hot hot heat

October 21, 2005 5:43 PM

what are the facts on heat, fire, and old brownstone radiators?

i live in an older brownstone in brooklyn, nyc, which is (naturally) pretty small. i have to be creative with my furniture, bedding, etc, and wondering about how hot do these things get? is it ok to have sheets and/or curtains touching them? will they ever start a fire or do they never get *that* hot?

posted by yonation to Home & Garden (7 answers total)

I'm from the UK so have no actual idea about the specifics of this sort of radiator but do you know if they are oil or water filled?

An oil filled one could potentially get hot enough to cause fires, I don't think water is likely to get hot enough to ignite anything though.

Remember that once things get >60C your body is pretty crap at working how hot it actually is and things just give you that nice burning sensation :)

Apparently the ignition temperature of cotton can be as low as 130C in normal conditions. I would expect that bits of brooklyn would be constantly on fire if they got *that* hot though. That and all the law suits for burn injuries....
posted by alexst at 6:01 PM on October 21, 2005

We have radiators. We leave stuff on them all the time, and nothing's been burned yet. One of our beds butts up against a radiator (the bed sheets touch it) and it's been fine for years.

Once in a while in the winter, when I come in from outside and I'm absolutely chilled to the bone, I sit on them for a few minutes. Ahhhhh hot hiney heat! Nothing like it.
posted by iconomy at 6:32 PM on October 21, 2005

First, you need to figure out if you have hot water radiators or steam radiators. Hot water radiators get ~165 at the most, while steam radiators can crack 200 (being steam, as you would expect).
posted by true at 7:05 PM on October 21, 2005

Response by poster: I would imagine they are water because they are silent and never release any steam. I don't think they are oil because i can definitely touch them and not feel like it's burning too hot, or could I not really tell this way?
posted by yonation at 9:59 PM on October 21, 2005

I was just reading about New York radiators. It's not an answer, but it might lead you to one.
posted by granth at 8:13 AM on October 22, 2005

I leave the furniture a couple inches away from steam radiators. The heat would be bad for fabric in the long term, and I'm a sissy about fire. Radiators warm the place up fast, and I like them. Put your towel on the radiator before you shower. I painted the radiators in my house the same color as the wall or trim, depending, and they look much better.
posted by theora55 at 10:25 AM on October 22, 2005

A (metal) pan of water kept on the radiator acts as a humidifier, I've heard.

Now, if only my landlord would turn on the heat....
posted by elisabeth r at 8:58 AM on October 23, 2005