DIY decorative screen for a heating battery

Recommendation points

• What should be the screen for the battery
• Design
• DIY screen

It is difficult to find an interior design in which heating radiators will organically fit. The question of how to hide them from sight becomes relevant. Making a decorative screen for a heating battery with your own hands is simple, but you need to take into account a number of rules so that the screen does not spoil the heating efficiency.

What should be the screen for the battery

Heating batteries transfer heat to the environment by means of radiation of thermal energy and direct heat exchange with air, which is facilitated by active convection of air in the room. The screen for the radiator, ideally, should not at all affect the efficiency of heat transfer. When choosing a suitable design, negative effects on heat transfer should be minimized.

Based on this requirement, a number of rules can be expressed that must be taken into account during manufacturing:

1. The presence of a ventilation gap at the bottom of the width of the radiator for air access to the surface of the radiator at least 7 cm.
2. The presence of a ventilation gap at the top along the width of the radiator is at least 10 cm for the exit of warm air.
3. The distance from the extreme part of the radiator to the front panel of the screen is at least 5 cm.
4. At least 50% of the front of the screen is gaps. For any selected lattice, more than half of the area is made up of through holes.
5. The entire inner surface is painted black.
6. A heat-reflecting screen is mounted on the wall behind the radiator.
7. The structure is removable, at least the front panel, for access to the radiator.

If there are thermostats on a siphon-type radiator, they should not be closed even partially, valve isolation is allowed, but the siphon should be outside the screen.

If these simple rules are not followed, the heat from the radiator will accumulate under the screen and, most likely, will go back into the coolant, go into the return line. The power of the radiator will decrease, because it directly depends on the temperature difference between the coolant and the air in the room, as a result, less heat will enter the apartment.

Design

The screen for the radiator can have several versions, depending on the location of the radiator and the design of the niche in which it is installed.

One-piece screen box. For a radiator located on the wall without sinking into a niche or strongly exposed to the interior of the room.

An overlay screen from only one front panel, if the radiator is recessed completely beyond the border of the niche under the window and sill.

A plasterboard false wall with a grill opposite the radiator.

In the first case, the most versatile option is obtained. If you understand how it works, you can reproduce any other option required in a particular situation. A frame is assembled along a frame made of wooden blocks or a metal profile of the smallest size in section, which is subsequently sheathed with decorative panels and a grill in the front.

In the side walls, slots are made for pipes that fit the radiator, or the screen expands enough to completely hide the pipe leads, if they were originally laid inside the walls. Mounting is carried out to the wall behind the battery, for which hanging loops on the screen and a bracket on the wall are used.

The required clearance from above can be hidden from view by placing an additional shelf of laminated MDF above it. It should be spaced from the screen by the width of the gap itself, that is, at least 7 cm. This is quite enough to visually hide the radiator. The shelf will be a nice and useful addition to the battery decor.

Separately, the features of screens mounted in drywall false walls should be discussed. It is not enough to simply position the grille opposite the radiator. It is necessary to limit the space around the radiator from the rest of the space behind the false wall. For example, by wrapping the edges of a metallized polyethylene foam heat-reflecting shield, secure them to the back of the drywall. On the upper and lower parts of the grille, respectively, above and below the radiator, ventilation gaps are necessarily formed, which are finished with plastic trims from PVC panels.

DIY screen

In the simple case, this is a frame made of wooden beams 20×25 mm in the required size to cover the entire radiator, taking into account all indents. The racks are attached to this frame to the full depth of the screen so as to reach the wall behind the radiator, and at the same time the front edge should be spaced from the radiator by the distance required by the rules.

Further, this frame is sewn up with any available material on the sides:

• laminated MDF 8 mm;
• polyurethane plate 2–6 mm;
• PVC panels;
• plexiglass 2-6 mm;
• perforated metal sheet, galvanized 0.5-1.5 mm.

Plywood is not suitable for this, as it will exfoliate quickly enough.

Using MDF or polymer materials that are difficult to deform, it is enough to fasten the sidewalls and the front frame with a hole for the grill in the center using corners and self-tapping screws. Thus, not even a bar is needed..

The slots for the pipes are made in such a way that the edge of the screen material is 5–7 mm from the heated surface.

The front grille decorative frame is formed from four strips of the selected material. It is better to dock them with straight joints, when horizontal elements are placed on the side end-to-end with vertical ones. It will turn out aesthetically if the horizontal elements are drowned in relation to the side ones by one millimeter.

On the front panel, you need a grill made of any suitable material, which will hide the radiator from view and at the same time leave a sufficient amount of gaps:

• rattan panel;
• stitching with wooden lamellas;
• wicker mesh;
• perforated metal sheet;
• ready-made decorative grilles.

The selected material is attached to the frame with a construction stapler and staples or screws.

According to the rules, it is better to paint the inner surface of the screen black or any other dark tone. The easiest way to do this is after assembly with a brush or spray paint can. The main thing is to protect the front with masking tape..

As a support for the screen, L-shaped mounts with plastic dowels or anchors of the same shape are used, which should be fixed on the wall behind the battery. Along the upper edge of the side walls of the screen, it is enough to make vertical holes in a bar extending from the common frame, or to fix a corner, which will be put on fasteners with one of its shelves.

Before putting the assembled structure in place, it is necessary to fix the heat-reflecting shield behind the battery. For this, “Penofol”, expanded polyethylene, metallized on one side, is suitable. Its size corresponds to the area of ​​the closed space. The heat-reflecting screen is attached with a stapler and staples or silicone, liquid nails.

Any fittings or, even more so, refinements in the design of the screen are made based on the visual effect in compliance with the rules specified at the very beginning. Looks good when the screen is flush or slightly deeper than the edge of the window sill or slightly protrudes beyond the niche under the window.