Calculating the stove required based on existing rads Help and information on all topics relating to your central heating, air conditioning and ventilation issues.

[bgengine]

hi,

I'm thinking of getting a stove and running 4 double rads from it ..
I can measure the size of the existing rads, from that, how do I calculate the BTU of each rad ? - I assume I need to total all the rads BTUs to determine what size stove I need ?..

Also, when a spec of a stove mentions it can run 6-8 rads - does that means single rads or double rads ?

[stoneyboy]

bgengine,
Go to plumb center and beg one of their catalogs, this will give you a fair guide to the output of different sizes of radiator.
The stove you are considering should give the specified output from the back boiler - you can then see how many radiators it will run (if it is a multifuel stove the output will be linked to a percentage of full firing output.
end

[rosebery]

How old are the existing radiators? You may mislead yourself if you have old rads but use BTU outputs of equivalent sized modern rads because the modern ones are very efficient comparatively.

I think you should go and talk to the stove supplier/manufacturer.

[bgengine]

thanks guys,

the rads are approx 18 years old ... the house was built then but I bought it so I don't know where they came from ... but I belive they would be considered a Modern rad.