Convection, radiation and hole size

Radiators work on both convection and radiation. An efficient radiatior will draw cold air from the ground and heat it as it rises creating a convection that heats the entire room. A properly manufactured cabinet will improve this process, you should always choose cabinets with a gap at the bottom and a gap at the top either in the shelf or under the shelf otherwise the heating convection characteristics of the radiator will be stopped. Radiators also radiate heat, you can tell this if you stand directly next to them. The speed at which the radiator gets up to temperature where it radiates heat will be reduced, the cabinet has to warm up first before it start radiating heat into the room. No heat will be lost unless the wall behind the cabinet is poorely insulated (this is not a common occurance). If this is the case a reflective material can be used behind the cabinet. The non insulating effect of metal grilles compared to wooden mdf grilles means that a cabinet will start radiating heat much faster with a metal grille than with and mdf grille. Some customers prefer radiator grilles with a large opening (such as fleur de lys or fancy cross) as this alows more imediate heat radiating through the cabinet, you can use a backing mesh to dramatically reduce the visibility of the radiator behind. If you prefer not to use a backing mesh and want to obscure the cabinet as much as possible then our most popular pattern fancy club is a good option. This pattern has one of the samllest hole sizes at 6mm.

What size to allow for fitting

If your fitting the grille within the recess of a cabinet then you should add around 30mm to the opening size excluding the recess, this is based on a 20mm recess on all sides.

If you're fitting the radiator grille behind the openings of your radiator cabinet: add on 50mm to the physical opening sizes. This will give you 25mm on all sides to staple the grille into place