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Radiators aren't the most efficient things. The problem is that they send out heat in all directions, including up the wall -- not exactly ideal since you usually want heat to go into the room instead. Putting insulating foil behind the radiator can help a lot, but we've just seen a new gadget that may be able to do even better.
The Radiator Booster is a small bar containing a row of tiny fans that you lay on top of your radiator. You plug it into the wall (don't worry, it only uses 50p of electricity a year) and it will circulate the hot air from behind your radiator and blow it into the room.
This should mean that your room heats up faster, the heat isn't wasted on your wall and the boiler can turn off sooner, reducing carbon emissions.
It's recommended that you only run the device for six hours a day, as the motors need time to cool down. A nice idea for future versions would be to include a temperature sensor; then the fans could be set to come on automatically when the radiator heats up.
You can pick up a Radiator Booster online at Nigel's Eco Store for £20. At that price you'll have to think carefully about which radiators are most often used, because decking out a whole house could quickly add up.
31 January 2008 01:14pm
I'd also recommend radiator foil to reflect heat back into rooms. £5 a pop for enough for roughly 3 radiators, buy it from most DIY shops plus B&Q
06 February 2008 06:33pm
radiators have fins which are optimised for passive convection of air, not forced air convection. This thing appears to cover about 1/2 the fins on the radiator, and use a computer fan to force the air out the top at a higher rate. Its highly unlikely that this will have even a negligable effect on the time it takes to heat a room, let alone enough to cover its manufacturing / running energy use, and also has around 3 yr shelf life before the fan bearings pack up (and it starts to make noise).
You could make this for around $2 and some cardboard, but i doubt its worth the effort.
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