Heatsaver Radiator Panels @ £39.50 for 10 or £49.95 for 20 inc delivery @ Ethical Superstore

I've never seen these before. I wonder if it is much more efficient than the normal self adhesive reflective material thats been around for years and certainly costs much much less than this and is widely available from any DIY store. It certainly needs to be.

EDIT:

BG Gas reckon you save £14 a year and it seems tin foil might be the most cost effective way.

http://www.biggreenswitch.co.uk/arou.../radiator-foil

However voted hot as this will surely pay for itself at some stage.

Is this a deal? I thought these were always this price?

I'd like to see some justification of their marketing speak.

70% of the radiator heat goes into the wall? If your rads are that directional turn them round so 70% goes into the room :-)

Increases water return temperature? How does it do that? insulating the rad? So it reduces the efficeiency of the rad then - the entire point of radiators is to pass heat from the hot water into the room.

saves at least 15%? Evidence please - under what conditions?

I would have thought it would actually increase the heat transfer from the radiator to the wall as metal/foil is a better conductor of heat than plaster and brick alone so more heat will transfer via the metal to the wall !?!?!?

Unless it is a foil corvered poor heat conductor like cardboard

you be better off getting this as it will pay for itself in 1 year at £13.99 for an 8 metre roll



should put this up as a deal as its better than this one

here a direct link to wickes

http://www.wickes.co.uk/FOIL-INSULAT...ll/invt/210022

You can't create nor destroy energy. Putting a bit of tinfoil behind your radiators can go some way towards reflecting the radiated heat back towards the radiator.

Anything else and you're just wasting time and money.

EDIT - Just seen the comments above as I hadn't refreshed the window. You guys put it better than I could!

More detailed info on the product and cheaper to buy here http://www.lake-renewable-energy.com...FQoi3godQ1uwDA
Other energy saving gizmos too!

I'm assuming these things are only any use when your radiator is on an external wall?

Walls are good conductors of heat - air is a poor conductor of heat (hence the cavity in the wall and double glazing and puffa jackets) - turning the radiator round won't work.

If the radiator losses less heat to the wall it will leave the radiator at a higher temperature as the flow rate will be the same. Therefore the boiler will need to raise the temperature less for it's next cycle.

I can't confirm the %ages but the principles are sound.

I'm so glad that the Goverment keep telling us that Science teaching in Schools is not being 'dumbed down' otherwise I'd be worried!

Did you miss the smilie on the end of the first comment? I didnt think anyone could be so foolish as to think that such a ludicrous suggestion as turning the radiator around could be a serious suggestion. But you've shown me to be wrong.

For info the cavities in walls were originated for damp protection against rain not insulation effect, they prevent damp penetrating to the inside of the wall. Double glazing and puffa jackets use sealed containers (double glazing doesnt use 'air' either but we'll leave that) which is a significant point because air flow has an important impact - try wearing a puffa jacket with a shell made of cheesecloth and see how cosy you are.

I'm interested in this business of walls being good conductors as well - I can put a blowtorch on one end of a brick for ages without the other end getting hot - try doing that with an air gap.
Yeah, sure air has a lower thermal conductivity than brick but that isnt the whole story - because it isnt conductivity that we are interested in. Specifically (get it?) we want to heat up the air.

The main way that a radiator heats a room is by heating the air around its surface causing convection currents, thats why rads have fins, to increase the surface area available to distribute heat.
In fact that looks like it is how this device is meant to operate - those grills look as if they are intended to improve the heating of the air flowing near the wall surface. My guess is that the metal is meant to partially reflect the radiated heat and partly catch it and create convection flow through its grill. If it is looking to reflect heat then why have the fins?

For 70% of the heat to go into the wall then you are expecting us to believe that the radiator is not evenly distributing heat.
Heat by radiation is going to be evenly distributed from the rad surface.
Heat by conduction will be into the air and through a couple of small mounts into the wall. That flow will depend on the thermal conductivity of those materials and their temperature - heat flow being driven by the temperature difference. Sorry I dont believe that that is putting 70% of the heat into the wall, certainly not once the wall starts to warm up. And even if it did, then if the wall was well insulated then that would be a good thing - high thermal mass being all the rage in eco design these days.

Sounds like you're the ideal customer - a little understanding and prepared to believe everything they claim.

Drink deep or taste not the Pierian spring.