You may have to change the water connections on your new radiator. the pipe length might need to be custom length too. Take the old pieces off the one you are taking out. There's your connection, and maybe the pipe too.

I was told by my GC that it is labor intensive. I am having one of my radiators replaced with a baseboard radiator to give us more room to add a bathroom in my master bedroom. The cost of this was not itemized out from the other work the plumber will be doing; however previously my GC had estimated about $1K to replace a single radiator as a separate project.. Since the plumber will already be here I am replacing a second one in my kitchen as well, this is going to be around $300-400. To replace the radiators in a whole house would be pretty expensive I think. I used to live in the DC area and labor costs were much higher there than they are in my current area. HTH.

Thanks, lucy132. It does sound from this and from comments offline from friends like it would be worth doing as part of a larger project but not as a standalone.

Thousands of dollars. You need a permit, new quality radiators, pipe and supplies, a good plumber (mine is $95.00 per hour), and a budget for any repairs to flooring, plaster, paint, etc. You also need a contingency fund in case you find dry rot, termites, or other issues once the existing radiators are pulled out. Plus a dump fee, most likely. The radiators themselves may have some value, either to an old house parts shop, or as scrap.

Thanks, scone911. I'd definitely sell or donate the old ones to one of our local salvage places, and happily I have a pretty good sense of what problems are not lurking under the rads, but as you point out, with old houses you never know. (I spend a good part of my professional life lecturing people on not throwing away good old house parts!)

Replacing radiators is very labor intensive, which raises the cost, but the labor skills needed are relatively straightforward. Most old radiators have fittings for standard NPT iron pipe, but the unions and valves are brand specific and you usually can't find parts. In most cases the only part you can reuse is the NPT iron pipe sticking up out of the floor on each end

You have to first disconnect the unions on each end of the radiator, remove the radiator, and then remove all the other fittings that connect to the pipe coming out of the floor. Now you will just have two pipes sticking up out of the floor.

Then you need to buy a new radiator and radiator valve, and figure out how to adapt it to the pipes you have in the floor. Depending on the spacing and size of the fittings, and pipe sizes, this might be very complicated or it might not be that bad.

You could spend the summer doing this job yourself and probably do okay if you have good mechanical skills, but it would be time consuming, and the new radiators would not be cheap. It may not be worth the trouble if the old ones are working.

Bruce

It would probably be cheaper to use baseboard units connected by 3/4" copper pipe.

I see no reason you couldn't replace large existing radiators with slightly smaller, more conveniently sized radiators. It just takes money from you, muscle power and knowledge from the labor, and a whole lot of good karma to find the correct size radiators at a reasonable price and a good boiler guy. Around here, most plumbers don't deal with water or steam heat - the service guys are a subset of HVAC. When we first moved into our house, we had a semi-retired plumber who did boiler work as well but that's rare around here.

We recently worked with hot water radiators in an old house. Fortunately, we know a good boiler guy who was willing to work with us which helped keep our costs down. Unfortunately, two of our salvaged radiators leaked so we're now looking at using a smaller one than originally in the room unless we happen to find the correct size from a demolition.

My heating guy says that you need to use the same type of radiators everywhere in the house to keep it consistently warm. Houses with more modern copper piping with fins types of radiators get warm quickly and cool off quickly while cast iron radiators warm up slowly and cool off slowly so the boiler cycles less frequently. His comment is that houses with old fashioned cast iron radiators need to use cast iron baseboard radiators as well.

Thanks, everybody. Linda, I'd agree with your point about the types of unit. In my previous 1925 house, I had a mix of radiators and hot water baseboards, and the latter were always zooming up hot, throwing off the thermostat, and then cycling cold and leaving rooms drafty. The big ol' radiators provide great, even heat.

I had the one in my bathroom swapped out while I was doing a restoration project on walls, floor & sink. Mine was NOT the thousands folks spoke of.

I used these guys. http://www.antiqueplumbingandradiators.com/redaeropage.html

They sandblasted, painted & did a pressure check, then shipped to me. I think it was about $500 ballpark, if I recall correctly.

This is NOT a painstaking process. As long as you have a qualified plumber who knows what he's dealing with, you can have this done, My options were a bit flexible, since the entire floor came out & new subfloor & tile went in. I ended up with one that was very similar.

Here's a before & after.

Bath ideas · More Info

Bath ideas · More Info

First you need to consider what style you'd want. The most direct modern replacement would probably be "panel radiators" which are very popular outside of America. They cost hundreds per radiator.

