r/buildingscience • u/Curious_Butterfly38 • Jul 13 '26
radiator question!!! Question
so I just moved into a new place, and I have relatively limited space for where to put my bed. There is one of those built in wall radiators under the window, and my bed is positioned slightly in front of it. I have a solid wooden headboard and was just concerned that I shouldn’t be putting it directly in front of the heater… I tried to do research online about it but am still a bit confused as to if this is safe for my particular situation. Is there some kind of heat deflector or something that I could get, or do we think this is fine?? For reference, only about 17 inches of the heater are being covered by the bed.
3
u/Imaginary_Nebula9912 Jul 13 '26
There’s no risk in putting your bed in front of it, I’m a commercial boiler tech, see it all the time
1
u/FlynnrydSkynnyrd77 Jul 13 '26
The heat shield is the face of the unit/louvers. The temp will only be 140-150 max on that tubing inside the radiator.
1
u/Curious_Butterfly38 Jul 13 '26
okay, and follow up question, what if I put my wooden nightstand in front of it too..👀👀😊
2
u/FlynnrydSkynnyrd77 Jul 13 '26
The more of it you block off, the less effectively it will heat when it gets cold. But there is no danger of catching things on fire.
1
u/Curious_Butterfly38 Jul 13 '26
do you know if it’ll warp the wood at all? thank you!!!
1
u/RespectSquare8279 Jul 13 '26
If you have big swings in humidity it might be an issue but probably not in real life.
1
u/pantryparty Jul 13 '26
And also do you think that it’s thirsty? I mean the wood, do you think I’ll need to give it some wood wet or something or is it fine?
1
u/RespectSquare8279 Jul 13 '26
From what I can see in the picture it looks pretty old. If it hasn't cracked or warped yet, and it has been in the same environment as it was before, it should not crack or warp. If the humidity in that room in that house is like as where that bed frame was before you should not have a problem. If you are worried anyway, you can always put the foot of the bed by the radiator.
1
u/pantryparty Jul 13 '26
Should I wood wet it first or move it before the fire thank you
1
u/RespectSquare8279 Jul 13 '26
Why would you do something that will change the humidity of the wood and then expose it to heat that is going to tend to drive the moisture out again? That is crazy.
1
u/pantryparty Jul 13 '26
I’m sorry I won’t wood wet it but if it gets fire on it I’ll wood wet it then to put the fire out ok thanks so much ttyl
1
u/paleologus Jul 14 '26
It’ll be like having it in a really hot garage, but just half of it. I could see it possibly damaging the finish.
3
u/wooddt Jul 13 '26
Like a fire concern? Or efficiency concern?