In the UK, specifically what I’ve seen in London, why are radiators always placed under windows? Would this not be a waste of heat/electricity?
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Yes, there is a loss of heat/electricity due to the proximity of the window. But to position the radiator away from the window would mean you would have a draft/cold spot near the window during cold weather. So you position the heat output there to try and achieve an even distribution of heat. This is also true for central air conditioning. You place the air vents near windows (above or below) to prevent a hot spot when cooling the room.
That’s standard for most types of heating systems… it creates a barrier between the cold/drafts and rest of room, warms the coldest air first rather than warming already warm air and having a room half cold and half boiling hot.
If you put the radiators away from the windows then the people sitting near the windows would complain about the cold temperatures and crank up the heaters. In order to make them comfortable you would end up heating the rest of the room a lot higher then necessary. And it would still use just as much energy to keep the room at that temperature but now part of it is too hot while part of it is just comfortable.
By heating up the coldest part of the room, under the windows, you end up with a lot more even temperature in the entire room. This means you can make the room more comfortable with the same amount of energy.
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