Being in the process of replacing all my 40 year old radiators, I'm
wondering if there is any real benefit it putting reflective aluminium
foil behind them. And if so, is there any particular product that
people would recommend?

Keith

wrote:
Being in the process of replacing all my 40 year old radiators, I'm
wondering if there is any real benefit it putting reflective aluminium
foil behind them. And if so, is there any particular product that
people would recommend?

Keith

Not a great deal.

Insulation is probably a better thing to put behind them.

wrote in message
...
Being in the process of replacing all my 40 year old radiators, I'm
wondering if there is any real benefit it putting reflective aluminium
foil behind them. And if so, is there any particular product that
people would recommend?

I'm assuming they *are* on an outside wall? (sorry - just checking!)

I found the thin silvered foam "good" in the sense that that bit of wall
didn't need heating, nor did it need to cool any air and the less I felt it
was the better.

Not sure how much of a qualitative difference it made.


--
Bob Mannix
(anti-spam is as easy as 1-2-3 - not

"Bob Mannix" wrote in message
...

wrote in message
...
Being in the process of replacing all my 40 year old radiators, I'm
wondering if there is any real benefit it putting reflective aluminium
foil behind them. And if so, is there any particular product that
people would recommend?

I'm assuming they *are* on an outside wall? (sorry - just checking!)

I found the thin silvered foam "good" in the sense that that bit of wall
didn't need heating, nor did it need to cool any air and the less I felt
it was the better.

Not sure how much of a qualitative difference it made.


Ooops - I meant "..how much of a quantitative.."


--
Bob Mannix
(anti-spam is as easy as 1-2-3 - not

Bob Mannix wrote:
wrote in message
...
Being in the process of replacing all my 40 year old radiators, I'm
wondering if there is any real benefit it putting reflective aluminium
foil behind them. And if so, is there any particular product that
people would recommend?

I'm assuming they *are* on an outside wall? (sorry - just checking!)

I found the thin silvered foam "good" in the sense that that bit of wall
didn't need heating, nor did it need to cool any air and the less I felt it
was the better.

Not sure how much of a qualitative difference it made.


Quite right to check. My mother was offered various energy efficiency
enhancments (due to her status as an 'old dear' :-) ) - and they fitted
it behind just about every radiator. I think only two are on outside walls.

--
Rod

Hypothyroidism is a seriously debilitating condition with an insidious
onset.
Although common it frequently goes undiagnosed.
www.thyromind.info www.thyroiduk.org www.altsupportthyroid.org

In article ,
writes:
Being in the process of replacing all my 40 year old radiators, I'm
wondering if there is any real benefit it putting reflective aluminium
foil behind them. And if so, is there any particular product that
people would recommend?

Not sure that you can get it thin enough, but I suspect the ideal
thing would be to insert a half inch sheet of Celotex in place of
the plaster, within the area between the mounting brackets and to
within an inch or so of the positions of the top and bottom of the
radiator. Could leave the foil exposed too.

--
Andrew Gabriel
[email address is not usable -- followup in the newsgroup]

On 21 Jul, 11:25, wrote:
Being in the process of replacing all my 40 year old radiators, I'm
wondering if there is any real benefit it putting reflective aluminium
foil behind them. *And if so, is there any particular product that
people would recommend?

Keith


Reflective foil would only help with radiant heat such as an electric
fire that gives out infra-red, not with central heating since a
radiator works by convection rather than radiation, heating the
adjacant air directly. So reflective foil wouldn't help
significantly.
Foam/polysterine/cavity/ type insulation would help.
Andrew Gabrial's celotex suggestion is a good idea.

Tony

On Mon, 21 Jul 2008 03:25:53 -0700 (PDT), wrote:

Being in the process of replacing all my 40 year old radiators, I'm
wondering if there is any real benefit it putting reflective aluminium
foil behind them.

It'll reduce heat losses by radiation. If you run your radiators at a
few hundred degress, then this may be useful. As you won't be, it
isn't.

Any thin insulator for conducted heat is useful: bubblewrap, thin foam
sheets. Even better is simply to wathc out for convective airflow
upwards and not to mount radiatiors directly underneath windows, with a
curtain draped over both.

On Mon, 21 Jul 2008 23:19:26 +0100, Andy Dingley wrote:

Even better is simply to wathc out for convective airflow
upwards and not to mount radiators directly underneath windows, with a
curtain draped over both.

I'm sure when I did the calculations as part of my degree (ages ago)
having the warm air current across the inside of the windows had an
overall beneficial effect compared to having radiators on inside walls.

Having a curtain over both is definitely a bad idea, though. A radiator
shelf to deflect the current more into the room and curtains that hang
above the shelf should work OK.

On Wed, 23 Jul 2008 20:01:46 GMT, PCPaul wrote:

I'm sure when I did the calculations as part of my degree (ages ago)
having the warm air current across the inside of the windows had an
overall beneficial effect compared to having radiators on inside walls.

So how does that work?

"Andy Dingley" wrote in message
news
On Wed, 23 Jul 2008 20:01:46 GMT, PCPaul wrote:

I'm sure when I did the calculations as part of my degree (ages ago)
having the warm air current across the inside of the windows had an
overall beneficial effect compared to having radiators on inside walls.

So how does that work?

I'm sure it "worked" but qualitatively, not quantitatively. In the days of
mostly single glazed windows, the air cooled by the windows would fall to
and along the floor, being perceived as a cold draught on their legs by the
occupants. This would be exacerbated by a radiator somewhere else as a
circulation system driven by the combination of hot radiator and cold window
would form (as had been the case already with open fires). Putting the
radiator under the window made no difference to the average temperature but
reduced cold draughts and therefore increased comfort (there is also the
reason that the wall under a window is often dead space and therefore a good
place to put a radiator).

With double glazing, this effect is much reduced but the habit of putting
radiators under windows persists. The added benefit of having radiators
back to back on internal walls, with the associated reduction in piping, is
an added bonus for double glazed homes.

Although the vast majority of heat output from a radiator is convection,
there is (a) some radiation and (b) the convection currents behind the
radiator will warm the wall. On balance, if I had everything stripped off, I
would fit silvered thin foam insulation behind external wall radiators
(especially if the wall is solid).


--
Bob Mannix
(anti-spam is as easy as 1-2-3 - not)

"Bob Mannix" wrote in message
...


Although the vast majority of heat output from a radiator is convection,
there is (a) some radiation and (b) the convection currents behind the
radiator will warm the wall. On balance, if I had everything stripped off,
I would fit silvered thin foam insulation behind external wall radiators
(especially if the wall is solid).

I would fit foil coated foam.
The foil makes sod all difference to the heat losses but its a lot easier to
clean than the foam.