Hot Air

Have you cleaned your radiators lately?

Dust radiators (covers and coils) or registers; clean thoroughly when necessary.

My bedroom is due for its monthly cleaning tonight, so I'm headed in there shortly to strip the bedcovers and get things started. The first time I came across any mention of cleaning radiators or registers in the bedroom, I said, "Hurrah! That's one chore I can cross off the list." My 1980s apartment doesn't have anything of the kind. I do, however, have a vent-y kinda thingamajig in each room as well as a larger one [maybe a return register?] in my hallway. The more I read up on the care recommended for radiators or registers, the more I realize how important it was that the vents to my own joint heating/cooling system be properly dusted and cleaned. Here's an excerpt from America's Housekeeping Book (1945):

RADIATORS

Exposed radiators must be kept clean for the protection of walls, curtains and draperies. During the season when the heat is on, this special cleaning should be done once a week. In the summer months less frequent cleaning is needed.

If you are not using a vacuum cleaner for cleaning, place dry newspaper under the radiator to protect the floor. Cover this with a layer of dampened newspaper. Brush the coils downward with a radiator brush, so that the dust collects on the damp paper. Fold the paper carefully and dispose of it.

If you have a vacuum cleaner, use the blower attachment to dislodge the dust and blow it downward. Then use the suction attachment to gather the dust into the bag. The dampened paper may be used if desired, but is not really necessary.


The exposed radiator took up a lot of space in this living room.

Recessed radiators are not a dust problem during the season when they are in use, because air passes through them so rapidly that dust does not collect. In the summer, dust is apt to settle on them, and they should be cleaned every two or three weeks. Most recessed radiators have removable fronts which facilitate cleaning, and many have an arch at the base which admits the vacuum cleaner. The method for cleaning is the same as for exposed radiators.


Just to the right of the door, you can see a recessed radiator set into the wall.

HOT AIR REGISTERS

Once-a-week cleaning should be the rule, during the months when registers are in use, and at least every two weeks during the summer.

Spread dry newspapers on the floor and cover them with a layer of dampened newspapers. Lift the grating from the register and set it on the damp paper. Brush the grating and the opening to the hot air shaft, or use the suction attachment of the vacuum cleaner which does a much more thorough cleaning job.

I've never lived in any homes with radiators - recessed or otherwise - still intact, but I did live in a turn-of-the-century home in New Hampshire during my early twenties where the furnace pushed heat through cast-iron registers laid in the floors of various rooms. If you just couldn't shake the cold on a winter's day, all you had to do was stand near one of those registers when the heat came on. Whoosh! You'd be warm in an instant. Those registers must've been awful heavy to remove for cleaning, though.

Home heating technology may have changed dramatically over the last sixty years, but dust hasn't. The vents in my apartment are more similar to the "hot air registers" of yesteryear than to radiators. There's no steam involved, for one. Between the heat needed during our brief winter and the air conditioning needed the rest of the year, my vents are always on the job --- so I'd say they need a good dusting with the vacuum cleaner once a week. Once a month, they could probably use a cleaning with a warm, soapy rag. The vents also appear to be removable - though I haven't tried that myself! - so it might be a good idea to get in there on a seasonal basis and vac around the opening to the shaft.