When Vertical Adds Some Style

When I first read about vertical radiators I was somewhat confused as I thought all radiators were vertical.

But then on reflection, many can be described as horizontal as they are longer than they are taller. Despite that fact, there does not seem to be a range of radiators described as horizontal.

It is only when you look at a new radiator catalogue do you realise where the vertical comes from. It probably does not cross the minds of too many of us that there is really no reason why radiators cannot come in many more different sizes and shapes.

This is because most adults have been bought up in homes where the radiator was that five by two foot boring white thin metal slab against the wall behind the sofa.

Homeowners are now realising that in new properties where central heating is being fitted for the first time, or in old properties where a full refurbishment is underway, there is no need to fit boring radiators!

For some refurbishment in older period properties such as Edwardian or Victorian, there is now the opportunity to fit those same cast iron beauties that used to adorn these old buildings.

For very new chic riverside properties where the accent is on contemporary design then the new range of radiators including the stunning vertical radiators can add a touch of class.

The vertical range of slim radiators available in any colour can blend in with simple clear lines and look almost like works of modern art. There is no need for them to look like every other panelled radiator.

They can be a smooth mirror finish in black anthracite or a six foot high bright lipstick red splash of colour on a white wall near the bedside.

The new look radiators are without any doubt a by-product of the new wave of modern architecture we see in the latest office commercial buildings in the great capital cities of the western world.

Modern skyscrapers have to have heating systems just as new art galleries and airport terminals.

For vertical radiators to brighten and warm your home http://www.designerradiatorsdirect.co.uk

When Old Designs Are Still The Best

Have you ever wondered at the point of designers? Obviously when some new invention or technological improvement of an existing item occurs then there may be some point in a designer within the company to re-design an existing piece of equipment.

Most of the time they have nothing much to really do so they try to justify their pay by taking something perfectly designed and working well and then rework it and invariably buggering it up.

A simple example is my steam kettle. The old electric one was a classic steel nettle with a whistle and automatic cut off that lasted forty years until it eventually passed away.

The new replacement apparently won a design award and hence the price which allowed the company enough profit to keep the designer on full pay for another few years before he would have to get his hands on let us say the company steam iron which will suffer the same fate.

With central heating another remarkable discovery has just been made! Something called column radiators are suddenly in vogue and these very smart and efficient radiators are often seen to be replacing the boring white efforts that have been hanging on walls throughout the UK since they first appeared in the nineteen sixties and seventies.

What is extraordinary about these smart looking column designs is the fact that they look suspiciously just like the ones that were removed and scrapped all those forty or fifty years ago to make room for the skinny boring steel ones that are now in turn victims of the scrap man.

The column design radiators actually have a far greater area of exposed metal than the panel radiators and subsequently are a great deal more efficient in heating up a room.

When the gas boiler is gasping its last and the rattling old pipes and radiators keep you awake at night then the time may have come to seize the nettle and rip the whole lot out and replace with a brand new system.

If you do this, the boiler will pay for itself within a few short years and the new shape radiators will finally look like they belong.

Now You Have A Real Choice

When you take over an old property with a view to completely refurbishing it and creating something new, fresh and original then the only problem is knowing when to stop ripping out all the old stuff.

For instance, with the floor alone do you stop at ripping out all the old fitted carpets and underlay or do you carry on and remove the uneven and creaking floorboards? Perhaps after that step you might go the whole hog and remove the beetle eaten joists.

When bringing a middle to late twentieth century apartment’s décor into the twenty-first century it might also be worthwhile removing the whole of the central heating system.

If the boiler is more than ten years old it may still work but it will not last forever and it certainly will not be as efficient as the very latest slim-line wall mounted eco-saver choices on offer.

The other pleasure of removing the old system is the removal of a dozen boring white wall mounted radiators.

Take a look at new catalogues of radiators available today and the choices are sensational from very chic, sleek mirrored effect bathroom radiators to replica Victorian designer radiators.

When you consider the whole simple purpose of a radiator it should make very little difference what the shape is or whether it is thin-skinned steel or heavy and thick cast iron.

In fact the old solid looking cast iron ones are much better at retaining and radiating heat long after the system is switched off than the steel radiators that cool-off much more quickly.

The latest exciting range of radiators means that instead of being a boring white slab of metal against the sitting room or bedroom wall they can be bright painted additions to the overall décor of the room.

It seems it is possible to call anything a designer creation these days but in the case of the new generation of radiators it is worth looking back just a few years when the design of them all was so uniform and standardised that when people ordered new radiators for a new central heating system they didn’t even bother to look at them until they were delivered.

Today the choices are greater with designer radiators at http://www.designerradiatorsdirect.co.uk