Saving Heat...Has Anybody Tried These?

[pastafreak]

Either these -

http://www.ebay.co.uk....l2649#ht_4515wt_1163

or

Amazon.co.uk User Recommendation

I have the coldest flat-the walls are always cold...would these do any good? The reviews seem ok.

[HowardKennitby]

They will have some effect, how much depends on the wall construction.

[tenrec]

I think this is just glorified tinfoil. My parents used to do that but I don't know whether it really made any difference.

[pond50]

we have them but don't know if they work or not
if you have cold walls have you tried thicker wallpaper?

[tamborine]

Cheaper to buy rolls of tin foil & slip them behind rads to deflect heat from wall absorption.

[annie0000]

Why don't you try tinfoil first to see if it makes any difference?

[tenrec]

My parents also used that wallpaper that was made of very thin polystyrene type stuff. Probably a fire hazard nowadays.

[Maydup]

Worth a try pastafreak; but so is the low cost version of wrapping some thick cardboard in silver foil and placing that behind the rads.

Most effective on outside walls. It will reflect some heat off the walls and back into the room.

[pastafreak]

I tried tinfoil a few years ago...didn't seem to make any difference. The walls are concrete as far as I know. The management company had cavity wall insulation put in a few years ago...that hasn't made a difference either. I can have the heat on for several hours,and it still won't be all that warm here in the lounge - maybe 65-which is just about tolerable-and upstairs is worse.

[HowardKennitby]

Assuming you have hot-water heating, are you sure the radiator is OK? Maybe it needs bleeding.

[EDDIE51]

Would make no diffrence unless you have the old single walls , modern walls with cavity insulation would not see any diffrence. As has been said just putting cooking foil behind the rads will be exactly the same. If you do have the old single skin walls the only way is to insulate the entire wall not just the bit behine the rads. You can get rolls of insulation that have foam and foil to stick on like wall paper.

[annie0000]

The walls are probably not getting heated up enough - you would have to keep the heating on until the house is properly warm then turn it down lower but keep it on. You are spending all the energy just taking the chill off and it's not making enough difference to the core temperature so it is just getting cold quickly again as soon as the heating goes off.

[tamborine]

Just plug in an electric blanket & wrap it around you.

[pastafreak]

HowardKennitby
Mark as Best Answer
Assuming you have hot-water heating, are you sure the radiator is OK? Maybe it needs bleeding.

The radiators get ridiculously hot....but all the walls stay cold. It's not so bad in mild weather-above 7deg...but when it's near freezing....the cold sets in.

I guess I'll try the foil again. I can't see applying foam insulated paper on all the walls as being an option..yet.

[jomifl]

You can get rolls of aluminised foam to put behind the rads, much cheaper and probably easier to fit. Whether even that would be cost effective depends on many factor as mentioned by others. If you have cavity insulation it probably isn't worth bothering with, if you don't then you could consider some form of internal insulation, but it won't be cheap if it is effective.

[GRUMPY]

Do you own the property, expensive i know but a permanant solution would be to have a stud partition erected filled with insulation,this would make your room about 12" smaller but an awful lot warmer.
If you are a tenant have a word with the landlords perhaps they may share the cost.

[The Builder]

Grumpy's right Pazza. I've suggested that many times on here. Also, with modern "multi-foil" insulation, you need only lose a couple of inches from each wall.

[The Builder]

I see jom has mentioned the same thing. Internal insulation would be the way to go.

[rockyracoon]

I've got loads of tin foil and a couple cardboard boxes doing nothing, I think I'm gonna give this a go. Maybe I'll get that £500 gas bill down a bit!

[The Builder]

Haha Rocky .............. this would be better though .............

http://www.just-insulation.com/tlx_silver.html

[Cockney_si]

I used the things that supposed to cool the car down in the summer, got them from the pound shop, not much call for them in winter.