Designer radiators: a buyer's guide - Grand Designs magazine

Designer radiators: tips for choosing the right style

A buyer’s guide to designer radiators and the hottest trends for 2021

Promotional Feature By Jennifer Turner |

Unsure where to start with a design radiator for your project? Try this handy buyer’s guide from the experts…

room with modern furniture and multicoloured marilyn monroe radiator

Image: Agadon Designer Radiators

Heating is about more than just warming your home. Increasingly, it’s a major design factor that can create a stunning focal point. We look at five key factors to consider and top tips for choosing the right designer radiator for your project.

Choosing a designer radiator

This guide is to help steer you through what’s important when choosing designer radiators to warm your house. It doesn’t matter where the space is, there will be a radiator to suit it. Whether you’re looking at a total renovation, remodelling the space or preparing to sell, designer radiators can stylishly modernise your interior and transform any space. There are five key factors to consider.

woman on sofa with laptop next to montage of radiators

Image: Agadon Designer Radiators

What BTU output is required to heat the space?

With so much choice, there’s no need to compromise on style. However, it’s vital you get the space and environment measured accurately for the BTU’s required to ensure your chosen radiators can heat the space effectively.

BTU stands for British Thermal Unit and it’s a quick and easy way to benchmark the heat output of a radiator to help you decide if it’s capable of heating the space or not. Agadon Designer Radiators have a free online BTU calculator, so all you need is a tape measure and then you can input the measurements to calculate the BTU needed for the space. You can then decide if you want a single radiator or a combination to heat the space more efficiently.

hand holding smartphone next to room with vertical radiator

Image: Agadon Designer Radiators

Do you need plumbed, electric or dual fuel radiators?

Whether you have a conventional central heating system or not, there will be occasions when you may choose electric over a traditional wet system radiator. It could be that the location makes it too expensive to extend the existing central heating, and electric is a much easier install option.

The key driver is the space to be heated, but if your project is a bathroom or kitchen, you may want to consider dual fuel. A dual fuel designer radiator is connected to both your central heating and mains electricity, which means it can be turned on independently.

The advantage of dual fuel designer radiators is that they’re linked up to the central heating and can be turned on at the flick of a switch if you simply need a single room heating and don’t want the whole central heating system on.

Unsure where to start with a design radiator for your project? Try this handy buyer’s guide from the experts…

room with modern furniture and multicoloured marilyn monroe radiator

Image: Agadon Designer Radiators

Heating is about more than just warming your home. Increasingly, it’s a major design factor that can create a stunning focal point. We look at five key factors to consider and top tips for choosing the right designer radiator for your project.

Choosing a designer radiator

This guide is to help steer you through what’s important when choosing designer radiators to warm your house. It doesn’t matter where the space is, there will be a radiator to suit it. Whether you’re looking at a total renovation, remodelling the space or preparing to sell, designer radiators can stylishly modernise your interior and transform any space. There are five key factors to consider.

woman on sofa with laptop next to montage of radiators

Image: Agadon Designer Radiators

What BTU output is required to heat the space?

With so much choice, there’s no need to compromise on style. However, it’s vital you get the space and environment measured accurately for the BTU’s required to ensure your chosen radiators can heat the space effectively.

BTU stands for British Thermal Unit and it’s a quick and easy way to benchmark the heat output of a radiator to help you decide if it’s capable of heating the space or not. Agadon Designer Radiators have a free online BTU calculator, so all you need is a tape measure and then you can input the measurements to calculate the BTU needed for the space. You can then decide if you want a single radiator or a combination to heat the space more efficiently.

hand holding smartphone next to room with vertical radiator

Image: Agadon Designer Radiators

Do you need plumbed, electric or dual fuel radiators?

Whether you have a conventional central heating system or not, there will be occasions when you may choose electric over a traditional wet system radiator. It could be that the location makes it too expensive to extend the existing central heating, and electric is a much easier install option.

The key driver is the space to be heated, but if your project is a bathroom or kitchen, you may want to consider dual fuel. A dual fuel designer radiator is connected to both your central heating and mains electricity, which means it can be turned on independently.

