The Radiators Resource

If you have a cast iron radiator at home that isn’t housed in a radiator cabinet, you’re doing yourself a great disservice on multiple fronts. Radiator cabinets are absolutely essential because they provide many different advantages to your home. In essence, a radiator cabinet is not dissimilar from a radiator cover in terms of appearance or function. What separates the two is merely a turn of phrase. While the specific benefits will vary from unit to unit, pretty much all radiator cabinets will provide added functionality, appearance, and safety to whichever cast iron radiator they are placed around.

A radiator cabinet adds a lot of utility to a cast iron radiator. Ordinary radiators serve as mere heating units. While they do a great job of this, their functionality stops there. Radiator cabinets provide a solid foundation over the radiator where objects can be placed without cause for concern. In essence, it reclaims the unusable space above a radiator. Unlike radiator covers, cabinets often include extra space in an interior which can open up to multiple shelves.

Another reason why you need to get a radiator cabinet is that it significantly improves the look of any room it is placed in. The fact of the matter is that cast iron radiators can look distracting or distasteful as they age, especially if they haven’t been taken care of well. Radiator cabinets hide this eyesore, replacing it with an aesthetically pleasing unit. Many of the best radiator cabinets are made of fine wood. Others have clever facades which provide the illusion of bookshelves or fireplaces. Your choice should ultimately reflect your own personal tastes and the other furniture in the room.

In addition to the extra utility and exceptional looks, radiator cabinets are also important because of their safety benefits. A bare cast iron radiator can be a significant hazard, especially to flammable substances or small children. A radiator cabinet serves as a barrier between the fragile people and items you care about and the hot iron coils of the radiator. Pretty much every radiator should have a radiator cabinet if only for the safety benefits.

A radiator cabinet is an excellent investment for any home because of the many benefits it provides. For safety, an improved aesthetic, and added utility, you receive excellent value in a radiator cabinet.

Do you find yourself looking at a cast iron radiator, unsure of what is what or where to begin? The best way is to become educated on the composition of the radiator as well as the reasoning behind it. What does each part do? Why cast iron, anyways? What is the purpose of painting or coating the radiator? Does size matter? There are many questions, so let’s see if we can’t find some answers.

Cast Iron - the Ideal Metal for Heating Your Home

The scientific reason why cast iron is used for radiators is that it has a high specific heat capacity. In everyday terms, this means that it takes a lot of energy to increase the temperature of the material. Why is this a good thing? Well, the harder it is to increase the temperature, the more energy the material stores per degree. So once you get it hot, there’s a huge amount of energy stored. This makes it easy to heat things that don’t require much energy to increase in temperature, like air. The specific heat capacity is also why cast iron is a common choice in other fields where it’s used to heat other things, like in cooking.

The Anatomy of the Radiator

A radiator is made of a few key parts. First you’ll see a few pipes that lead in to your unit. There’s typically only one or two. A valve will be attached to one of them. The radiator itself will have many sections and a few columns. The sections are the number of coils present, and the columns are how many repetitions of these sections go back. And that’s all there really is to a cast iron radiator, fundamentally.

Why So Many Coils and Tubes?

The trick to this one is knowing how radiators work in principle. Heat is coming off of the surface of the hot iron and flowing into your room. The transfer of heat to the air only occurs at the surface of the radiator. So manufacturer’s put in all sorts of coils and fins and loops in order to increase the surface area, thus making the heat flow from the radiator into the room much faster and more efficiently.

Radiator Size

The size of your radiator basically determines how much heat it generates. This relates back to the coils and tubes question. Basically larger radiator equals more surface which means faster heating.

The Purpose of Paint

Painting a radiator isn’t just about the asthetic of your room. It also plays a key role in determining heat output. Since the 1930’s, people have been painting their radiators in order to reduce the amount of heat it puts out. So if you’re radiator is too large, and your house is getting too hot, the cheapest solution is likely good ole fahsioned paint.

Fundamentals

That’s basically the entire fundamentals of cast iron radiators. Remember to be safe - if you’re unsure of how something works, it’s always better to ask questions than t potentially injure yourself.