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Over the years, I've written articles about hydronic systems for Old-House Journal magazine. It's mostly homeowners who read OJH, folks who are involved with restoring beautiful old Victorian money pits. OHJ readers never throw away that magazine. They're savers, so I'm never surprised when my phone rings and it's some homeowner saying that she just read my story from 10 years ago about old radiators or old steam systems or gravity hot water heating, and do I know where can she find some antique radiators. "We have to have that look," she'll say. And then she'll describe for 10 minutes exactly what she wants and explain that price really isn't an object. "We're restoring a Queen Anne," she'll say, and then she'll go on for at least another 15 minutes about the history of the house and what they've done with it so far. Old-house owners are like that. They're passionate about what they're doing, and when they set their minds on something, they're relentless.
 I know of a few supply houses around the country that repair and sell used radiators and I often send the homeowners their way. One guy was restoring a big home in Eureka, California. He bought what seemed like 10 tons of refurbished and powder-coated radiators from a supply house in Massachusetts and then had them shipped west. The supplier charged a billion dollars for those radiators and then added the shipping charges, which had to have been at least a million bucks, but the homeowner got what he wanted. And money didn't seem to be an object. There are rich folks in this land and if you've got what they need, they'll find you - even if you're 3,000 miles away. I called a friend at Burnham once and told him about all these phone calls I was always getting from OHJ readers. A company from France had been importing a brand-new, cast-iron radiators that looked like craftsman had made them 100 years ago. They had all that wonderful ornamentation that makes a Victorian radiator so special. The guy had sent me a sample of their radiator, which I had not requested. It arrived, unannounced and seriously crated, at my home in a 40-foot tractor-trailer in a large crate. The truck driver asked if I had a forklift. "Sure," I said. "I keep one in my den. Doesn't everyone?" So I called my friend at Burnham and told him that he should talk to this Frenchman because there was a business opportunity there for him. My friend laughed and told me he didn't think there was enough of a market for these retro-Victorian radiators to make it worth the effort that would be involved to bring them to market. I told him he was nuts. And then I'd call him again from time to time.
I have a feeling they're going to do very well with this radiator. I know for certain that the market is there. These radiators are quite expensive, but the folks who are in the market for these beauties don't seem to be bothered by that. They're restoring old homes, and building new Victorian-style homes for millions of dollars, and they're relentless when it comes to getting what they want. Something for you to consider if you're in an area with older homes, or in an area where they're building custom homes. Which is just about everywhere in America nowadays, eh?
And speaking of older homes, I'm now remembering my days as a rep in New York City. We sold a lot of steam-heating equipment back then, and we also handled Runtal radiators. This was during the late-70s and early-80s. There were all these people who lived in steam-heated apartment buildings that had gone co-op. A lot of these people hated the look of their old steam radiators and convectors. They learned about Runtal from the glossy architectural magazines and they wanted to buy these sleek, European-style radiators to replace their old steam units. We tried a few on steam systems and then backed away because the units were really designed for hot water (we learned this the hard way). The rich folks in New York City went back to complaining about their ugly radiators, and more often than not, bought enclosures to hide them. This led to other problems, of course.
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A year or so ago he wrote me a note and told me that Burnham was now selling a wonderful Victorian-style cast iron radiator. You can see it on their website if you use this link: | Dan Holohan - [Intro] | [Email] | [Website] |
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