Do insulated radiator panels save money? - I'm testing them now

smile4ages

i bought the novitherm 'saw tooth' profiled panels from capcarbon.com.

fitted them throughout the house but left one room in the house to try and see if there was a measureable change in the way that room warmed up. that particular room has two radiators.
i took readings every 30 minutes for three consecutive days both before the panels were fitted and after. i tried to replicate conditions exactly on all six days - ie: curtains shut, door shut, same thermostat setting. i couldn't control original room temperature, outside temperature or humidity.
sad i know and hardly scientific but i wanted to know if they made a difference.

i'd like to say there was a marked increase in how quickly the room warmed up but i'm really sorry to report that from my own, albeit amature lab test, then there was no measureable difference after the panels were fitted.
can't vouch for how much gas the boiler was having to burn to maintain water temperature and perhaps i should have taken the first set of readings before fitting any panels anywhere in the house.

disappointed really as i was hoping to have been able to show a marked difference as i'd like the product to be effective.

still think the theory behind them is good.
what i can say is that they aren't intrusive (they actually look quite good fitted behind the radiator IMHO), they go on easily and stay well fitted. also as the wall behind the panel is now cold rather than being quite warm to the touch, as they once were before fitting, then they obviously do reflect heat.

steve

Cardew

smile4ages wrote: »

i bought the novitherm 'saw tooth' profiled panels from capcarbon.com.


disappointed really as i was hoping to have been able to show a marked difference as i'd like the product to be effective.


steve

Welcome to the forum.

It is really refreshing to get someone with an objective post when they have tested something.

So many people buy something like that and we get posts along the lines of "I bought xxxx for £yy and it has cut my heating bills by 50%." It is as if they have to justify their purchase! or aren't I a clever boy!

I agree that subjectively it seems that these panels should work. However I note that although the Energy Saving Trust list a host of energy saving devices from major items to minor devices and they do not list these panels as a money saving device.

I have an centrally heated annex that does not even have cavity walls and I have checked on the outside brickwork behind where the radiators are situated(without these panels fitted) and there is no discernable difference in temperature at that point and other parts of the wall.

matty_hunt

these reflective foil panels are mentioned on this link but theres no info to support its instalation
http://www.biggreenswitch.co.uk/around_the_home/radiator-foil

georgemac_2

I found this while searching for ways to reduce my gas bill, which is now £105 per month for CH and water. We have an old type Potterton Profile boiler which has 55% efficiency, and a hot water tank.

I already have a roll of the screwfix radiator foil - this was bought to put some foil under a bedroom worktop - I never fitted any behind the radiator. £7.50 for 2.5 sq metres so £2.50 per square metre plus a roll of double sided tape required

From what I have read, fitting this would be more cost effective than the profiled radiator panels, pack of 20 cheapest I can find is £44 delivered, this gives 6.10 sq metres, so costs £7.20 per square metre

This energy saving guide recommends this so think I will give the foil a try this winter - it also will save removing the radiators to paint behind them when decorating.

Is screwfix the best/cheapest place to get the foil? Anyone know of any cheaper options as delivery is quite expensicve unless I have a large order

Edited to add found this foil on B & Q website - same price as screfix, well 50p cheaper

Cardew

georgemac wrote: »

This energy saving guide recommends this so think I will give the foil a try this winter - it also will save removing the radiators to paint behind them when decorating.

Have you cavity walls?

georgemac_2

Cardew wrote: »

Have you cavity walls?

yes we have cavity walls - even if they help the rooms to warm up quicker it will be a help

we have a timber framed house, cavity walls and insulation in the external walls, we have built on quite a large sun lounge which has cavity walls, glass all round and a tiled roof. The underfloor of this room has glass wool insulation and the roof, but I cannot remember if the walls did - do not think so.

The rest of the house has no underfloor insulation, just walls and loft. Built 1986.

dwigg

I've just made 11 radiator panels using the screwfix rolls of reflective foil.
I bought two rolls to do the rooms which a) are used the most and b) are either a bit harder to keep warm, or have a radiator on an outside wall.

I bought two large sheets of hardboard from Focus and cut these to size, then used wallpaper paste to glue the foil on. The whole exercise was completed in about three days.

The missus was adamant that we shouldn't be able to see the panels once they were fitted, so they are cut to be a little lower than the radiator tops.

My kitchen, which falls in the 'hard to keep warm' category - I'm not expecting to get much improvement with. Reason is that there is a breakfast bar over the radiator which stops the convection process, and it's this which puts most heat into a room.

Whole thing cost about £25 which I'm prepared to pay for an experiment. I'm not planning to measure the results, but am happy that by installing them I'm no longer heating outside walls or unused rooms the other side of the radiator. I can only assume there are no down-sides to installing them, and in the absence of any scientific evidence I expect only improvements, however marginal they may turn out to be.

[IMG]http://C:\RadFoil.jpg[/IMG]

ste148

If you look at the claimed convective air flow properties after fitting these panels it defies belief.
http://www.efficient-energy.co.uk/page14.htm

To claim that it will project a near horizontal air flow is downright misleading. Furthermore, most modern radiators are double panels with heat fins fitted in the middle that provide a large area that produces a significant percentage of the convective heat output.

The panels, whilst the claim to be "insulating" don't appear to contain any thermal insulation bonded behind the metal panel - can anyone confirm this? If this is the case then they will only provide very limited insulation properties of the air trapped behind the metal pressing.

It does rather look like this is a rather simple device (i.e. a cheap metal pressing, probably manufactured in china at a few pence per panel).

It will provide a small improvement in air flow and very minor improvements in heat loss to an outside wall, though any claims of large efficiency gains would only be likely in very poorly insulated houses and older and less efficient radiators than those of a modern design.

Cardew

ste148 wrote: »

If you look at the claimed convective air flow properties after fitting these panels it defies belief.
http://www.efficient-energy.co.uk/page14.htm

.

Absolutely. It is only on the internet that you can get away with such outrageous claims.

From everything I have read there is absolutely no evidence that these save anything at all. The trouble is that 'subjectively' they appear to be a good idea.

Even if they were 100% effective(i.e. had perfect insulation properties!) and prevented any heat from being absorbed by the wall behind the radiator, that area of wall(behind the radiator) would still get as warm as the rest of the wall by heat soak.

The best way to demonstrate this is place a brick half submerged in a bowl of water and in a short time the area of the brick out of the water would be as warm as the rest of the brick.

silvercar

The panels, whilst the claim to be "insulating" don't appear to contain any thermal insulation bonded behind the metal panel - can anyone confirm this? If this is the case then they will only provide very limited insulation properties of the air trapped behind the metal pressing.

My panels (actually a roll) came from Tesco and appear to be bubble wrap covered with foil. I presume the bubble-wrap actually has some insulation properties.