Radiator Heat

[jennyjoan]

I have the armchair of the leather suite up against a radiator because of the situation of the room. The radiator gets very hot and I am worried about the heat sorta ruining the back of the chair. At the moment I have a throw over the chair and it covers most of the back of the chair. I don't like throws at all.

years ago I remember reading about heat deflector foil or something like that.

if that doesn't do I was thinking of putting a thin towel over the radiator to protect the chair.

any other ideas please.

[SparklyKid]

Why bother if you cannot see the back of the chair.

[jennyjoan]

Sparkly the radiator gets very hot as I am very cold rife and I am afraid of the heat "melting" or marking the back of the chair.

[barry1010]

If the chair is blocking the radiator very little heat from it will be getting in to the room. Unless it is the only radiator in that room, turn it off

[jennyjoan]

barry it is only the heater in the room - not a very big room indeed

[gingejbee]

Two points...the leather will dry out and crack in the heat, even if covered and
a good portion of the heat being radiated is simply heating the chair rather than the room ie wasting energy and increasing bills.
Radiators need to be in a clear space to be efficient...ideally find a better place for the chair.

[gingejbee]

Another thought...although a leather chair - are you sure that the back is actually leather? It's fairly common for some parts (like backs) to be faux leather (ie PVC, polyurethane etc). Maybe, maybe not!

[Atheist]

The radiator does not work mainly by radiating heat, it works mainly by convection, i.e. the air touching the radiator rises and circulates round the room. Although the chair back might get hot, the radiator should still do its job. If you could move the chair slightly forwards you might have room to put something between the chair and radiator; something like a fireguard with foil over it. I can't think of a simple way to do this. A handyman might be able to put together a vertical wooden support using slats of wood with little wooden feet at right angles to the radiator, and then foil could be draped over it (the wooden support) down the front and back with some adhesive tape holding the bottom edges together. I wouldn't recommend covering the radiator itself, as that would cut down the heat available to warm up the room.

[jennyjoan]

Atheist you are right - the radiator and it is only a single one gives out superb heat. I will try and think of an idea that would keep the chair away from the radiator a bit. Yes covering the radiator would lose some of the heat.

[davebro]

Turn the temp of your central heating (water - not the room thermostat) down a bit. Rads shouldn't be so hot they can burn you.

[fender62]

surely the radiator has a thermostatic radiator valve on it, you can adjust that so it's not to hot.

[jennyjoan]

davebro - mine can hurt you but there's no one here but me and I have turned my boiler outside to the lowest ie number 1

[davebro]

PS - the heater deflector foil you mention is probably the foil you stick on the wall BEHIND the radiator so that heat isn't lost to/through the wall.

[davebro]

or fit a radiator cover?

https://www.homebase.co.uk/bathrooms-plumbing/radiators/radiator-covers.list

[jennyjoan]

I have a radiator cover in the hall for "decorative reasons". They can be bulky but I have quite a big hall so it is not too bad but I don't want any more furniture.

Am thinking of sort of "bricks" at the back legs of the chair.