Russell,

On Wed, 23 May 2007 02:32:20 +1200, Russell McMahon wrote:

> A friend asks:
> 
> Industry practice is to locate heating radiators (most often fed via a
> reticulated hot water system) under windows.
> 
> Nobody can tell me why this is done and to my mind it would perhaps be 
> the
> worst place from an energy efficiency point of view although there may 
> be
> other reasons (like reducing convective draughts within the room  - 
> which
> can reduce the apparent temperature by several degrees) why it is a 
> good
> idea.

Quite!  This goes back way beyond when people started worrying about efficiency, and were primaruly concerned with comfort - windows (especially 
if they aren't double-glazed) have vast heat-conduction compared to walls, so on a cold day the air inside the window cools down dramatically, 
causing a cold draft to flow across the room from the window.  By warming up this air you reduce the draft, so it feels much warmer than would be 
the case if the radiator is elsewhere.  Anyone who hasn't lived in a drafty house probably underestimates this sort of thing :-)  That's why wing-back 
armchairs were developed, to shield the sitter from the draft flowing towards the open fire and up the chimney.

Cheers,


Howard Winter
St.Albans, England


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