Why You Might Consider a Professional Cleaner to Clean Your Radiators

You might think that keeping your radiators clean is relatively easy. All you have to do is a quick dust and a quick sponge down every now and again, right? 

Wrong, it’s actually more complicated than this. In order to look after your radiators correctly, it’s important that you follow the correct procedures. This means keeping them clean from dust (all over, including the convector fins) and making sure that when you clean them, you ensure that you dry them properly too.

However, sometimes it’s better to use a professional cleaning service to clean your radiators. Below, we’re going to look at some of the reasons why you might consider this option:

1. If you haven't cleaned the radiators in a while.

Many people completely neglect their radiators when it comes to their cleaning routine. This means that the dust and debris can build up over time and make it difficult to remove without damaging the radiator.

If your radiator hasn’t been cleaned in a while, it might be worth calling in the professionals. They’ll know which lotions and potions to use that will prevent the radiator from becoming damaged.

Harsh chemicals and abrasive materials will damage your radiator. If you have nice radiators, such as vertical designer radiators, then you should call in a professional to deal with tough stains. This will help keep your radiators safe, and, if something does go wrong, they will be liable for the damage, rather than you.

2. If you have rust spots and other signs of corrosion.

If your radiators have rust spots and other signs of corrosion, then you should call the professionals in to help you to remove this. Rust and corrosion are problematic for two reasons. First, it can lead to leaks, which can damage your property. Secondly, it can make the radiators less efficient, meaning that they cost you more in energy bills than you should be paying.

Getting rid of rust and corrosion is quite difficult. Calling in the professionals will ensure that the job is done properly, and that you don’t damage your radiators, especially if you do have vertical designer radiators!

As you can appreciate, it sometimes makes sense to call in the professional cleaners. This isn't necessarily the case, but it’s definitely something worth considering – especially if you have expensive designer radiators, which are not easy to replace.

How to Keep Your Hallway Nice and Warm – Without Spending Too Much Money

Hallways are relatively annoying to keep warm. This is because they’re big. They might feel small and narrow, but the average hallway in the UK is 55m². The reason they're so big, yet feel small, is because they usually have a high ceiling, covering both the upstairs and downstairs of the house, and they often run the full length of the house, or at least from the front room to the back room.

Given their size, they’re difficult to keep warm. In general, the bigger the space, the more energy you need to use to heat it. Clearly, this can become very expensive if all you're doing is relying on the radiators to keep things warm. 

Instead, it’s better to make as many adjustments to the hallway as you can, to help increase the amount of heat that it naturally retains. Here are a few things that you can do that will really help the space:

  

1. Carpets are much better than wooden floors or tiles at keeping the heat in the room (unless you have underfloor carpets). You can carpet the hallway for relatively little, as the footprint of the space is relatively small – it’s the height that tends to make it big, not the width.

If you can’t afford a new carpet, don’t worry, you can buy rugs instead. IKEA sell metre length rugs for as little as £2.99, so we’re certain that you'll be able to find cheap rugs that will help as insulation.

2. Consider changing the radiator to a more efficient and higher heat output model. You can buy radiators online for as little as £50 and they will make a big difference to the space, and help to keep bills somewhat low.

3. Use draft excluders to eliminate any cold air that can get in around the windows and the doors. You might even consider hanging a curtain in front of the door as it adds an extra level of insulation.

4. Make sure that you have sufficient insulation in the loft and if you have cavity walls, in the walls. You would be surprised by how much of the heat in the hallway can escape through the roof when the roof is poorly ventilated.

We hope that you have found this article useful. All of these tips will help to keep your house warm while minimising the amount of money you spend on your energy bills.

Does Covering the Radiator Reduce the Heat?

There are arguments for and not for boxing in a radiator. Whilst we can all agree that draping a towel over the bathroom radiator is a bad idea, boxing it in is another matter.

It’s also clearly a bad idea to have a wall mounted radiator beneath a window with curtains overlapping. This just results in heat loss through the glass.

One improvement we can all make is to ensure there is some reflective material on the wall immediately behind all radiators. This is particularly true if it’s an outside wall.

There are a number of proprietary products for this and the best resemble aluminum bubble wrap. Apart from preventing much of the radiator heat from simply heating the wall, it also helps radiate warmth back into the room.

The object of any kind of boxing is to delay the immediate rise of heat towards the ceiling and to try and radiate it into the room as much as possible.

Although we call it a radiator it is in fact more like a convector. This is because of the basic fact that all warm air rises.

To calculate how big a radiator is needed in a room is a fairly simple operation. Most sellers of central heating equipment will have a BTU Calculator on their website.

A BTU is otherwise known as a British thermal unit and this is calculated by feeding the dimensions of the room into a set formula. Other details are also required like the size and type of windows in the room.

The type of outside brick or stone is also taken into account along with details about the floor and ceiling.

It’s important to get the correct radiator output so that it’s not blasting away all day struggling to heat the room. And equally, a radiator with too much heat output is an unnecessary extra expense.

There is a strong argument that the latest new radiators are best left uncovered as their skin is thin enough to radiate more than older conventional ones.

But there is one other argument to cover radiators and that’s when there are young children around the house.

For a BTU calculator http://www.designerradiatorsdirect.co.uk/

The Four Most Important Things to Remember When Buying New Radiators

It’s important that you do your research before you buy your new radiators. If you buy the wrong radiators, then it can lead to problems. For example, if the radiator doesn’t produce enough heat for the space, then you will simply waste energy trying to heat a room that will never heat up. When buying new radiators, there are four important things to remember. We are going to explore these below.

1. Sizing

All things being equal (e.g. the radiator has the same number of panels, convector fins, and valve types), the size of the radiator determines how much heat it will produce. In general, the larger the room, the larger the radiator will need to be.

You can use on online BTU calculator to work out how much energy the radiator requires, and then choose a radiator that corresponds. You will find, as we said, that the more BTUs a radiator can put out per hour, the larger it will be.

2. Materials

There is some argument concerning the most efficient material from which to make radiators, but most people agree that cast iron and stainless steel work the best of timed central heating systems, while aluminium is best for central heating systems that require quick responsiveness.

3. Orientation

You might find that when you choose the radiator according to BTU/size, that you cannot find a suitably sized horizontal radiator for the room. It could be that you have a relatively large room, but barely any wall space. In this case, you should think about buying tall radiators, rather than horizontal ones.

Also, if you have French doors, it also makes more sense to have tall radiators on either side, rather than one radiator on an adjoining or opposite wall. This is because it’s more efficient to heat cold air as it comes into the room and the reason why experts recommend that you hang your radiators below the window where possible.

4. Style

Finally, once you have established your requirements in terms of the first three conditions, you can then go on to think about style. There are hundreds, even thousands, of different styles of radiator, so you are spoiled for choice!

Are you interested in buying new radiators? If so, please visit DRD