Next, your labor cost is going to be determined by your state. Heating is generally low pressure, which may not require a licensed plumber in your state.

Finally, you need to look at how your new radiators will impact your system. Cast iron radiators are very low pressure drop. If you add too much additional system pressure then you may need to replace your circulator pump with a larger one.

I wouldn't just give away those old radiators without doing some research first. Some of the very fancy antique ones are very valuable (valuable enough to pay for the project). If you like the style you may also consider just refinishing them, and relocating them away from the window with some extension piping, then add covers to hide the piping.

Thanks, capedude. My existing ones are very plain, stylewise. I certainly wouldn't trash them without seeing if there's a market for them, and at worst they'd go to one of the nearby place that salvage old house parts, for reuse by someone. I would really like to stick with old-fashioned cast iron, either repro or reconditioned, to maintain the period look as well as their other virtues. I'm just wishing for ones that do not stick up above the windowsill, like these do. It's a small thing for a system that works well, but it drives me nuts decorating-wise. I can't picture where they'd go that would be away from the window and not block other furniture placement... there really isn't any spare wall space!

Curious if you ended up doing this project and what it entailed cost wise. I have a similar issue with two massive radiators in my living room that cut into the room in such a way where you can’t center a couch under the window. Hoping to find ones that are slightly narrower but old cast iron and curious the costs

Sarah Malik Amazed to find I posted this four years ago! I haven't done anything yet. I realized I was headed for a boiler replacement and significant amount of remodeling, so I decided to let the deployment of radiators be part of the design of a system that takes into account a new boiler, better-insulated spaces in the back half of the house, etc. I expect to start getting HVAC guys in for their opinions on the options in the coming weeks and will let you know what I learn.

OP, have you thought about getting a nice cover made for the existing one, or even incorporating it into some kind of window seating? It doesn't appear to be too much higher than your sill. I can't see the whole room but maybe a nice bench or banquette would be appropriate? With some custom fabric pillows and cushions?

(Wait, that may end up being just as expensive!)

Greta Interiors, I was the OP years ago, so here's my situation: I really, really want a nice windowsill-height cover over the rad that's under my front living room window (pictured here with the late lamented and eponymous Maddy Beagle a few years ago) and a window seat over the ones in my entryway and dining room, which are identical in height and placement. But the ones I have stick up well above the height of the sill with absolutely no clearance between rad and sill, so it would look very odd to add a cover on top. A big motivation for replacing them with lower-profile ones would be to allow use of the sill and a flat-topped cover on this one, possibly curtains, and a window seat if I could get one low enough in the other locations. So—great minds think alike!

I’m having the same issues with Radiators in my home. I have a love/hate relationship with them, lately, more hate for so many of the reasons you have just mentioned and more. I’m stuck bc I can’t take out a load bearing wall between kitchen and what would become a larger kitchen & eating area. I have 3 radiator pipes going Up to the 2nd floor through the load bearing walls. We’ve been warned by many not to re-route the pipes or we’ll start having troubles through the house with the heat. :( Like you, I’m in an old brick bungalow like home from 1933. The house is built like a fortress, but these radiators cause me so many headaches!

It would probably be cheaper and more attractive to install a new Rental radiator.

rd3543 I've had several people tell me that in the context of a remodel where you're opening walls anyway, moving pipes is not a big deal. Maybe hvac pros could weigh in. I don't see how rerouting the pipes would make things worse if the system was tuned up and the new/reinstalled radiators rehabbed as necessary.

RES2 thanks. Now that my project includes creating some entirely new spaces at the back of my house, I am almost certainly going to use Runtals in those rooms. I've been wondering, though: do they provide the same experience as cast iron in terms of holding heat? I gather they can produce more heat while on from a smaller area than cast iron, but do they go cold faster when they boiler cycles off? My thinking is that they'd be very comfortable in my new kitchen, which will be much better insulated, warm from kitchen activity, and warm from being a sunny, south-facing room, but I wonder about my north-facing living room and study where I sit for hours working or reading and really appreciate the gentle, steady warmth of my giant, inconvenient rads.

Old boilers needed large radiators to maintain the temperature in a room. If the boiler is new it might work better with the Rental radiators. Mine is a gas condensing boiler and it delivers hot water much more quickly and efficiently.

I replaced some old radiators with other old radiators for a larger renovation project in my old house about 10 years ago. I was able to get radiators that were right for the spaces they were in.

Also replaced the furnace, which seemed smaller than the old one.

I moved and now I'm researching replacing the heated air for radiator heat.