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I hear you loud and clear, and I would be fitting stelrad all day long, but alas the aesthetics is of concern to my better half . Hmm.
Jeromeo-
My partner seemed to be instantly swayed the second I demonstrated the £2K cost difference…
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You get the soft line stelrads, with the curved grills they look nice or break the bank and get some new old cast ones, but the prices of them are eye watering!
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but alas the aesthetics is of concern to my better half
You've got to find a balance.
We didn't have a rad in our sitting room, and there was an easy spot in the corner behind the sofa so chose a short ugly one you wouldn't see.
We wanted/needed to move the one in our dinning room to gain space, but didn't want a really ugly thing to be so visible. My one regret was not getting the next size up, as I think we could have got away with an extra panel. But even though it's not as good, I wouldn't change it - it makes the space look smarter and more considered.
Cost wise I'm not convinced. Yes high spec fancy alu colmn rads are more expensive, but our nice looking one was still<£200.
I guess what I'm saying is see if there are spots you can put in a standard practical rad. Then save the form over function ones for where you'll see a visual benefit.
ectoplasmosis
konastab01
hugo7
Vertical column rads are a waste of money. BTU output ratings are only one part of the equation: rads rely on convection to work effectively, and the wider the better.
The nice-looking column style rads, even triple-column, are significantly worse at delivering heat energy, as their surface area is much, much lower than a standard K2-type double-panel double-convector rad of an equivalent size, and the tubular bars are a poor design for promoting convection, unlike the corrugated fins in between normal panel rads that are oriented suitably to generate convection currents. Vertical ones are even worse.
People fit fancy column style rads not because they work, but because all radiators are horrific eyesores and the column ones look less bad.
I wanted fancy rads, but ended up using bog-standard Stelrad K2 panel units in our refurb. This saved over £2K on the radiator bill over column units, means I can run the ASHP at a lower flow temp, and they’ll mostly be obscured by furniture and shit anyway.