In article ,
Robatoy wrote:

In article , "bob" wrote:

I'm building a large built-in that covers a whole wall between the
fireplace
and the back wall of the house. To one side of the roughly 8 foot span is a
hot water radiator, which is 4 feet long. It's a "modern", 1 foot high
tyoe,
not a big cast iron model. The built-in goes up and over the radiator, with
about 5 inches of clearance below the cabinet. It doesn't get insanely hot
in the cabinet, but I do want to route as much of the heat forward as
possible.
I've thought about designing a curved deflector to curve up from the wall
right at the radiator, then curving forward under the cabinet, in hopes of
diverting the heat to some extent. I also thought about insulating above
the
deflector, as well as covering the deflector itself (possibly .032"
aluminium) with shiny foil to help reflect the heat.
Has anyone had any experience with this sort of thing?

thanks,

Rather than focusing on reflecting the heat (IR), concentrate on smoothing
the
air flow. Those heaters run on a max of 90 degrees C, so IR doesn't play much
of
a role. Convection air current does make a huge difference.
If you allow air in at the bottom, and with a curved/shaped smooth aluminum
deflector, direct the air out from the cavity, the convection air flow will
take
care of the rest.
Insulating it from the cabinet above, might be a good idea if that is where
you
keep your chocolates or antique LP record collection.

That was sooo 'Martha Stewart' of me...*slaps self*