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  1. #1
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    Default Cast Iron Radiators in Old house-- are they dangerous?

    We just moved into an apt in an old victorian house. It has 3 cast iron radiators and I'm trying to figure out if it will be dangerous for db. She is 6 mos now and will be crawling/walking this winter. I think it's a steam heat radiator and we have oil heat. They actually look nice so I don't want to get covers if I don't have to. I know they will get hot, but can db get burned? Anyone have experience with this? We are in Connecticut.

    Thanks!

    Jill

  2. #2
    DrSally's Avatar
    DrSally is offline Pink Diamond level (15,000+ posts)
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    Default RE: Cast Iron Radiators in Old house-- are they dangerous?

    You can put on a radiator cover so she won't be tempted to touch it. They have less expensive metal ones you can paint or higher end wood ones as well.
    Sally

    My Joyful DS
    My Lovely DD

    Please excuse the typos. Getting used to a virtual keyboard

  3. #3
    hillview's Avatar
    hillview is offline Blue Diamond level (20,000+ posts)
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    Default RE: Cast Iron Radiators in Old house-- are they dangerous?

    Yes they can get quite hot and burn you -- some of them you can regulate with a nob and then they get warm but not scalding. Also paint often chips off of them (if they are older) -- think it is the temp changes. Might wonder about lead. We also live in an older house!
    /hillary

  4. #4
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    Default RE: Cast Iron Radiators in Old house-- are they dangerous?

    I would worry about not only burns but also a bonk on the head. :(

    To be on the safe side, I would get radiator covers. We always had them growing up...just a wooden cover with a metal grate in the front. GL!

  5. #5
    cvanbrunt's Avatar
    cvanbrunt is offline Sapphire level (2000+ posts)
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    Default RE: Cast Iron Radiators in Old house-- are they dangerous?

    We have them in every room of our old victorian. It's a steam boiler system. We love the look as well and don't have covers on any of them. DD is two and she's never touched them. We were careful when she was crawling and learning to walk and said "no touch" a lot. In terms of bonks on the head, they aren't any more dangerous than the coffee table or other piece of solid furniture. They do get hot. I suppose a burn is possible if she grabs and holds on but ours get hot enough that the withdrawal reflex would kick in. (No, we aren't negligent, just behaviorists and believe natural consequences are effective teaching tools.) We were more concerned with the steam release valves and the possibility of burns with that. We replaced all of those with a safer version and make sure they are pointed in the best/safest direction. We have had no problems (burns or bonks) with them being exposed at all. We just treat them like any thing else the little one has to learn to be careful around.

    -Carrie

  6. #6
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    Default RE: Cast Iron Radiators in Old house-- are they dangerous?

    Well, I personally have burned myself on my iron radiators (and, no, I am not NORMALLY an idiot ;), so we covered three of the radiators in our house. We keep the others turned off so DD can't get at them. She LOVES to try to turn the valves and saying "no touch" is like waving a red flag in front of a bull. I prefer to have them covered so that she can more freely explore the house.

    We had a great experience with The Wooden Radiator Cabinet Company, FWIW. It's not cheap, but we have received a ton of compliments on our radiator cabinets and they look like nice furniture.

    HTH!
    S
    DD 6/06
    DS 5/09

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