Radiator Too Small

Hi,

The radiator in my new apartment isn't located in the ideal position (i.e. under a window) and isn't big enough to heat the room. Does anyone think it would be worth my while contacting the builder to suggest it's a design fault and ask if he'd be willing to contribute to the installation of an additional rad or should I just bite the bullet and try to find a plumber and shell out for it myself?

I may be wrong but as far as I am aware each room in a house/apartment should be measured in terms of area to heat (Cu. metres) and then the size and number of radiators is decided according to their rating etc. I would imagine there are guidelines for this laid out in the builing regs.Check out the building regs. If it's a new apartment then I would enquire with the builder or your solicitor may help. To add an extra rad now would probably be costly and, as most new apartments are basically concrete boxes, it could turn out to be unsightly if the piping can't be covered.

It may be cheaper to just put in a double rad where the single one is involving a solicitor will cost money & winter will be over before the issue is resolved

Thanks for the replies.

There's no question of me getting my solicitor involved. We didn't exactly part on the best of terms!

The rad installed is a double and is actually quite large. The problem is that I have a bay type window with the couch in front of it and no matter what size the rad is, there's no way it's going to be able to throw heat all the way across the room from left to right AND back into the bay.

When sitting on the couch you can just feel all the cold air from the window behind you falling down on your head.

Have you checked how airtight your window is? I wondered why it was so difficult to heat sitting room, always noticed slight draught. Eventually while opening window i notice how much it moved when pushed slightly. Put candle to window it was blown out straight away. Might be worth looking at. Luckily we re out of there in a months time