Random Question: getting rid of radiators?

[emcicle.livejournal.com]

Hi all. We're going to be converting our method of heating from steam heat (radiators) to hot water (base boards) in the next few weeks. Anyone know of anyplace that would be interested in buying the old radiators from us? (Maybe that place down in Union Sq?) I know scrappers will come and take it away free, (and the plumber doing the conversion also will take them), and I doubt they are worth much, but i thought maybe some wise person here might have done similarly before and have some suggestions.

Thanks for any suggestions. :)

ETA: 6/27/12 After emailing pictures of the radiators to Antique Plumbing Fixtures (A1 Plumbing) in Union Square, we were contacted by the owner. He bought our 8 radiators for $125. They picked up, and actually took all the piping and trash bags as well. I'm happy with the result. We got a little bit more money to put towards our renovations, and hopefully the radiators will get cleaned up and go to a good home that can love them better than we could. Oh, and we have one more radiator that still needs to come out (bathroom) and he said we can contact him when that comes out, so we might get another $10-15).

Comments

[avjudge]

I think the hissing and spitting are a steam thing - don't know if the banging is louder with steam, but our hot water baseboards tick and sometimes bang as they warm up and move relative to the walls they are fastened to or pass through (at least that's the explanation I've seen).

I don't claim our installation is very good - they brought the pipes up (for the 2nd floor they come through a chase in the front hall, w/the plumbing for the bath coming the same route), then ran them all around the exterior walls of the house, covered with baseboard covers the whole way - though if you take off the cover you'll find that sometimes it's just pipe, no fins. So it's extra annoying because it is EVERYWHERE - I can't have a floor-length drape or a bookcase flat against the wall on any exterior wall. If you have a dresser, things fall down behind it. Yuck.

I really want these - won't help with the curtains or furniture standing out from the wall, but it will look so much better where they're visible: http://www.go-overboard.com/

ETA: While going through the links I found looking for the above, I found another radiator cover company that had this FAQ about cast iron radiators which says people use baseboards now because of cost, not quality of heating - don't know how true this is: http://www.beautifulradiators.com/cast_iron_radiators.htm

Though I can certainly understand being excited about having zones - I love having 2 & want to split my kitchen off into a 3rd (it has 3 exterior walls, heats up fast, cools off fast, sometimes has its own heat source, has a lot of windows which makes it sometimes warmer, sometimes cooler than the rest of the 1st floor). And hot water is nicer than steam. But most cast iron radiators can do hot water; my understanding is that all but the oldest were constructed to be used either way. They will need a 2nd pipe for cold return water, whereas when plumbed for steam they are installed with only one pipe.

[emcicle.livejournal.com]

just came back to add that we talked to our plumber, and our radiators are not able to be refitted to be hot water heat (due to cost and efficiency given the size of the pipes, etc).