The temperature of your radiators will depend on a few different factors, mainly the size of the room and the radiator. Heating up your home will be most important in the colder winter months when the weather outside is rainy, windy, or snowy. Most families and couples will want to be snuggled at home under a blanket watching something entertaining on the TV. There is nothing worse than a cold home and you can easily prevent this from happening by knowing what temperature radiators should be. Here you can find out more information about the common radiator temperature in the UK.
What Helps You Decide on Room Temperature?
You might need to set your radiators in the house to different temperatures due to the size of rooms and the radiator sizes. An average temperature to keep your radiators at is between ​​20°C and 22°C, any warmer or colder would change your average body temperature as a human. You don’t want to overheat or feel chilly, so use this temperature range as a basis for every room. Sometimes it’s worth investing in room thermometers, especially if you have a baby or young child who needs to be kept warm. Most people have all their radiators connected with a thermostat and can be left at specific temperatures by using the dial on the valve.
How to Change the Temperature on Your Radiator
Most radiators have a dial with 1 – 5 different radiator settings on the valve, you can easily twist the dial and change the temperature up or down. Livingroom radiators work best on the temperature setting 3-4 to keep the whole room warm and cosy, whereas bedroom radiators can be set a bit lower on 2. Make sure you keep radiators off in rooms you aren’t using as this could be a waste of money and it will be reflected on your energy bills. Changing the temperature on your radiator is simple and a little step you should remember to do to save money and keep your home at a consistent temperature. You can find our guide on how to turn on a radiator.
How to Fix a Radiator That Isn’t Heating Up
If you have a radiator set on the warmest heat setting, this will usually be 5, make sure it is working properly. Both vertical radiators and horizontal radiators need bleeding regularly, at least once a year to ensure no air is trapped inside. It’s common to notice the top of radiators, especially with towel rail radiators and bathroom radiators, going cold when they have air trapped inside. If you need some tips on how to bleed a radiator, you can find our radiator bleeding YouTube video and bleeding a radiator guide. We are here to help at Stelrad!
Consider the Season When Setting Your Radiator Temperature in the UK
Depending on where you live, the temperature on days in each season will probably differ dramatically, especially if you like in the UK. Some days will be colder than others and most people use Stelrad radiators in the autumn and winter months, as they are the coldest. The ​​20°C and 22°C optimal room temperature won’t always be appropriate on freezing winter evenings where you might have drafts coming in and you need more warmth. This is an example of an appropriate time to turn up your thermostat and many of your radiators too. The same goes for spring and summer days, it will be likely you’ll need to turn the radiator off or turn it to 1 or 2 if it’s a hot day.
What Temperature Should Radiators Be at Night time?
The temperature of your radiators at night time should be different to the temperature of your radiators during the daytime. If your body starts to overheat at night your sleep will be disrupted, and you want to promote your sleep not mess up your routine. Our bedroom radiators at Stelrad are best set between 16°C and 19°C at night time and some find it useful to time their thermostat to turn off at a certain time. If you’d like to find specific radiators for every room in your home, you can search radiators by room here at Stelrad.
Does the Radiators Style & Design Make a Difference to Temperature Output?
The style and design of your radiator will not necessarily make a difference to the temperature output, but the type of radiator you go for will, this is down to the number of panels and convention fins inside. There is a definite difference in the heat that will be emitted from K2 double panel radiators when compared to K1 single panel radiators, due to the surface areas of the radiators. You won’t always need to put double radiators on higher heat settings as they will likely emit enough heat when on lower temperature settings like 1-2, of course, this completely depends on the size of the room the radiator is installed in. Here are the different types of radiators we stock at Stelrad:
- P1 also known as Type 10, is a type of radiator with 1 radiator panel and no convection fins.
- K1 also known as Type 11, is a type of radiator with 1 radiator panel and 1 set of convection fins.
- P+ also known as Type 21, is a type of radiator with 2 radiator panels and 1 set of convection fins.
- K2 also known as Type 22, is a type of radiator with 2 radiator panels and 2 sets of convection fins.
- K3 also known as Type 33, is a type of radiator with 3 radiator panels and 3 sets of convection fins.
The more convection fins a radiator has, the more power it will have to heat a room. Along with the type of radiator, the colour of the radiator can also have an impact on the heat emitted. Usually, black matt radiators are the best insulators of heat, therefore a black radiator will heat up faster than any other colour. However, not everyone wants to go for a black radiator as it might not match their home interior and aesthetic within the house. At Stelrad, we have a range of coloured radiators and white radiators in our designer radiator collection for you to choose from.
We hope you find out on average what should radiator temperature be for your home so you can set the radiators up in all your rooms. Having all the radiators in your home set on specific temperatures for different seasons and hours of the day can be convenient for you. However, some prefer to regularly change the temperature dials depending on the weather outside. Don’t forget to turn off radiators in rooms you aren’t using to save money on energy bills and do your bit for the environment. Contact us at Stelrad if you have any questions regarding what radiator temperature should be or how to set the radiator temperature in the UK.
