It's always tricky to figure out the best way to get what you want whilst still on budget unfortunately. We got acova radiators throughout the house two years ago now and can honestly say I think they're great. They look good and do a fantastic job of keeping the house warm. I found the best prices for them were at screwfix. From what I understand the white coated radiators are actually more efficient than bare metal ones. Though don't ask me why! Acova also do an anthracite coloured ones that might provide the more authentic look you're after though? The only radiator in our house that's not acova is a tall vertical column one in the kitchen which was from bestheating.com in their Milano Windsor range. It works well but I noticed some ripples in the spray finish and also their 'white' is more of a pale dove grey which is annoying when the acova ones are a true white. If you have your heart set on genuine antique radiators then I believe there are companies that specialise in refurbishing them and provide an after care service in case of faults. Hope that helps!

I have cast iron and just put them through the dishwasher occasionally. Without a dishwasher they would definitely be a pain to clean though.

Yes ED, it's blackish in a pearl finish (I would have loved to have lacquered it but that process..... the ceiling is not that smooth). It's a 9' ceiling but seems so much higher than that now and I wanted to accent the 100 year old crown moulding. This may be my favorite part of the room and its was also the easiest. I took me 9 months with the help of a couple of friends, to strip the woodwork, smooth the cracks in the walls and restore the double hung windows and french balcony doors. Moving onto the next room. See you in 2019 lol

As experts, our immediate advice is DON'T POWER-COAT, it bakes the radiators and can destroy the seals between joins causing leaks and invalidating manufacturer's warranty. Spray painting is your best option but as rachelmidlands says above this can be a bit tricky without all the fancy gear, however I have done it myself successfully, although I might add, I ended up buying 8 cans of spray paint and I did wonder in the end if it would have been cheaper to get a car sprayer to do it and a lot less hassle??? We have had customers use Ardenbrite paint and Plasti-kote successfully before. We don't recommend using water-based paints. The advice we give on our website says: Radiators can be finished with cellulose paint or acrylic car spray paint. There is no need to use expensive specialist radiator paints - car paint is designed to cope with extremes of temperature and be tough enough to withstand relatively intense wear and tear. Cast iron's textured finish is forgiving, so a good paint finish is easily achievable. We can deliver cast iron radiators in primer direct to your painting company if you wish. If you are planning on painting the radiators yourself by hand, then we recommend using spray paint as it is difficult to reach into the middle columns using a brush. Powder coating produces a fabulous finish, BUT... the radiators are not designed to go through the prolonged baking process so there is a very real risk that the seals between sections will be damaged which will lead to leaking radiators. If you have bought radiators from us, then please be aware that powder coating will invalidate the manufacturer's guarantee. A similar looking end result to powder coating can be achieved using products like "Plasti-coat", a spray paint available from DIY stores. There are various techniques our painters use to get aged effects, see some examples below.