Come winter you will be looking for some way to warm up your rooms. Installing radiators is one way to achieve this.

A radiator heats the air which flows through it. Most have fins which increases the area of the hot surface that comes into contact with the cold air making it warm. The warm air flows up (being lighter- this law of physics is the basis of convection) and cold air moves down. When the cold air comes into contact with the instrument it will get heated and move up. This goes on in a cyclical fashion.

While buying radiators you need to take into account factors such as the size of the room, the heating or temperature you want, the heat loss due to windows and door. This would not be a problem if you are replacing an old instrument. You can just buy a new one with the old ratings.

If you are fitting a new room or area which was previously unheated then you need to make some pretty complex calculations. It would therefore help you to take the advice of a heating engineer.

If you have a bigger room, you may have to buy more than one radiator.

Before buying the instrument make sure that you have enough space along the walls. Place the instrument in the coldest part of the room, preferably near a window or a door, so that the cold air coming in will be heated before it reaches the rest of the room.

The airflow around the radiator should be unrestricted. If not, the correct air circulation and the heating will be minimal. Place the instrument a bit above the ground and slightly outward thrusting from the wall.

If you need heating for bathrooms or near kitchen or basin, you could use towel radiators, also called towel rails. Towel radiators have metallic rails on them which heat up. You could hang your towels on these and keep them warm and at the same time keep your room heated up. They provide lesser heating than standard appliances and hence you may have to buy more than one for your bathroom. For a small bathroom buy a tall one so that it will keep your eye off the floor. Towel radiators are also an excellent way to furnish your bathroom since they come in a range of styles and look exceptionally chic.

You should also buy valves for your radiators or the installation would prove difficult.

Once you have these details in hand you can go shopping.