The advantage of dual fuel designer radiators is that they’re linked up to the central heating and can be turned on at the flick of a switch if you simply need a single room heating and don’t want the whole central heating system on.

Image: Agadon Designer Radiators

Should you choose a horizontal or vertical radiator design?

In terms of heating a room, both vertical and horizontal radiators have equal BTU heat outputs, so it doesn’t really matter whether the radiator you choose is horizontal or vertical. Once you know your BTU requirements, the choice of vertical or horizontal can be made based on the aesthetic of the room and what you’re trying to achieve in terms of design and style.

Need to heat a smaller or awkward space? Vertical radiators are a fantastic space saving option for heating smaller or awkward shaped rooms. This is because a horizontal radiator can often take up too much valuable wall space, restricting flexibility on how the space is used. Whereas a vertical designer radiator can fit into small spaces and use the height of the room to emit the heat required for the space.

Vertical radiators can even fit into a corner to ensure the maximum wall space is kept free from a fixed feature.  In some rooms, the most efficient wall space to use is under a window, something which naturally suits using a horizontal radiator.

woman in glasses next to montage of different radiator types

Image: Agadon Designer Radiators

A bold statement or a subtle, colour coordinated design feature?

Whether you’re considering doing a full scale renovation or just looking to revamp a tired looking room, selecting the right designer radiator can often add the one feature which makes or breaks the feel you’re trying to create. Which is why, once you have the heat BTU output calculations sorted, you may still find choosing your perfect designer radiator a challenge. With so many styles, shapes and colours to choose from, it can be daunting.

hand holding colour chart in room with blue walls bed and radiator

Image: Agadon Designer Radiators

Interior design tips for choosing the right designer radiator

Whether your scheme is contemporary, vintage, funky, quirky or gobsmackingly amazing, your designer radiator will influence the personality of the room. While it obviously comes down to your personal taste at the end of the day, remember that the designer radiator you choose should always look nothing less than fantastic in the space where it is going to be installed.

A subtle, colour coordinated design feature

One way of selecting a designer radiator that’s both subtle and stylish is to have a custom size and colour. Agadon Designer Radiators can make a radiator to the size and powder coat to a vast range of RAL colours. This means you can select your colour scheme and have a radiator made within 6-8 weeks to provide a sleek, colour coordinated understated design. This is great if your interiors scheme is already quite strong, as it won’t distract the eye away from key focal points.

A bold statement piece

Designer radiators are the perfect way to make a bold statement in your home. A vertical designer radiator can add a sense of style to your room with a bold choice of colour and height. A horizontal designer radiator provides a creative and exciting way to improve the look and feel of any room without breaking the bank. You can choose a visually striking shape and material to give the room a sculptured focal point and add the ‘wow factor’.

Designer radiators hidden in plain sight

Art radiators are a great way to have a bespoke artwork, family portrait or favourite picture combined with a radiator. Here at Agadon Designer Radiators, we supply a wide range of wall art radiators which can add a real streak of personality to your living space, available as single or duplex, in two stock sizes. Bespoke sizes can be made to order and delivered within 4-6 weeks. We can also make bespoke printed radiators using your own favourite image if you want us to.

Mirror radiators combine designer beauty, function and provide great heat.

Mirror designer radiators are practical, modernise your interior and transform any space, especially bedrooms, hallways and smaller spaces like bathrooms. Hallways are usually unconventional, with lots of doors and generally a hard to heat space. Typically a mirror is used to reflect the limited light, create the illusion of more space and provide the practicalities of a quick check on how you look before leaving the home. Mirror radiators are also ideal for use in the bedroom or bathroom because when the heating is on, the mirror won’t steam up.

room with wooden floor mirror grey chair and city view

Standard size or a factory order bespoke designer radiator?

You can also order unique designer radiators to your precise size and colour – because sometimes it just has to be perfect! With factory special designer radiator orders you can have a size and colour finish unique to your dimensions and RAL colour, perfect if you have a strong idea of what you want.

woman with headphones on in living room next to modern radiator

Contact Agadon to discover more about their range and a range of services that includes free next day delivery on orders placed before 5.00pm, interest free credit and a 10 years ‘no quibble’ manufacturers guarantee.

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