Which radiator should I use?

If you are researching new radiators for your home, please speak to your heating engineer to discuss the options available to you. It is important that the correct radiator size is specified for each room within your home and this will be determined by several factors including:

- The heat output required to offset the heat loss for the space the radiator occupies – a heat loss calculation should be carried out for your property and this will determine the size of heating appliance (such as a boiler or heat pump) that is required to heat your home. This heat loss calculation is worked out by carrying out a separate calculation for each room and these calculations are then used to determine the heat input required to satisfy each room.

- The heating appliance being used – different heating appliances provide different output temperatures. For example, a condensing gas or oil boiler will typically provide a flow temperature of 70ºC and a return temperature of 60ºC. Whereas an air source heat pump will supply a flow temperature of 50ºC with a return temperature of 45ºC. With lower temperature outputs, as provided by heat pumps, an increase in the radiator size will need to be applied and this is done by selecting the correct delta T from the performance data supplied within the Afinia radiator manual. Grant UK’s Design Team can assist you and your installer when designing and specifying aluminium radiators.

- The amount of wall space available to fit a radiator – if you have a large wall available, you may only need a single radiator. Alternatively, you can install more than one radiator in a single room to make up any shortfalls with the output.