How to fit a vertical radiator

One of the major things we've seen over the last two decades of being in the radiator industry is the increase in the popularity of vertical radiators. The realisation that you are not limited to horizontal radiators has been a liberating discovery for many householders decorating or updating their heating systems.

Many places in the home that were previously out of bounds for a radiator are now perfectly viable options. Utilising upward space next to windows, behind doors or on narrow walls are just some of the many places where vertical radiators can be installed. 

In turn, this allows for greater choice of placement for furniture and other exciting interior design ideas without the worry of blocking radiators or having to install them in one particular place. Many smaller rooms are transformed by some well-placed vertical radiators, making them much more practical living spaces - an important factor in tese days of increased working from home.

If you've got a vertical rad that you need to install then read on. 

Table of Contents

1. Installing a vertical radiator - video guide
2. How to install a vertical radiator in a kitchen
3. The positives of vertical radiators
4. Vertical radiators at TradeRadiators.com

Installing a vertical radiator - video guide

In the video below, James the plumber goes through the process of removing a standard horizontal radiator and replacing it with a vertical radiator.

Vertical radiators are becoming increasingly popular additions to people’s homes because, not only are they available in a fantastic range of designs and sizes, they are an excellent way to heat a room that has limited wall space and where a traditional horizontal rad just won’t fit!

As James explains in the video, before you even think of removing the old radiator from the wall, you need to make sure the system is drained of water, otherwise you will get a messy leak all over your floor!

By following James' instructions, you will will learn how to correctly measure the radiator and how to use the fixing kit (that comes with every Trade Radiators radiator) to properly hang the radiator on the wall.

You’ll also learn some best-practice tips, such as which side to have your air vent and how to determine which pipe is the inflow. The aim of the video is for you to watch a professionally qualified plumber go through the process of installing a vertical radiator so that you feel knowledgeable and comfortable enough to carry out this task at home with your own radiators.

If you do have limited wall space and previously thought that it simply wasn’t possible to get a radiator with enough heat output to satisfactorily heat the room, now you know otherwise.

• Further reading: The Best Vertical Radiators

How to install a vertical radiator in a kitchen

In this additional video, James the plumber tackles the problem many people have in their kitchens - needing to heat the roomup to a comfortable temperature, but with limited wall space.

James neatly resolves this issue by installing a stunning aluminium vertical radiator that slots in perfectly and definitely won’t get in the way. This aluminium beauty will heat up the room quickly and effciently, which is good to know considering te UK's high energy prices. With a small space of only 43cm, James only has a narrow area to work with.

This makes it the ideal space to place a column radiator that is panelled and roughly 1800mm tall. With two heating pipes on the other side of the wall, it is a convenient job to carry out without any major difficulties coming up during the installation process.

• Further reading: The Best Radiators for Kitchens

The positives of vertical radiators

Because we've noticed how popular vertical radiators have become, we thought we'd include a brief list of the benefits of vertical radiators for anyone that is encountering them for the first time. Hopefully, you'll be able to see whether you could incorporate some vertical radiators in your home!

Heat small rooms

As we alluded to above, vertical radiators can work s a great space-saver, making the most of the space higher up on your walls that would otherwise not be used. For areas such as downstairs toilets, box rooms, utility rooms, installing  vertical radiator can be a great way of ensuring they're nice and warm without making the same heat output sacrifices you'd have to make if you tried squeezing in a small horizontal radiator.

Furniture placement options

Many people have wide, horizontal radiators in their homes that can limit where certain items of furniture are placed. Once of the most common pieces of heating efficiency advice is to not block radiators with large pieces of furnture. This is al well and good in theory, but often you have no choice but to put a sofa, for example, in front of a radiator. With vertical radiators, this becomes much less of a problem as the higher postion means much more hot air can circulate around the room rather than heating up the back of some furniture.

• Further reading: Where are the best places to install a radiator in a room?

No loss of heat output

Some people believe that you can't get vertical radiators with high heat outputs, but this is simply not true. There are a huge selection of sizes to choose from when it comes to vertical radiators, including the option of double panel vertical radiators. These riavl horizonatl radiators for their emission of heat, so this is something you don't need to worry about.

Vertical radiators at TradeRadiators.com

Choosing the right radiator for your home or business can be difficult. Luckily Trade radiators are on hand with over a decade of experience to let you know which radiators will best suit a room and perform to a high standard.

With a wide selection of radiators including vertical radiators, horizontal radiators, heated towel rails, contemporary and traditional models and more we thought we would make things a bit easier for you to make your decision by focusing on each option. By giving you the details and information about our radiators we feel you will then be in a position to make the correct choices for your own unique circumstances.

We will be looking at our great range of designer vertical radiators here and why they might be the right radiators for you.