Next, you might want to look for a particular size of radiator. For example, in a large space, you might want to buy a large radiator, as that will look best in the space.

You might be wondering how this relates to heat output as the size of the radiator makes a difference to the amount of heat it can put out. However, modern radiators have come a long way in recent years and the manufacturers have found different ways to increase surface area without increasing overall size.

This means that you do have some control over the size of the radiator, regardless of heat output. In other words, you can find 3000btu/ph. radiators in a variety of different sizes. Therefore, you can still take size into consideration.

Efficiency Rating

The efficiency of a radiator basically corresponds to the amount of energy it uses to produce a specific amount of heat. For instance, one 3000btu/ph. radiator may use 500 watts per hour (and cost around 8p per hour to run) but another 3000btu/ph. radiator may only use 400 watts per hour. This second radiator is more efficient because it uses less energy to reach the same temperature.

Fortunately, you don’t have to do your own maths. Radiators for sale in the UK have to give details of their efficiency rating to be legal. Just look for radiators that have an efficiency rating of ‘A’ or more.

Colour

Again, the traditional wisdom is that all radiators should be white. However, radiators have come a long way. Once you have all of the parameters above worked out, you can sort the rest of the radiators by colour.

Finally once you have made your choice, but haven't yet made the purchase, do some research to make sure that the radiator manufacturer has a solid reputation.