Radiator Reflectors

JJ_Egan

This saves making them .
Agree very little heat saving on your bill .

http://www.screwfix.com/p/radiator-reflector-foil-470mm-x-4m-1-88m/88629

missbiggles1

JJ_Egan wrote: »

This saves making them .
Agree very little heat saving on your bill .

http://www.screwfix.com/p/radiator-reflector-foil-470mm-x-4m-1-88m/88629

But they do save the hassle of painting behind the radiator.:o;)

Richie-from-the-Boro

There is a reason it keeps Yorkshire puddings / meat etc hot [ter] for a long [er] time - because it reflects heat, NASA of course use it to reflect heat away. Back to my old friends CONDUCTION, CONVECTION, and RADIATION, radiation is the primary mode and works on the infrared spectrum without a secondary air reflector matter will transfer heat-flow into the wall behind the radiator. Wet radiators are very poor radiators of heat [Cardew point] they are in fact convector's not radiators of heat. So is it better to put a reflector behind a radiator - well any saving is a saving. As Andy_WSM said rads on external walls are madness. Andy_WSM did not say an open chimney will lose about 20% of your expensive heat, but if s/he did say it I agree. Using expensive Radflek ..... well show me their science and I'll tell you if it works, as far as I'm aware they have published no scientific facts supporting their endorsed 'green' credentials.

Cardew

Richie-from-the-Boro wrote: »

Using expensive Radflek ..... well show me their science and I'll tell you if it works, as far as I'm aware they have published no scientific facts supporting their endorsed 'green' credentials.

There was considerable correspondence on the technical aspects of these panels in this thread:


https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/2867980energy+saving+t
rust


Essentially the EST stated:

Radiator reflector panels do generate a small saving. In a typical 3 bedroom semi detached gas heated home they can save around £6 and 30kg CO2 a year if professionally installed, whereas DIY installation would save around £3.50 and 18kg CO2 a year. Individually radiator panel reflectors save on average around £1 and 6kg CO2 per radiator as a DIY installation.


We calculate these savings by collating a number of sources. We use the CERT Technical Guidance to derive the average radiator panel saving
from the two different installation types; we then apply average number of
radiators for each house type which is sourced from the Building
Research Establishment’s ‘Standard Dwellings for Energy Modelling’ (not publically available).

We then applied our own calculated average prices sourced from
Ofgem data (not publically available) and DEFRA’s GHG Conversion Factors to get financial and CO2 savings.

However when challenged the EST admitted that they had misread the CERT guidance and that those annual savings(i.e. £6 or £3.50 for a whole house) only applied to houses with solid walls i.e. without cavity walls.


To repeat the savings can be measured in pennies per year.

Ben84

I feel the rooms heat faster since I installed them, but that is challenging for me to prove conclusively.

I would not pay lots for them, but still consider them worthwhile as a DIY measure with reused materials. You could for example make them out of cardboard and cover it with cleaned, flattened foil trays - things you'd otherwise put in the bin. The thickness and number of layers of foil is unimportant. Being shiny and reflective is all that matters. Thicker foil will likely hold up better over time however. If I save a few pounds a year and a few kg of CO2, that's a success for something that cost nothing.

Richie-from-the-Boro

HiYa Cardew, It will come as no surprise to you that I am guilty of never reading 'other' threads and am very anti green. Any figures calculated as a contributing number for the purpose of reduction in carbon emissions for radiator panels is in my opinion a false number anyway. My comment on placement was that an internal wall with any radiator heating on it wet / electric / fire - chimney etc will be retained in the dwelling. Placement on an external wall whether cavity or sold is thermal transfer by conduction transfer of thermal energy, and if possible radiators [are they ?] are better placed on an internal wall.

So agree with you its coppers in saving if at all but if its done DIY and makes people feel better - go for it, just don't get stitched up by so called green recommendations that have no substance in fact in terms of domestic heating in UK dwellings.