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Replacing old radiators - aluminium??

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  • 15-07-2024 7:09pm
    #1
    Eskarina Smith
    Registered Users Posts: 23 ✭


    Howdy, does anyone know if it's advisable to replace just a few 30+ yr old steel radiators with aluminium ones, leaving the remaining steel rads in use?

    We have oil central heating, rads are all working fine but looking worse for wear. We like the look of the Comfort aluminium rads from Heatmerchants but we heard (though not from a plumber - there's one calling in at the end of the week) that they might get very hot compared to the steel ones, if we are not replacing all our rads.

    We have 14 rads of various sizes, we'd be replacing 3 big ones and one small one.

    The initial plan was to put in radiator covers to hide the tatty ones but replacing them is the preferred option now.

    Grateful for any thoughts.



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    #2
    10-10-20
    Registered Users Posts: 7,084 ✭✭✭10-10-20


    Hi, you've been given some misinformation there by the look of it. Rads give out heat based upon the temperature of the water in the heating circuit. A correctly sized alu-rad should be no hotter than a similarly sized steel one, unless there has been a change made in the heating system. Alu rads do tend to be more efficient due to their lower water volume (you're heating less water overall to heat up the house) but that effect isn't noticeable outside of the operation of the boiler as it still needs to bring the whole system up to the temperature set on the dial.

    So if you did feel that the alu rads were hotter than the rest of the rads (and it was a scald/burn concern) then you would simply turn the boiler temperature down by a notch and reassess the heating again later. As for rad covers - they aren't recommended as they trap the heat and cause inefficiency within the system.

    So yes, by all means you can replace some with aluminium and leave the remainder of the steel ones on the circuit - as long as the new rads are correctly sized.



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