Radiator heat reflectors

madlyn

I'm looking into fitting so heat reflectors on the 3 radiators I have that are on an external wall.
Do they make a difference? and are they all similar regardless of price, or do you get what you pay for?

FlorayG

They do work. If you buy cheaper, thin ones then just insert a sheet of cadrboard behind them for the extra insulation. I've tried both  cheap and more expensive ones and the more costly ones are easier to fit as they are not so floppy

sammyjammy

They definitely work. I have them on internal Rads too - I don't want to share my heat with the neighbours!  I think the whole pack cost me around £30

Czure

Definitely work & best of all you can very cheaply make your own by wrapping cardboard with a single layer of cheap foil. Making them yourself also allows you to firstly cut the cardboard into easy to fit sheet sizes with any cut outs where & if needed before wrapping. Avoid using adhesives (including lots of tape) as the glue can make a sticky mess due to the heat, but a single strip of tape on the rear side to secure your foil will be fine.

Use any medium & upwards sized cardboard boxes that you can get hold of for free if you ask shop workers politely as these sizes can be easily opened up to make them big enough for the job.

And use wrapping foil such as Aldi's Everyday Wrapping Foil at 99p for 20 meters, definitely don't pay £3.59 or over for the disgustingly priced Magnum kitchen foil at Aldi as the extra thickness is absolutely not needed for this use.

Rodders53

Google tells me that ally foil is almost as effective as the more expensive alternatives.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radiator_reflector

TBF insulate the room better and then you will make a greater difference and an insulating layer behind the radiator may work better than foil in some building construction methods.

If the wall is a cavity construction with insulation in the cavity then such steps to reduce heat lost will be less effective than if a solid wall Victorian or older property.

madlyn

Thank you everyone for your replies.
I'm looking at radflek as they have the option of sticking them to the wall or using a bracket.

FreeBear

Rodders53 said: TBF insulate the room better and then you will make a greater difference and an insulating layer behind the radiator may work better than foil in some building construction methods.

In a well insulated room with good double/triple glazed windows, there is no real need to mount radiators under windows. I've moved all my radiators to internal walls which has helped to reduce the amount of plumbing and wasting heat through exterior walls. Having IWI has made the task of mounting radiators on external walls a little more challenging...

twopenny

I've always used the Turkey foil that is for sale now and put that behind and yes it makes a difference.

Found it best if rads are under windows or shelves to curl the foil up and out under the shelves/windowsills. Sends the heat out into the room instead of straight up.

Doesn't look smart but the point is having lower temps but maximum heat for your money.

bjorn_toby_wilde

madlyn said:

Thank you everyone for your replies.
I'm looking at radflek as they have the option of sticking them to the wall or using a bracket.

I have radflek. Fitted it last year and there was enough left to do my son’s house too!

I was quite impressed with it. It’s quite strong stuff which means it stays where it’s put and very easy to install with just a pair of scissors. Cut to size, slide on the plastic top bar, roll a couple of times then drop into place. It rests on the rad brackets.

You really don’t notice it’s there and it’s easily removed if you want to clean behind the rad. Much easier than sticking to the wall.

Czure

madlyn said:

Thank you everyone for your replies.
I'm looking at radflek as they have the option of sticking them to the wall or using a bracket.

Remember not to use reflectors behind radiators on internal walls OR properly insulated external walls as it has a negative effect.

Before making a final choice however I'd suggest checking out the Insulated Reflective Bubble wrap types that are coated on both sides. These not only reflect heat back into the room but also insulate the wall whilst at the same time reflecting the cold back into external walls, importantly they are for attaching to (or at least contacting with) the wall so don't need to be kept from touching them which is an absolute must for Radflex to work correctly.

I know Radflex has the hanging bars & may seem slightly easier to fit but you may find it awkward to get the correct spacing from rad' & wall with it & if you don't have enough space behind your rads for correct fitting you could end up losing heat instead of preventing loss, basically if Radflex touches the wall it conducts heat into the wall.

There's plenty of the insulated sheeting available on Amazon for around £16 for enough to do many rads & I've used it in a previous rental with excellent results, but if Radflex is preferred that's also cheaper on Amazon than direct from manufacturer website.

Make sure you check out the Amazon review by Andy R for the Radflex 5 pack, it's long but very informative & points out.

Murmansk

I've used rolls of stuff that looks like silver bubble wrap that is currently for sale at Aldi. It has a couple of strips of self adhesive tape on the back to attach it to the wall. I found it fairly easy to cut to size and slide down the back of my radiators and the tape holds it in place.