Living Room Electric Radiators
Customer Questions
The size of the radiators you’ll need to heat your living room will depend on the size of the room, the quality of your insulation and the direction your property faces. You can use our interactive radiator calculator to work out what total wattage will be required to heat your room. Then all you have to do is choose a radiator, or combination of radiators, that adds up to the required wattage.
If you find yourself on the borderline between two radiator sizes, always choose the larger radiator. It’s always better to have radiators which are more powerful than necessary than radiators which are not large enough to heat your room. Under-specifying your heating can leave you cold, and will force your radiators to work inefficiently to try and heat the space. More powerful radiators fully equipped with precision thermostats will simply spend more time switched off, saving you money on your heating bills.
The best place to fit your radiators is a matter of much discussion in the home improvement world. Some people believe it is better to place radiators beneath windows, because this counters the effect of down-draughts from cold window panes and frees up wall space elsewhere in the room. However, other people argue that placing radiators beneath draughty windows wastes energy because the warm air produced by the radiator is immediately chilled by the window pane.
In practice, the best place to fit your radiators is usually wherever makes you feel most comfortable. If you have the right size and number of radiators, your radiators should keep the room warm no matter where they’re placed – but you might be more conscious of window draughts if your favourite chair is near a window with no radiator, for example. There are only two, fairly common-sense rules that you should always follow when placing your electric radiators:
• Do not place your radiators behind obstructions such as sofas, tables or long curtains. The radiators will not be able to radiate heat into the room if their surfaces are covered.
• If you’re heating a larger room that requires more than one radiator, try and space your radiators evenly along the walls. This will ensure an even distribution of heat.
Living rooms with high ceilings will contain a larger volume of air, so they will require more powerful radiators to maintain comfortable temperatures. If your living room has a ceiling height of above 2.7m, you will need radiators with a higher wattage than recommended by our radiator calculator. In this case we recommend speaking to our expert sales team, who will draw up a personalised heating plan based on the dimensions of your room and give you a free, no obligation quote.
At Electric Radiators Direct you will find several heating ranges designed to tackle the heating challenge presented by high ceilinged rooms and open plan spaces. Electric radiators with ceramic stone elements retain heat for longer and push it out at a higher intensity to provide energy efficient heating that reaches into every corner of your high ceilinged living room. Both the Haverland Inerzia range and the Electrorad Aero Flow range use stone heating elements and make an excellent choice in livings rooms with high ceilings.
An open plan living room, just like a living room with a high ceiling, will contain a higher volume of air than standard sized living rooms. This will mean you need more powerful radiators to heat the space. See above for advice on the best radiators to use for heating high-ceilinged and open plan spaces.
We always advise purchasing electric radiators with built in programmers because this allows you to cut down on wasted energy and save money on your heating bills. If you’re out during the day you won’t need heat in your living room until you return – an electric radiator with a programmer will allow you to set the radiator to warm up the room half an hour before your return. Separate programmers on each of your radiators is the best way to control your heating because it allows you to create different heating schedules for each zone in your house. You don’t need the same level of heating at the same times in your bedroom, living room and kitchen – so why not take advantage of independent timers on each radiator to tailor your heating to your needs? It’s an easy way to save energy and money with no loss of comfort.
