Why radiators are no longer an afterthought in your new build or renovation

Casting an eye for the autumn/winter models that radiate style

Terma Hex offers a startling shattered honeycomb in a wide array of RAL colours. With 50mm fittings at 486mm per panel length, it is stunning when hung as if growing directly out of the wall, and the little jutting peg type parts are perfect for hanging kitchen or bathroom towels if you can stand to hide it. From €530 at B&Q.

RADIATORS are now hotter than ever, but their selection and detailing is often left as an afterthought in the frenetic drama of a build or renovation.

The 1960s “mattress” varieties have survived the aesthetic and thermal purge, but the choice in design, material and finishes now accommodates everything from rococo cast-iron darlings on pawed feet, to daring sculptural imaginings. 

Bisque Radiators are now part of the Zehnder group, and are widely celebrated for their charming designs and wide colour and the textural palette of their products. The Arteplano conceals the heating tubes behind the radiating front panel in various distressed metallic finishes and this perfect mirror finish. Choose a flat colour to match your wall and the Arteplano will disappear into the wall. €1030, Zehnder-radiators.co.uk. Other mirror models, bestheating.ie.

Brass, glass, marble and graphite radiators are making their mark but take the time to explore the thermal efficiency of any off-standard dandy. Skirting varieties can skim behind furniture, while popular vertical columns will take up just a small sliver of available wall.

Reclaimed cast-iron radiators must be sourced from a specialist supplier who will fully refurbish vintage units; sand-blasting, repainting, pressure-testing, replacing any leaking seals, gaskets and installing valves for modern plumbing. Going new, this Arroll Rococo is designed for narrow places such as hallways and landings. It can be rendered in a wide array of dimensions and heat outputs to suit your project; 663mm (h) x 764mm (w), from €512 in range of powder coats, theradiatorshop.ie.

Radiators come in single and double panels (doubling the surface area with a bit of added depth), columns that can be stacked to build your design, and tubes – often used for bathroom rads. Even where an air-source heat pump (ASHP) has evicted your fossil fuel boiler, with a deep-energy-retrofit, underfloor heating cannot always be accommodated in an extant house.

Over 90 years old, the Charleston from Zehnder is an acknowledged classic in tubular radiators and its versatility remains fresh and youthful. An adaptable, elegant system it can handle benches, verticals, curved walls and even angles, and with an open grille sits lightly on walls especially when used white on white. Available with special Zehnder TopCare surface coating to slow the spread of micro-organisms. Build your own radiator in two-six columns finished in the Zehnder colours. Around €250 for 492mm x 496mm horizontal in Gloss White, RAL 9016. Suppliers include versatile.ie.

Upstairs rooms in new builds with ASHP, often require the occasional service of radiators to convect a little warmth in the cooler months.

Fancy a bench radiator for your hallway? Recalling locker rooms at secondary school or the local GAA pitch, tubular steel bench radiators will throw heat to the room as well as warming the surface of the timber top. Try the Milano Windsor Horizontal Anthracite Traditional Cast Style Column Bench radiator 480mm x 1200mm, €795, bestheating.ie, or any of OldSkool range at theradiatorcentre.com (pictured).

Your radiators, whatever their styling, are the emitters at the comfort end of a wet central heating system or powered by electricity. It’s crucial to determine the correct output with your heating engineer, or using a suitable online calculator the British Thermal Units (BTUs) for wet radiators and kWs units for electric radiators. A professional will key in the heat losses and insulation levels of your home, something you might not be experienced enough to work out.

With electric performance, Electricast radiators from Omagh, NI, are ideal low-wattage space heaters, perfect for energy-efficient homes, where the UFH needs a little support. These handsome traditional offer IR remote control to programme the radiators to come on and off up to four times a day. Company founder Shane McCrory recommends running the radiators at 30C, allowing the thermostat to regulate the temperature. The units will even recognise when a door or windows has been left open. 300w/600w/900w from €786. Compliant with the European Ecodesign Directive (2009/12/EC) and the 2014/35/EU, Low Voltage Directive, electricast.com.

Where your home is ultra-efficient (in the B2 plus categories of the BER) a larger, more reactive aluminium radiator (a fully recyclable super-conductor) with a slow flow, and low-surface-temperature (LST)may be more suited to your situation than thermally retentive but slower to heat cast iron or steel. 

If you have conventional CH, the surface temperature of the radiator can be potentially scalding. Fit something like this low-temperature, German 900w Jaga Play which houses the casing away from the heating element in this fun sandwich design with softly rounded corners. It features a BTU-Boost, integrated thermostat, pencil-proof grille and a copper/aluminium heat exchanger. Available in a pink or blue front with mixed colour or monochrome plates. The company also do a good range of trench and permitter rads. Prices from €985.30, design-radiator.eu.

In some instances, a stand-alone electrically powered radiator, with a very low thermal-fluid content and programmable, app-tweaked thermostat, will be all that’s needed. Dual-fuel rads include a summer heating element, so that you don’t have to kick on the CH to warm say, cosy up your ensuite.

This Terma Swale towel rail in gentled industrial style uses a pipe-bending technique, and can carry clothes and towels in dozens of positions. The rail features two very large, chunky round bars formed into a snake-like shape laid over the top of each other. It’s easily attached to a standard 50mm H-block valve. Rubbed metals are ideal against the AW22 trend for highly glazed tiling. It’s priced at €409.99 in copper, black or white, wayfair.ie.

Keep in mind, that if you windows have low “U” values, there’s no need to dutifully site a radiator underneath the sill. The uncontrolled currents of yesteryear will no longer push the warm air around the room. Knowing the sizing and output is correct, it’s up to you to decide how present you want your radiators to be. 

Dry electric underfloor radiant heating with touch thermostatic control, offers the toe caressing warmth of wet UFH under tile, without any expensive chasing back into the existing floor or new screeds. Suited to smaller spaces including family bathrooms, they can be set to run at 25C, and then set-back to 16C to 18C if the mats are the sole form of heat in the space. Ensure you talk to your tile installer as they will have to allow for the slender installation depth of the mats. Expect around 0.15c per square metre of tile to run for six hours at a time with a very even spread of gentle heat from loose cables or dedicated mats. From €128 for two square metres, Ecofloor Electric, deluxebathrooms.ie.

Painted in white or a dramatic colour drench to match the walls, a panel or column radiator sill all but sink vanish back into a little texture. Still, there’s nothing to stop you celebrating some scorching style with a generous palette of RAL industry colour now on offer with many brands.