radiator covers and heat loss

I put some narrow shelves over the radiators, so that the unsightly fins were hidden. Even that reduces heat output. These fretwork things probably halve the output (guess).

Isn't this recommended to deflect warm air away from cold windows/walls and into the room?

I wonder if the enclosure helps convection. It does present the opportunity to fit a blower.

Dunno, I just wanted to hide the view down the back of the radiator! I cut some thin boards (1/2" planed) to fit down each side of the radiator (lower ends sitting on the radiator tail) with a piece of 1" planed sitting on top, with a moulding run on the under edge, and abour 2 1/2" of gap between the top of the rad. and the shelf.

That does the trick, but it's another source of background noise. Don't get me started on my fan oven. Drat. Too late!

No it doesn't help convection, unfortunately. The conventional wisdom from the HVCA says that heat output is typically reduced by at least

Adding a blower would help, but that adds noise as well.

The only way round it is to fit larger radiators if the same output is needed. That then begs the question of whether large radiator with cover looks better than smaller one without, or perhaps multiple smaller ones.

If the radiators are barely adequate, I'd at least double their size before adding covers. /All/ covers will seriously affect output.

Have you considered fan convectors?

Really, don't do it. They look naff, and will halve the radiator output.

If you really hate them, maybe you can splash out on fancy designer rads?

Thanks to everyone for such speedy replies - that's sorted then, I'll just have to clean out all the dust down the back and put up with them. The info about the shelf was interesting too, as that was another option I'd thought of, but I can't afford to lose the heat.

Many thanks to all

What's driving these radiators? If you did put a shelf up, it would restrict the heat output a little - however, you could quite easily add an extra radiator or two to compensate. They needn't be large!

Yep. The shelf was probably too low.

Most house do not have the boiler on full temperature, because it makes the radiators too hot. Having the covers then mean the temperature can be raised to max. This will probably do in most cases.

Myson do some nice fan convectors. They have the Kickspace for the kitchen, which eliminates a radiator, and also a high level unit that looks like an a/c unit. Smiths have a ceiling unit. The fans can be run in summer to circulate air and give limited cooling. Then you can choose some designer rads.

A string of 50p PC case fans running on 5v are pretty well inaudible, use relatively little power and should last forever.

Also gives the opportunity to reverse the airflow and get warm air blowing across the floor, which would be better in a poorly insulated house.

What's wrong with fan ovens BTW?

cheers, Pete.