Application of the lattice Boltzmann method (LBM) to solve the energy equations of conduction-radiation problems is extended on non-uniform lattices. In the LBM on non-uniform lattices, the single relaxation time based on the minimum velocity is used. This minimum velocity corresponds to the smallest size lattice. Because information propagates with the same minimum velocity in the prescribed directions from all the lattice centers, in a given time step, they are not equidistant from the neighboring lattices. Collisions in the LBM take place at the same instant. Therefore, in the LBM on non-uniform lattices, in every time step, interpolation is required to carry the information to the neighboring lattice centers. To validate this very concept in heat transfer problems involving thermal radiation, transient conduction and radiation heat transfer problems in a 1-D planar and a 2-D rectangular geometries containing absorbing, emitting and scattering medium are considered. The finite volume method (FVM) is used to compute the radiative information. In both the geometries, results for the effects of various parameters are compared for LBM-FVM on uniform and non-uniform lattices. To establish the LBM-FVM on non-uniform lattices for the combined conduction and radiation heat transfer problems, numerical experiments were performed with different cluster values. The accurate results were found in all the cases. (C) 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.