A Blast From The Past - The Cast Iron Radiator And Its Modern Day Revival

By Author: Edward Hall
Total Articles: 93
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The cast iron radiator has enjoyed a major revival in popularity over the past few years. Why has the cast iron radiator had such a rapid revival in popularity? An interesting question indeed. Not so long ago original cast iron radiators were being carelessly ripped out of old homes and relegated to the scrap yard, unwanted and for many years forgotten, making way for the modern, less bulky steel radiator. However a huge revival of the cast iron radiator has surged across the UK within both modern and period homes showing up in designer magazines everywhere.

The answer may well be in the fact that in the past few years specialist companies have emerged and carefully crafted reproductions of the remaining original cast iron radiators and offered them to the market at affordable prices. But why would anyone want to reconsider the not so long ago cast iron outcast, a pun if there ever was one.

Does the answer lie in the fact that the cast iron radiator has more character and harkens us back to old memories of school and the yesteryear? Maybe not. Certainly a cast iron radiator is a last a lifetime purchase, people ...
... are refurbishing and replumbing original cast iron radiators that are over 150 years old, how often can that happen with a product!!

Certainly the cast iron radiator is a far better looking companion on a dark cold night to enjoy and feel cosy beside than a cold steel plain radiator, however I don't think it is just the look and new found availability of the old cast iron radiator style that has fuelled this revival.

I feel that the true answer for the revival of the 200 year old method of heating may well lie in the modern requirement for efficiency. Efficiency is paramount to achieve in this day and age. The old ideas are the best ideas and in the case of the cast iron radiator this is certainly true for heating purposes. The base material, cast iron, has a very high heat capacity which means it can hold a lot of heat energy. Because air only requires a small amount of energy to increase in temperature, cast iron provides the perfect medium to continually supply heat to small and large spaces. Metals, such as steel and aluminium, have lesser heat capacity and hence do not do the job so efficiently.

The nature of cast iron also provides us with a more constant consistent heat source without the rapid hot then cold properties of steel. A cast iron radiator once switched off will lose its heat gradually which is far more comforting. Many people who enjoy cast iron radiators within their homes have noticed the gentler ambient heat which radiates from these radiators. Heating your home space with cast iron is also more effective when combating damp or condensation.

So the cast iron radiator is quite literally a blast from the past, basking in a new found glory and being enjoyed by many once more and let's hope this time around they are here to stay now that they have been rediscovered as superior in almost every way.

With many years in the heating and plumbing industry Edward Hall has for sometime now been writing on such subjects as the cast iron radiator, its history and benefitsand imparting his vast knowledge on the subject.