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Post by Chuckie on Feb 28, 2018 16:29:58 GMT -5
I've wanted one of these from way back when I worked in the plumbing shop @ Fort Leavenworth. A lot of the old officer's quarters had them in the dining room. The decorative tin pieces that went in the door are missing, but I'd get tempered glass and have a design "etched" into it IF I bought this. And now we no longer have steam heat in the place, and this comes along in St. Joe, MO--about an hours drive from here. Dwayner is on the sidelines cheering my on, telling me to go buy it anyway. Just what I need---more junk in the garage!!! *sigh* kansascity.craigslist.org/atq/d/vintage-radiator/6512685481.htmlHere's a pic if the link dies: CHEERS! Chuckie
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Post by vaporvac on Feb 28, 2018 17:09:35 GMT -5
Commented on the other site, but just saying this is wonderful!!!!
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Post by pattyhunny on Feb 28, 2018 17:25:14 GMT -5
Chuckie, that is too cool, yes you need it!!!
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Post by nana on Feb 28, 2018 20:18:55 GMT -5
A warming oven radiator. Will wonders never cease? You need this, Chuckie, to preserve it for posterity!
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Post by Chuckie on Mar 1, 2018 7:52:27 GMT -5
A warming oven radiator. Will wonders never cease? You need this, Chuckie, to preserve it for posterity! As JAM-PACKED as this shack is, something in the dining room would have to GO before this could come IN! We have a barrister's case on the north dining room wall near the butler's door to the kitchen that I could move "somewhere". That would make the radiator the focal point when you enter the room, and also be on the "coldest" wall in the room. Not to mention convenient to the kitchen! The main thing will be when I go view it is, does it LEAK or is it corroded beyond use? I googled electric radiator conversions, and they DO make such a device, MUCH to my DELIGHT!!! It is a rod w/a thermostat on the end that goes in the bottom of the radiator where the supply line (steam or hot H20) used to flow in/out; it can be plugged in, or hardwired---I'm certain you'd need a designated outlet w/a heavy-duty breaker, like some AC window units have, as they're probably 220 volts. You then fill the radiator with water and glycol mix, then set the temperature to what you'd like. And it being free standing wired this way, I could conceivably move the radiator's locale should I change my mind later... Here's what the device looks like: I'll make sure the radiator is SALVAGEABLE before I follow up on the electrification aspect. Stay tuned.... CHEERS! Chuckie
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Post by nana on Mar 1, 2018 18:12:55 GMT -5
You're already making room for this in your mind, so when you ultimately bring it home and convert it, please post pictures and let me know if the conversion kit comes in different sizes because I want a redone radiator in my bathroom someday!
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Post by Chuckie on Mar 1, 2018 23:21:51 GMT -5
You're already making room for this in your mind, so when you ultimately bring it home and convert it, please post pictures and let me know if the conversion kit comes in different sizes because I want a redone radiator in my bathroom someday! Shush your gob, nana! The device is N-O-T in the house---- YET! CHEERS! Chuckie
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Post by nana on Mar 2, 2018 7:33:20 GMT -5
The smart money is on it being there soon, though!
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Post by Chuckie on Mar 5, 2018 22:49:39 GMT -5
The smart money is on it being there soon, though! W-E-L-L-L-L-L, I succumbed, and bought the damn thing!! Here's the house it was stored at---can you say Bates Motel?!! It actually came from a home in St. Louis though that they had restored previously: I guess I was "jittery" when I was there, by the looks of the rest of the pix I took. This one just gives you an idea of what the inside looked like. Notice the quarter-sawn oak archway/staircase---OMG, GORGEOUS!! Sorry this came out like this, but you get the gist: Here it is in the back of the Subaru:It don't LOOK like much, but OMG, was it H-E-A-V-Y!!! We went out to my nephew's house to work on the St. Pat's float Sunday, and I asked the one neph to come help me unload it. He conned another nephew into coming too, and they were laughing their asses off, saying I was "getting old, and turning into a sissy" (or similar words). When they got ahold of it, they were like "OMG, how the HELL did the TWO of you old geezers get that in the back of the car BY YOURSELVES?!!" So I was vindicated a bit, although I'm STILL walking stooped over. My one retired Navy nephew that power-lifts at the gym thought it weighed "well over 200 pounds". I shall have to weigh it at some point, but--trust me--I don't think somebody will be carting it off soon! The top warming oven portion appears to have been nickeled or chromed at one point. Here's a pic so you get the idea why I think that. TH Brooks Company, Cleveland, OH is what it reads. I did a QUICK google search, nada. I smell pooka coming on the scene here to research... I haven't decided WHAT I'm gonna do yet towards restoration, other than FIRST checking it for leaks. I'd really rather fill it with OIL like they do the 'new' electric radiators rather than H20/glycol, as I don't want it to rust out. Although if it hadn't rusted out by THIS point, it may NOT. HOWEVER, it has the top steam vent, so guessing it was STEAM rather than hot water heat, so it never really "held" water. I got an "old guy" that I used to work w/in the Plumbing Shop that was a steamfitter, so I'm gonna TRY to rope him in on this... Will keep you posted... CHEERS! Chuckie
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Post by nana on Mar 6, 2018 17:43:21 GMT -5
It was a foregone conclusion, Chuckie!
