The Most Important Label to Look Out for When Buying a Radiator

Chilly mornings are well and truly back, and people are already looking to get their heating in tip-top shape before the winter really sets in.

The heating experts at Trade Radiators have warned consumers looking for new heating equipment to avoid a labelling loophole that inflates power output.

In short, if you are buying a radiator and the manufacturer mentions ‘Delta 60 (Δ60)’ or ‘Delta 70 (Δ70)’, it isn’t as powerful as it claims to be. It is crucial to make sure the radiator you’re buying comes from a store that explicitly uses Delta 50 (Δ50).

Delta is a measurement that indicates the temperature difference between a radiator’s water and the room it’s in. It is used to calculate a radiator’s heat output.

“It is essential to watch out for the use of Δ60 and Δ70 when shopping for radiators – both online and when looking at catalogues,” says Nicholas Auckland, the Managing Director at Trade Radiators.

“A dishonest supplier is essentially using this measurement to lie, stating their radiators provide more heat output.

“Watch out for this, or else you’ll end up with a radiator which doesn’t heat your room sufficiently.”

In the UK, BTU (British Thermal Units) is used to measure heat output and can be inflated simply by measuring with Δ60 instead of Δ50.

“It will depend on the model, but for the kind of radiator we’d want in a living room an output measured by Δ60 would be inflated by 26% to 27% compared to the industry standard Δ50,” Nicholas adds. “It’s an empty promise”

The nitty gritty on Delta measurements and BTU outputs

Delta 50 (also known as T50/ Δ50 ) is the industry standard rating, which specifies that flow =75C, return =65C, room =20C. It works off an expected ideal room temperature of 20°C.

When you see Delta 60 or Delta 70, the assumed temperature created by the same flow and return of Delta 50 is upped, which artificially makes product performance look better.

Delta 60 and 70 inflate the BTU (British Thermal Units) output, which is a reliable measurement that takes into account the unique factors of a home like wall height and width, windows, insulation, and where a room is located in a home.

Nicholas comments: “A radiator listed as Δ60, when it should be Δ50, will have a higher BTU rating – by 1.264. So a Δ50 radiator with a BTU of 1000 would now have a rating of 1264.”

Mis-labelling is against the law

As part of the BS EN 442, the European Standard for radiators, appliances sold in the UK must meet certain standards.

As a part of this standard manufacturers must legally use Δ50 to measure heat output when they list their products online. If a product doesn’t mention what delta rating is being used be sure to ask the manufacturer or retailer you’re buying from.

Make sure when you are shopping you are shopping safe – keep an eye out for that Delta 50 measurement!