HOUSE AND GARDEN 
October, 1913 
A very simple radiator cover of wooden bead chains is shown here. 
The framework is merely enameled wood which matches the furniture 
Since the air is coldest at a window, the most advantageous place for a 
radiator is beneath the window sill. Here a lattice work hides it 
of the plant being tints reduced, there 
should not be less than 35" between the 
Hoor and the sill if the opening of the 
window is not very wide. This is be¬ 
cause the first requirement for the full 
heating efifect of an uncovered radiator 
is that sufficient air should come in at 
the floor to reach all sides of it and be 
collected over it before escaping. In 
consequence, the radiator cover should 
not be too narrow. With a radiator 
diameter of 8", a distance is required 
between wall and the lattice radiator 
cover of at least 14" if the heating 
bodies are put up in niches in such a 
way that they do not project beyond 
the surface of the wall. With inner 
walls this will seldom be possible, so that the radiators have to 
stand away from the wall. It is recommended not to place them 
with their feet on the floor, but to put them on brackets let into 
the wall. This has to be kept in mind in arranging about the 
entrance and escape pipes. 
There is no need to delay the installation until the floor is fin¬ 
ished and is already laid with linoleum or parquet flooring; later 
it will be but little disturbed by the finishing workers. It is not 
advisable to place the radiators, out of economy, in the corner 
made by a flight of steps or behind doors. With seasonable con¬ 
sultation with the heating engineer it will be possible to place the 
radiators with the least expense, in most cases, so that they occupy 
the smallest possible space compatible with the proper heating of 
the rooms, and to make them, through the adequate covering, into 
an attractive piece of furniture for the room without a sacrifice 
of their utility. 
The heating bodies are most advantageously finished off above 
by a sufficiently wide slab of marble, fastened air-tight to the 
wall, in order to prevent the warm air escaping - upwards, carrying - 
upwards particles of dust and settling them on the wall. Black 
spots and streaks, which are easily formed above radiators, and 
which cannot be avoided in rooms where there are drafts or much 
traffic—such as corridors — arise solely from the fine particles 
of dust which are carried over the radiators in the circulation of 
air and then settle fast on the wall. In such rooms it is advisable 
to finish the walls smooth for as 
great a surface over the radiator as 
possible. 
That the covering of heating 
bodies in a properly arranged plant 
either does not affect the heating 
action of the radiators or only causes 
unimportant losses of heat, has been 
demonstrated by tests. The ground 
for such a supposition is that within 
the radiator cover there is not air 
much heated, but much air moderate¬ 
ly warmed, which escapes through 
wide openings in the upper edge of 
the lattice work, and is distributed 
through the room. It is, therefore, 
necessary for cool air to pass 
through similar openings along the floor, so that the circulation is 
not impeded by the air pouring from the radiators, and its heating 
in a free or sheltered position is not affected. 
Since steam heating now produces a greater heat than water 
heating, and as heat is given off in varying amounts according to 
the size of the heating surface and the diameter of the pipes, 
rules generally applicable cannot be formulated. Still there are 
formulas according to which—taking - into consideration the spe¬ 
cial circumstances—the necessary size of the required openings 
can be reckoned. In general, openings at the floor of 3H" to 4" 
for at least two-thirds of the width of the covering, will suffice; 
the same size for the upper opening, if the covering itself is only 
little perforated, is proper. If the upper opening is half closed 
with a perforated metal lattice work it must be of double width, 
as then only as much warm air can escape above as cold air enters 
below. 
If the whole heating mantle consists of an open lattice work, 
or a curtain of sheet metal plates or bead pendants, the heated air 
is, of course, distributed over a larger surface in the room. Care 
must then be taken that plenty of air circulates freely below, ris¬ 
ing not only between the wall and the radiator but between the 
latter and the hangings, these being placed at a distance equal to 
one-third the depth of the radiator away from it. In other words, 
the common mistake must be avoided of having the heating body 
too close to the hangings or lattice work. At a distance of less 
1 he large openings at the floor permit the cold air to 
pass up and over the radiator and become warmed 
