It's well-established in physics that black or dark-colored objects radiate heat faster and more effectively than light-colored objects.

So, in almost every building that uses steam heat, why are the radiators painted silver or some other very light color?

I think that since it's using steam heat, it's actually much hotter than normal heaters, causing the rate of heat loss to be higher.
So painting the radiator a lighter colour would balance this slightly.

I know it's a stretch but i've never had a radiator before so i'm not sure how hot they actually are...

Posted by Aeternus on 2002-09-27 07:21:52