Radiator selection – fool’s economy?
I’ll be running hot water pipes from the boiler to my shiny new second-story dormer soon. The house is a 1918 cape cod, with a 50-year old homemade subfloor radiant system on the ground floor. I’m wondering what type of radiator I should install upstairs. I’ve got access to some old cast-iron beasties removed from my buddy’s renovation project. By and large, how do they compare to modern copper-and-aluminum baseboard models? Are free cast-iron beasties more trouble than they’re worth? Any advice is welcome, thanks!
Replies
I am not an unbiased respondent! (There's a tread around here somewhere from somebody who wanted to get rid of his radiators.)
Radiators, no question! Well worth the effort to haul it up the stairs! Good luck with your project - photos?
I got rid of 4 of 11 of mine for space reasons - still using the others. Baseboard is just a different thing...
Yeah - we had the whole discussion a few weeks ago, so no point in rehashing...
In the end, we all do what seems to be the right thing for our own circumstances - and it mostly works out!
& now...I'm going to get a bowl of ice cream, & sit on the radiator while I eat it...8>)
Okay, I just read the old discussion - like I should've done a few hours ago. I was inclined to go with the iron beasties, and now I'm confirmed. This old slant-fin I found in the attic can get hooked up in the garage or someplace. Besides replacing the chewed-up air bleeders and sandblasting, is there anything else they need before hooking up? Do I need to replace the plugs or anything? Any advice on thermostatic valves?
By the way, for those looking for CI rads, my buddy and I hauled a truckload to our local scrapyard this summer, and I imagine they're in lots of others too. Stacked up like cordwood next to the engine blocks, probably available for sale at $100 a ton. Just in case you're looking.
Paint 'em now (after blasting). Much easier.
I'm not looking forward to painting the 7 I have left.
Cast iron radiators have more "thermal mass" vs baseboard. They can be setup for forced hot water, you just have to make sure they don't leak. I agree on the weight issue, once had to bring 4 radiators up to the 3rd floor of a house, as the plumber "had a bad back" and refused to bring them up. A fun experience as while bringing up the last radiator, wheel fell off the furniture dolly, stranding it on the stairs while I used the belt from my pants to temporarily tie the dolly to a newel post, lest the radiator run down 20 stairs and out the front door of the house..
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Camparisons of the two:
Hydroninc baseboards: very unobtrusive-low profile (2.8 in x 8 in high) , cheapest way to heat with water, easy to find, easy to install, easy to size, easy to cover the room. Cast Iron radiators: classic style, large mass (i.e. potentially more consistent heating, less cycling), nearly indestructable, can easily be individually controlled.
The similarities: both heat via radiation and covection, both are typically in systems that are easily zoned, both can be used with steam and hot water, both are simple heat "emitters" with controls separate and both can be used to heat a spce very comfortably.
The potential downsides of the two devices: Baseboards have low mass and typically casue the system to cycle more often, they are easily damaged, they are not as easily zoned (thermostatic radiator valves are very easy to install, zoning baseboards via stats and zone valves is a little more involved), little style. CI Radiators are expensive to buy new, bulky, very heavy and sometimes difficult to locate in a space, easy(er) to overheat a space, more involved to install and/or move.
A unique compromise is the cast iron baseboard.
"A unique compromise is the cast iron baseboard."
Good stuff, but really hard to find.
Weil-McLain makes it, but it is available "as ordered" mostly. Lead times vary, but 4-6 weeks is standard. I don't know about other mfgr's.
"Weil-McLain makes it"
I've heard the stuff is brutally expensive, to the point of impracticality.
Wholesale cost of complete assemblies is on the order of $17/ft, 5 times the cost of residential hyrodinc baseboard I don't know if that's brutal or not. Both Myson and Runtal radiators could be considered brutally expensive. Burnham sells an imported cast iron radiator, I don't recall the pricing on those, but much it it more than the CIBB.
Another vote for the cast iron beasties. Besides new steam valve thingies, get TRV valves. Have the radiators dipped or sandblasted, then re-paint right away (before oxidation sets in) at least with a metal primer coat. And you might want to have a thread tap handy to clean out the threads of the steam valve things, just in case.
Also, make sure they don't leak BEFORE you spend any time on them. Maybe a plumber around here can tell you a good way to test them.
One way to carry radiators is to get about a 30" piece of pipe that fits through the slats and get one person on each side and each end. You can even wrap the pipe ends with cushioned tape. And you will need four of your strongest friends, since you will need to supervise.