Radiator on its side

[Sam Takoy]

Hi,

Can an old style cast iron radiator be mounted sideways?

Thanks,

Sam

[George]

You have included way too many details for anyone to sift through and to formulate an answer...

[Sam Takoy]

...or will the water not flow right?

[Han]

Sam Takoy wrote in news:hl6uhj$ljg$ [e-mail]:

Water flows always left, so you're out of luck.

Does your system have a pump or does it rely on gravity? Water really tends to rise when warm, descend when cooler.

[Han]

Han wrote in news:Xns9D1E95E47FE42ikkezelf@

207.246.207.163:

BTW, I know nothing about plumbing or HVAC.

[ransley]

Mount it anyway you want, but you need to bleed out the air for HW to get full heat and the bleed holes ive seen are on the side, steam doesnt have that problem, you get heat. A HW radiator half full of air doesnt seem to do much.

[Van Chocstraw]

Not without looking stupid.

[hrhofmann]

Is it a hot water or stems system??? For starters you have to tell us a little more than nothing!!!!

[Caesar Romano]

On Sat, 13 Feb 2010 14:15:13 -0500, Sam Takoy wrote Re Radiator on its side:

If you mean rotating it sidways on it's vertical axis, yes. If you mean laying it on it's side, then no.

[Ed Pawlowski]

Sure if you do it right. You Cannot lay it on the floor and get much heat out of it. It has to be raised a bit so air can flow through to keep convection going. It must also be vented properly so as not to be air bound.

[Sam Takoy]

Thanks for the responses.

Yes, it's hot water with a pump. Yes, I meant laying it on its side. The reason I was asking is that I have an area that's 36" wide and 12" high under a low bay window. I've gather that if I turn it sideways, bleeder up, and support it about 2" from the ground, I'll be OK. If I misunderstood, please let me know.

Thanks again,

Sam

[aemeijers]

Eh- it may work, for awhile. I'd get it flushed and in general rebuilt (bead blast, coat of the correct paint) while it is out- crud that has built up here and there may move around once the direction of gravity changes. But seeing as how the side has no feet, supporting it well will be a pain. Be awful sad if it wobbles and falls on somebody's foot.

All in all, I'd be inclined to search any nearby salvage yards for one that will actually fit, or hold your nose and get a modern finned radiator with a metal housing around the coils. Any big cities near you? They generally have a place that carries old radiators and plumbing, from remodels and teardowns.

But I'm not a pipefitter- what do I know?

Let us know how it all works out, please.

-- aem sends...

[ransley]

Cast iron baseboard might be better, you wont get but half the air out using a verticle radiator horizontaly unless you have and can open and tap into, a bleeder port so it on the top, not the side, you want all the air out.

[Jim Elbrecht]

-snip-

For all that work, in a room that *really* needs the heat because of that bay window, I'd want the most efficient radiator. I'm not that familiar with hot water heat, but I'd be shopping [even at scrap yards if money is an issue] for a radiator built for that spot.

Jim