Timeline for Why are so many radiators installed beneath a window (at least in Germany)?
Current License: CC BY-SA 4.0
17 events
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| May 8, 2022 at 22:09 | history | edited | statueuphemism | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
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| May 8, 2022 at 9:22 | comment | added | pbristow | Something worth noting, just for sharing & conversation, is that usually with modern windows it's going to be the frame and how it's attached to the surrounding wall the creates the most heat loss. Most builders in the US do a poor job ensuring the space been the window and rough-in frame are properly insulated (packing in glass fibers being particularly bad) and then there's usually not a very good airtight seal. Even a cheap vinyl double-pane window will lose more heat at the frame than the glass itself, usually. | |
| May 7, 2022 at 13:57 | history | edited | statueuphemism | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
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| May 6, 2022 at 12:15 | comment | added | Chris H | The need to ventilate moisture build-up can also be reduced using a dehumidifier. This won't replace ventilation but can mean it's needed less often or in fewer rooms | |
| May 6, 2022 at 11:06 | history | edited | statueuphemism | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
Updated to include additional reasoning and reflect discussion in comments.
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| May 6, 2022 at 10:32 | comment | added | statueuphemism | @RedSonja I would bet a Heat Recovery Ventilator or Energy Recovery Ventilator as Ecnerwal mentions is still a more efficient solution for regular air ventilation. I have an ERV in my own home for the same reasons mentioned. Sealed homes are not unique to Germany. | |
| May 6, 2022 at 8:27 | comment | added | Luaan | @André Do the math on how much heat there is in the air. What matters is the heat stored in the room itself (walls, furniture...). That's why it's important to open windows wide for a few minutes - that efficiently ventilates the room while wasting very little energy. It also means the thermostat is largely irrelevant - it doesn't really respond at those timeframes anyway, and most homes with thermostats (in colder parts of Europe) use central heating, so it's not like there's an AC or electric heater that suddenly starts drawing 10 kW or something. | |
| May 6, 2022 at 7:11 | comment | added | DevSolar | Seconding RedSonja. Triple-glazed windows are not that rare. Measuring heat conductivity of a window is done in W/(m2K), or "U-value"; while traditional single-glazed windows rate about 5.8 W/(m2K), modern windows get values below 1 here. | |
| May 6, 2022 at 6:30 | comment | added | RedSonja | In Germany windows are double glazed and usually hermetically sealed, more or less. So moisture and CO2 can build up, causing condensation and mildew. Germans like to air inhabited rooms regularly, and this is normally done by opening the window wide, letting the warm, moisture-laden air stream out, then closing it again after a minute. This does not cool the solid objects or the walls, and the air inside will warm up quite quickly again. | |
| May 6, 2022 at 5:03 | comment | added | Jack Aidley | Why would you open the window? Germans, IME, do, the why is by-the-by. | |
| May 5, 2022 at 22:07 | comment | added | TooTea | @André Modern electronic thermostat valves will typically detect a sudden rapid drop in temperature as an "open window" condition and close or at least stay put instead of opening more. Older mechanical thermostat valves react way too slowly for 5 minutes of cold air to affect them much. | |
| May 5, 2022 at 18:15 | comment | added | Ecnerwal | ...or use an HRV/ERV(heat exchanger for ventilating air) rather than a window to do the ventilating, with far less energy lost. | |
| May 5, 2022 at 17:46 | comment | added | FreeMan | Most likely, @André, you're among a very small minority who want to ventilate a room in the winter when you're also heating. For those of you in that small minority, you're going to have to accept the heat loss, no matter what method of heating you use, nor where the heat source is in the room. | |
| May 5, 2022 at 17:40 | comment | added | André | @GeorgeAnderson yes sure, that is an option :-) I was just wondering about the general issue. But admittedly, for most of the times I would forget/be too lazy to turn it off and on when I just want to ventilate all rooms for 5 minutes. | |
| May 5, 2022 at 17:32 | comment | added | George Anderson | @André Have you considered turning down the thermostat when you open the windows? | |
| May 5, 2022 at 17:14 | comment | added | André | Thanks for your answer. To your question: My feeling is that there would be less "waste" of energy if I want to ventilate the room. If I open the windows and this leads to an almost immediate drop of temperature at the radiator (where the thermostat is usually also located), it will start to heat at full steam. This would not happen (or at least much later) if the radiators were far off the windows. | |
| May 5, 2022 at 16:55 | history | answered | statueuphemism | CC BY-SA 4.0 |