Have you come to the realization that your unique home or historic workplace needs new and improved radiators? And are you nervous about what it will mean for the aesthetics when the old radiators are replaced by new ones?
Discover the secret to maintaining the building's unique style and charm when you replace the old radiators with new ones.
You can get radiators made in the exact style that the radiators of the past had - but with the quality and energy efficiency that a modern radiator possesses. To find the right radiator for your building, we have some simple recommendations for you.
The Hudevad Dante model is typical of the 1930s.
Maybe you already know your building inside out. All the idiosyncrasies, cracks and crevices about previous owners' parties and mishaps.
But if this is not the case, we recommend that you investigate the history of the building. Try to find out when and how often it has been refurbished – what is original and what is new. It can be difficult with very old buildings, which have often been renovated in "layer upon layer", but it is possible to e.g. scrape paint from woodwork to see the color choices of earlier times, remove some wallpaper to see if an earlier version has been left underneath or simply look and examine the building style to see if typical elements of a certain time period is present in your home.
Thus, you have an overall picture of which styles the building is composed of and how much of the original remains.
Radiators only really became widespread in European and British homes when central heating was introduced in the 1920s. Before that, it was often the tiled stove or the fireplace that was responsible for spreading heat in the house. But even if your building is older than the radiator, there are radiators that can match the extra old aesthetic expression of the building.
Here it is often very much about looking at the building's construction and materials.
Hudevads Plan XV spreads heat in the Glyptoteket in Denmark without taking focus away from the beautiful architecture from the end of the 19th century.
The same radiator adorns DOKK1 in Denmark, but here the dark color helps to give the concrete wall a different, modern look.
Something you should look at is the size: Does your home have large open spaces, or does it consist of many small rooms with low ceilings? Choose a radiator that matches in size so that it looks harmonious (and gives the right amount of heat to the room). If the expression is bright and open, then simple designs, flat surfaces and bright colors will most likely fit in better with the decor. If, on the other hand, the building contains fine rooms cladded in dark oak and furnished with small cozy nooks, then the neater designs in warm colors can seem more harmonious with the interior.
Many of our Hudevad radiators with a flat front can be used for virtually all building styles due to their simplicity and can also be painted to match the interior. However, we also have several radiator models that are quite typical of certain decades, as you can see below.
Time-typical models for the individual decades:
Hudevad Dante: 1930s
Hudevad Classic: 1940s
Hudevad Plan: 1950s
Hudevad Terra: 1960s
Hudevad P5: 1980s
Fortunately, it is not written in stone that you must use a period radiator, but you should always take the building's construction style and “Better Building Practices” (Founded in Denmark in 1915) as a starting point if you are dealing with historic buildings. All in all, you can find much more inspiration in our large selection of design radiators and find just the radiator that fits your period-typical home.
