The Latin for hearth is ‘focus’. When we cuddle up against our radiators on a wet winter’s day we are doing what our ancestors have done since time immemorial, searching for a moment of comfort from our home’s heat source. Warmth has always been the focus of any home but thanks to the industrial revolution, homes have been able to benefit from the efficiency and pleasing aesthetics of cast iron radiators since the mid 19th century. For many years this type of heating was the privilege of the wealthy which is possibly why many people still associate cast iron radiators with large country houses. Thankfully, these days we can all enjoy the benefits of the traditional radiator which are not only affordable to purchase but cost-effective to run, visually striking and a terrific investment in your home.

Cooling Off

For many years it seems we fell out of love with vintage style radiators. Aggressive property developers in the 1950s and 1960s bought derelict country houses and stripped them of their assets. Hundreds of thousands of Victorian cast iron radiators, in every conceivable shape and design, were ripped out and sent to scrap yards. They were then replaced by characterless steel examples or, worse still, the dreaded night storage heater. More modest homes were no different. The craze for modernisation spread through every Victorian terrace in the 1980s, where vintage radiators were removed and replaced as cast iron radiators were considered too chunky, too expensive to run and too reminiscent of a previous generation. They jarred with G-Plan furniture and clashed with textured wallpaper, so out they went.

A New Lease of Life

However, recent interior design trends have begun to favour the eclectic look. Eye-catching pieces from every era can be displayed with a modern finish in a building of age. There was a time when finding old school radiators meant trawling the antique markets or reclamation yards for a suitable model, only then to have to fork out for reconditioning, delivery and installation.

Thankfully, those days are over. Happily, it is now easier than ever to find the right vintage style radiator for you and your home which is not only a future design classic but also brand new and fully functional. The interest in home design and renovation has never been stronger and returning a stylish cast iron radiator to the pride of place in your Georgian or Victorian house is now easy and affordable. A radiator of real pedigree undeniably adds gravitas to any modern build or conversion as well as increases the overall value of your home or investment property. It can also do so at a fraction of the cost you might be imagining.

Our Favourite Vintage Style Radiators

 

The Technical Jargon Made Simple

The correct positioning of any radiator is the secret to its optimum output. The best place for a radiator in operative terms is often on a central wall, which of course are the walls we probably don’t want a radiator attached to. How many rooms in your house are spoilt by a big white steel radiator? It is often the case that we try to hide it by putting the sofa in front of it. This simply means that we are spending money heating up the sofa, not the room.

The next step might be to buy a plywood radiator cover of the type favoured by Hyacinth Bucket, which simply hides the real problem. To avoid this horror, the obvious answer is to install a really beautiful cast iron radiator, which beyond giving off a famously consistent level of heat, is also a work of industrial art in its own right. Aside from being available in all decorative styles, sizes and colours, cast iron heats up and cools down slowly, limiting the bursts from your boiler and therefore not wearing the components.

But Is It Good For The Environment?

Cast iron radiators work well with the air source and ground source heat pumps. As well as this, the heat output compared to radiator size is better than steel and cast iron is a better conductor of heat so whilst it is slower to heat up but is longer on delivery.

The lifespan of a cast iron model is also much longer than that of a steel radiator-you only need five minutes in a reclamation yard to appreciate the lasting nature of cast iron! It is clear that we can’t live without radiators at home, so why not live with a handsome one?

The Solution

At Just Radiators, we can help. We are acknowledged experts in our field, based in Lancashire, UK. With an extraordinary range of cast iron radiators available in a range of exciting styles, colours, and sizes, we can help you choose the right piece for any room in the house with our search tool. We stock a wide range of top quality brands and household names, offer fast, free delivery and are 5*Trust Pilot rated. So, whatever your taste or budget, there is a beautiful cast iron radiator waiting for you. Find your perfect traditional radiator today.