With former Conservative MP Edwina Currie suggesting on Good Morning Britain that Brits should stay warm by putting foil behind their radiators, an expert has debunked this as a myth for lowering energy bills as well as discrediting other common wrongly followed heating advice.
Jess Steele, heating technology expert at designer radiator specialists BestHeating has explained why Edwina’s advice shouldn’t be taken as gospel as she exposes four tips and why each won’t be enough to keep a house warm with reduced bills this winter:
Tin foil reduces heating bills – False
Whilst there is some merit in using foil to reflect heat into a room with around a third of heat lost through walls, it won’t actually have much effect on overall bills. Jess comments: “Radiators still have to be turned on and reach a high temperature for a lengthy period of time to heat a home for the foil to have the desired effect, so Edwina’s point will have a slight impact on the warmth in a room, but the costs will end up being basically the same.
“For any advice that requires heating to be on high, the boiler will have to work hard for a duration of time too. It is much better to improve the efficiency of a home through ensuring checks are done before radiators are in use and that insulation is sufficient.”
Put the thermostat on high in short bursts will lower costs – False
Jess says: “It doesn’t help to turn the thermostat up high to try and heat a room quicker as this only makes the room warmer at the same speed. By the time you turn it off this will only cost money without reward as it will not make a house feel warmer at all and raise bills. Instead, set a timer for the most common periods you need a warm house such as just before you wake up and when you are relaxing in an evening, but turn this off if the weather is a little warmer than usual during the cold spell.”
It is cheaper to heat a house with an electric heater instead of a radiator – False
Despite rising costs, Jess points out that central heating is still more cost efficient than a heater: “Central heating is a lot cheaper to run than an electric heater, for every unit of heat from a radiator it will cost around three times as much for a unit put out by an electric heater. The only exception is if radiators aren’t turned off in unoccupied rooms, then an electric heater will prove cheaper, but this isn’t being savvy with bills.”
Painting radiators black can reduce energy bills – False
This is a common myth built on the idea that black absorbs heat quicker so will transfer heat out at a better rate than white or other coloured radiators. Jess says: “The colour of a radiator has no effect on how effective it is because the majority of heat emitted is convective, which can’t be impacted by different shades. It's more important to insulate walls to prevent heat from leaking out of a home altogether.”
Finally Jess comments: “In what is set to be a testing time for millions due to the rising costs, there are many simple ways to feel warm at home that lower bills without compromising on heat, including only heating the room you are in and lowering the thermostat by a degree so that the boiler and radiators are using less energy.”
