How to install Radflek
What are radiator reflectors?
Radflek radiators reflectors are a UK designed and manufactured energy efficient product, which aims to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of your heating system, more specifically your radiators. The idea is that under normal circumstances, heat leaves your radiator from all directions, however only the heat leaving from the top and front of the radiator is useful.
With radiators situated on the inside of external walls, heat emitted from the rear of the radiator escapes through the wall and onto the street. Radflek radiator reflectors aim to reflect this heat back into the room and prevent heat loss.
How effective are Radflek?
If you imagine that heat is emitted evenly across the surface of the radiator, then heat is also released from the rear. This heat, in poorly insulated homes, travels straight through the wall and onto the street. Radflek has been stringently tested and has been found to prevent up to 45% of heat loss from the radiator.
It reflects 95% of the heat emitted from the back of the radiator into the room. This reduction of heat loss reduces the workload that the boiler goes through and can save you money and around 48kg CO2/m2 over the course of the year. Radflek are more than 23% more effective than saw toothed or louvered reflectors and come with an energy saving trust recommendation, having been independently tested by the British Board of Agrement (BBA).
How to fit/install Radflek – How to install radiator reflectors
It takes no energy to save energy! Radflek are incredibly easy to fit – all it takes is a pair of scissors and a measuring implement. The Radflek comes with the sheets of laminated aluminium foil with long-lasting coating to prevent oxidation, Radklips and Radsticks (for larger radiators).
Here we have the radiator prior to Radflek being installed. O.K, not much to see, but the radiator is placed on an external wall, with a radiator cover going over the top of it. This means that even more heat will come into contact with the wall – making Radflek absolutely essential.
You can see the contents of the package here. 3 sheets of the specially designed laminated aluminium, a few clips and strips to join more pieces together.
First, measure the distance between the radiator fixings and cut your Radflek sheet to size. This should be fairly simple and the fixings are easy to spot.
Fold the top of the Radflek down about 1cm. This will give enough material for the clips to hold onto. Slide a couple of clips over the top, ensuring that there is enough overlap each side so the clips can rest on the radiator fixings. Once the clips are on, fold over another couple of times to make sure that it won’t unfold.
Now you are ready to drop it down into place and install Radflek.
Finished radiator. As you can see, you can’t tell that the Radflek has been added behind the radiator. However you’ll love the temperature difference it creates.
This looks like a good idea however some of my radiators have the fixing brackets half way down the radiator which would not be suitable for good heat reflection.Do you have any other products that would overcome this i.e. adhering to the wall?