Reflecting heat into the room

Pat Duncan

What do I buy so that the radiators send the heat into the room instead of the wall?

These boards used to be called asbestos boards but no longer. Sounds like a silly request but my local hardware store is clueless. So is Home Depot.

Grumpy

Pat, this is not a permanent fix, but Evil Orange (HD) sells 4'x8' sheets of foil faced styrene insulation, varying thickness from 1/2" to 1 1/2". You could cut these to fit behind your radiators, and they will help in reflecting the heat away from the walls and towards the occupied spaces. If you cut them 6" shorter and narrower than the radiators, they would barely be visible to the living space but still be effective.
Just an idea to try and help.

kevin coppinger_4

or you could....

try the bubble foil stuff on a piece of sheet metal or just tack it up...kpc

steve_30

It's remarkable how effective aluminium foil is at reflecting heat back into a room - even without an insulating layer between the reflective surface and the wall. When a steam radiator is about 3" from a wall, the wall can get too hot to touch comfortably. Put up some foil, and the wall behind the foil will be cool to the touch!

I've taped foil to the wall, and taped it to cardboard then tacked the cardboard to the wall. Both work well and can be fairly inconspicuous if the reflector is smaller than the radiator.

Foil isn't the most attractive heat reflector, but it is cheap, easily installed and very effective.

Mike T., Swampeast MO

Mylar

Mylar (the silver stuff of balloons and the inside of potato chip bags) is an extremely good reflector of radiant energy. It's also quite a bit easier to work with than aluminum foil if a bit more expensive and hard to find.

Crafts stores or florists are two possible sources.