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Rad reflections
What
Radiators are great. They keep us warm during the winter months, making those long, cold days a bit more bearable. Unfortunately, they are also energy black holes, pushing up our bills while wasting a lot of valuable heat on an empty wall.
Fortunately, there’s a simple solution. Reflective foil (although it may not sound it) is really rather cool. Slip some behind your radiator and it acts like a heat mirror, reflecting warmth back into your radiator, which then goes into the air (where it's really needed). And there we have it - a warmer home at almost no extra cost.
Benefits
For people
A single reflective foil behind one of your radiators can knock off up to 83 kWh per year. That adds up to a saving of about £5 per radiator per year, depending on which type of heating system you have.
If you’re thinking of buying specially-made reflective foil for your radiators, the money you save off your heating bill will usually pay for them within a year. Not bad eh?
For planet
Reducing your energy demand reduces your carbon footprint. When a radiator is positioned against a wall, as much as 40% of the heat released will be directed towards the wall.
Radiator foil placed between the radiator and the wall will reduce the amount of heat being wasted in heating the wall by reflecting at least 95% of that heat back into the room. More heat into your room, means you can turn your heating down, reducing your energy consumption, and carbon footprint.
How
Sold on the idea of Rad Reflections? Great. You have a couple of options for making it happen.
- Here’s our top tip: regular aluminium foil usually gets the job done. Just slip a sheet behind your radiators (shiny side facing the radiator) and stick em’ on the wall with a bit of masking tape. Just note, you might have to replace them once a year and sometimes fitting them can be a tad tricky.
- Your other option is to get a reflective foil that’s been specially designed for such a task. This will cost you a bit more than a roll of foil, but it’ll probably be a fair bit easier to fit.
And that’s it! Now all’s left to do is sit back and relax in the warm glow of a cosier home, with a cheaper energy bill and smaller carbon footprint.
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