Aluminium radiators

[Red]

My build is at the point where I need to settle on the style,  material ,size etc for the few radiators I will need, so a mix of vertical and horizontal  radiators are required, aluminium is a option although I have no experience of brands to avoid etc ,mhs, K.RAD, Vogue UK, Apollo, Renia etc, guarantees vary from 5yrs to 15yrs along with varying costs, any thoughts experiences etc appreciated 

 

 

[nod]

28 minutes ago, Red said:

My build is at the point where I need to settle on the style,  material ,size etc for the few radiators I will need, so a mix of vertical and horizontal  radiators are required, aluminium is a option although I have no experience of brands to avoid etc ,mhs, K.RAD, Vogue UK, Apollo, Renia etc, guarantees vary from 5yrs to 15yrs along with varying costs, any thoughts experiences etc appreciated 

 

 

We bought three of these for the bathrooms SS So 25 year guarantee 

[tonyshouse]

Do not under any circumstances fill using artificially softened water, it kills them!

 

expensive, doesn’t style take precedence over material so why pay over the odds? 

[nod]

2 minutes ago, tonyshouse said:

Do not under any circumstances fill using artificially softened water, it kills them!

 

expensive, doesn’t style take precedence over material so why pay over the odds? 
 

In a well insulated house we have never used the upstairs radiators So radiators of any description  on the first floor are an expensive Luxury 

[Red]

Visually I can get a  almost identical option in mild steel but I  am trying to look a products with a longer life span so potentially less maintenance in the future hence the use of aluminium, ,the property is relatively well insulated along with the  complete ground floor having UFH, 

 

 

 

 

[PeterW]

53 minutes ago, tonyshouse said:

Do not under any circumstances fill using artificially softened water, it kills them!

 

expensive, doesn’t style take precedence over material so why pay over the odds? 

How ..?? Softened water and inhibitor will protect from any galvanic reaction - otherwise any boiler fitted with an aluminium heat exchanger would fail very quickly (and there are many from the 1990’s still running)

 

 

[PeterW]

1 hour ago, Red said:

My build is at the point where I need to settle on the style,  material ,size etc for the few radiators I will need, so a mix of vertical and horizontal  radiators are required, aluminium is a option although I have no experience of brands to avoid etc ,mhs, K.RAD, Vogue UK, Apollo, Renia etc, guarantees vary from 5yrs to 15yrs along with varying costs, any thoughts experiences etc appreciated 

 

 

Have used acova for years and they are great - now owned by Zehender and the range is very good. 

[nod]

28 minutes ago, Red said:

Visually I can get a  almost identical option in mild steel but I  am trying to look a products with a longer life span so potentially less maintenance in the future hence the use of aluminium, ,the property is relatively well insulated along with the  complete ground floor having UFH, 

 

 

 

 

We had the same issues at previous homes Particularly in bathrooms 

Rust along the bottom 

At least with stainless we won’t have that 

Though we have addressed the condensation problems of previous homes 

Better ventilation Much better extraction Insulated plasterboard throughout the house 

[tonyshouse]

SS can if you are very unlucky pinhole due to crystal imperfections or poor quality steel 

 

black iron oxide can collect in the bottom of rads if no inhibitor is used 

[tonyshouse]

1 hour ago, PeterW said:

How ..?? Softened water and inhibitor will protect from any galvanic reaction - otherwise any boiler fitted with an aluminium heat exchanger would fail very quickly (and there are many from the 1990’s still running)

 

 

 There is a big difference between soft water and artificially softened water. Soft water contains trace levels of soluble minerals and almost no carbonates. On the other hand artificially softened water removes calcium or magnesium carbonated by ion exchanging the metals ions for sodium ions. The result is a dilute solution of sodium carbonate. Unfortunately this solution reacts with aluminium, boilers with Ali heat exchangers warn not to fill with softened water. Inhibitors will not stop this reaction and it can be very aggressive at temperatures above 50, destroying heat exchanger within a year. Generally holes appear and leaks result, first noticed by great clouds of steam from the flue.

 

fortunately water softeners are a minority sport.

[PeterW]

That is way out of date and comes from the early 1990’s and has long been proved a myth 

 

From PureChoice 

 

 

This myth stems from an outdated British Standard BS7593:1992. This standard was revised in 2006 which now includes that softened water can be used providing a suitable chemical inhibitor is used. It appears that some boiler manufacturers still base some of there concerns around this confusion, and the 1992 version. The main corrosion inhibitors, such as Fernox and Sentinel, for years have not had a need to change or consider softened water in their formulations. Consequently it has been easier to say nothing.

But, now Fernox have released a technical bulletin (number 21) which includes the following extract:

“Fernox technical bulletin 21: When a central heating system is filled with base exchanged softened water, Fernox Protector F1 will adequately protect the heating system as long as it is correctly dosed and maintained throughout the life of the system. The correct dose rate of Fernox Protector F1 can be verified using either a Protector Test Kit or a Fernox System Health Check, both available from plumbing merchants.”

As I said, correct use of inhibitor and the use of softened water is absolutely fine. Some boiler manufacturers actually insist on it. 

[tonyshouse]

Herein lies the problem, correct dose for the life of the system, ie not fail safe, = unnecessary risk 

 

I hate things that are not fail safe 

[PeterW]

But the inhibitor neutralises any sodium carbonate and then it is safe for life. The other issue is the OP is talking about radiators which are 1-1.5mm thick, a heat exchanger is substantially thinner and there are more rads than a single heat exchanger.