Man that is some house. It looks like it sits on a hill. I didn't know they had those in Kansas! I'm imagining all the things you could warm in that radiator, especially if you can control it with a thermostat to be a gentle, non-cooking sort of heat. I would keep my boots and shoes in there. What a luxury to put on warmed boots before you go out in the snow!
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Post by Chuckie on Mar 7, 2018 22:17:09 GMT -5
It was a foregone conclusion, Chuckie! Man that is some house. It looks like it sits on a hill. I didn't know they had those in Kansas! I'm imagining all the things you could warm in that radiator, especially if you can control it with a thermostat to be a gentle, non-cooking sort of heat. I would keep my boots and shoes in there. What a luxury to put on warmed boots before you go out in the snow! It was in St. Joseph, MO, about an hour north of here. That's dwayner's fave antique haunt. CHEERS! Chuckie
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Post by pattyhunny on Mar 8, 2018 11:01:43 GMT -5
I have never been around a radiator. Grew up in ok and moved to Texas, not many radiators around . Are they wonderful?
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Post by nana on Mar 8, 2018 17:25:45 GMT -5
Yes! Radiant heat makes you feel warmer than just hot air. If you have a steam system instead of hot water, it makes all kinds of wonderful noises, too: clanks and hisses and whistles and sighs. As a child I loved hearing them. It was the sound of comfort, and each radiator had its own special music. I even loved the smell of hot dust the first time the heat turned on in the fall. I know the hot water systems are more efficient and practical, but they're a lot less interesting. My mother in law has lived in Florida for decades now, but when she turns on her forced hot air because they're shivering at 60 degrees, she still tells me "I had to put the steam on". I love our geothermal system, but if I could snap my fingers and have steam radiators I would do it in a heartbeat!
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Post by jhmack on Mar 11, 2018 9:13:17 GMT -5
Chuckie, that is SERIOUSLY awesome. I grew up in a house with radiators, Nana, and I remember the sounds you describe, and the ritual every year of my dad and his radiator key.... I never saw or heard of a warming cupboard radiator, though, until Chuckie's post.
My sister still lives in St. Paul, and she used to have a radiator that had a built in humidifier! It was a drip trough on the top front of the radiator. The system let water into the trough, and the heat from the radiator would evaporate it to humidify the house. It was the neatest thing--those old pipefitter HVAC folks got pretty creative!
Congrats on your cool acquisition, Chuckie. Or I should say HOT acquisition...
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Post by Chuckie on Mar 11, 2018 9:27:29 GMT -5
My sister still lives in St. Paul, and she used to have a radiator that had a built in humidifier! It was a drip trough on the top front of the radiator. The system let water into the trough, and the heat from the radiator would evaporate it to humidify the house. It was the neatest thing--those old pipefitter HVAC folks got pretty creative! Congrats on your cool acquisition, Chuckie. Or I should say HOT acquisition... Thanks for the kudos! This old house had hot water heat, and like a FOOL I took it out years ago---I was a mailman, and all I was concerned about was being COOL in the summertime, and you can't have central air through a hot water system, so my Da put in forced air. Anyhow, the guy that had this place was a plumber. He took like 1" copper, and soldered a cap on one end, and drilled two opposing holes on the top of the copper pipe. He affixed a wire handle there, and hung them over the side of the radiators in the house. He filled those w/water to act like a humidifier as you described above. I'd send them to vaporvac or someone who could use them, but--alas!--they were scrapped along w/the radiators. Oh what I'd give NOW to have kept those radiators installed! CHEERS! Chuckie
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