How to fit radiators to static walls?

[John Robo]

Hi I'm looking to fit radiators to my caravan, which fixings are people using to mount them onto walls, a little nervous because of the walls being very flimsy, question is do you strengthen walls first, if so how? 

Thanks John 

[Jaydug]

Depends on the weight of the rads.   I have a heated towel rail in my tourer and that's only fitted with six self-tappers, into a 3mm ply wall-board.      But it's very light-weight so it's still secure after thousands of miles

[WispMan]

Could you spread the load and mount battens on the wall and the rad to the battens? 

[Yes Dear]

Floor mounted radiator brackets, two lengths of 2"x2" square section steel with a floor plate welded on each, then bolt standard brackets on the steel uprights.

I know these have been used in some listed buildings in order not to damage the walls and wall coverings.

[Paul1957]

I had to replace a wall mounted towel radiator in a static and there seemed to be a wood batten behind the wall that it was screwed to. If you need to fit hidden battens then the wall board would need removing to get at the wood frame behind it. A quick search shows you can buy floor mounted radiators but they cost a lot more than wall mounted ones.

[WispMan]

Is it possible to fi d the wooden battens behind the wallboard by knocking the wall and listening? 

Not done it but I wonder if it would work with a static wall. 

[Jaydug]

20 minutes ago, WispMan said:

 by knocking the wall and listening?

Knock, knock...........Who’s there?..........Jester...........Jester who?

 

Jester silly old man!

 

 

 

 

Sorry!   It's been a long, wet day here.

[SamD]

17 hours ago, WispMan said:

Could you spread the load and mount battens on the wall and the rad to the battens? 

 

Admiral of the Fleet Louis Francis Albert Victor Nicholas Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma might be a tad upset!!

Sorry - couldn't resist.

[John Robo]

22 hours ago, WispMan said:

Could you spread the load and mount battens on the wall and the rad to the battens? 

Could internally, didn't fancy removing wall panels tho thanks 

[Mikemike]

I’ve hung the rads with metal spring loaded butterfly wall plugs where you cant find a batten to fix them.Just make a pilot hole and insert something into that hole to find how much space before you push through the outer wall!

cut the length of the bolt that passes through the butterfly short enough so it doesn’t penetrate the exterior wall,drill a hole large enough to get the butterfly through normally about 12mm or half inch,assemble the rad bracket with the butterfly fixture in situ then close the springs, pass the butterfly through the hole,you should here a click as the wings open, then just tighten pulling gently on the bracket til you feel the wings grip then fully tighten,don’t go mad,job done.

Only drawback with them is the initial cost and if you remove the brackets you lose the butterfly,there are plastic variants of the above but they didn’t work that well for me and the price wasn’t that much different.

Have a look on YouTube for video on spring toggle plasterboard fixings

 

 

These also work well if you need to  hang something that that will take a lot of weight ie.kitchen wall units 

[Paul1957]

If you tie string to the spring toggle before fitting it, if you ever need to remove the fixing screw the toggle can be held by holding the string so it does not drop down inside the wall. Then when the screw is put back it can be directed back into the toggle and the string let go.

[Silversurf]

On 05/01/2021 at 20:14, John Robo said:

Could internally, didn't fancy removing wall panels tho thanks 

 

Get yourself one of these, dead cheap, there are also many others and you may be able to find wall studding you can attach the radiator to.

 

They are handy for many other things as well.

 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Stud-Finder-Wall-Scanner-Detection/dp/B08CDM4XTG/ref=asc_df_B08CDM4XTG/?tag=googshopuk-21&linkCode=df0&hvadid=443473158711&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=3374706096835494413&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9046653&hvtargid=pla-931081683575&psc=1&tag=&ref=&adgrpid=101662035023&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvadid=443473158711&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=3374706096835494413&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9046653&hvtargid=pla-931081683575

 

There are lots of fixings that allow you to fix to such as plaster board or thin ply boards as below, you will though need to find the thickness of the wall boards by either removing such as a wall socket / switch ( electrical safety considered, or by drilling a discrete hole in a hidden area.

 

I personally haven't used these  so can't verify how good they are, I just posted the link to show there are other variants other than the butterfly type for hollow walls.

 

 

https://www.screwfix.com/p/gripit-plasterboard-fixing-25-x-14mm-8-pack/682GK?tc=OT4&ds_kid=92700048793290424&ds_rl=1249413&gclid=CjwKCAiAl4WABhAJEiwATUnEF1SneyphVLGuFjAXsEkw7YRMfdEV1kkW1g7gS-WK_sQvUAp00BNlERoCaioQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

 

 

Edited January 15, 2021 by Silversurf

[Silversurf]

40 minutes ago, Silversurf said:

I personally haven't used these  so can't verify how good they are, I just posted the link to show there are other variants other than the butterfly type for hollow walls.

 

I should have also mentioned that with such as the above and many other things, it's best to check reviews, what looks like it will do the job, often won't when reviews are read.