Radiator Covers. . . . . Yes or No?

[SlB09]

Bought a new house, radiator cover throughout - can't decide whether tj leave be or I want to rip them all out as abit of me thinks they are unnecessary tat!!!!
Opinions please, are they still fashionable?!

I'd remove them and replace the radiators with nice ones. Doesn't make sense to block the heat in. We've got new flat panel ones downstairs which look really nice. I also hate painted radiators. The previous owners of our houses must've done about 10 coats of paint on the radiators and it looks awful.

[smile]@JamOrMarmaladeOnToast

Total waste of energy - your heating will cost so much more as its got to be on longer to heat the house.

They can't make any difference to your gas consumption. Your gas gets turned into heat, assuming your boiler is inside the house all the heat will be released inside the house.

You know what would block the heat far more that a radiator cover? A thermostatic valve on the radiator. Funnily enough, people who use these don't have higher gas bills.

Heating being on for longer (to heat up the house to thermostat temperature) would not mean more gas. The boiler turns on and off regularly while the heating is on. If the radiators have reduced ability to put heat into the house (whether from being blocked or from valves) then all that happens is that the on periods get shorter and the off periods get longer. The amount of gas needed to heat the house to x degrees is similar whether you do it slowly or quickly. (Slowly might actually use less gas, the house will be at the target temperature for less time if it takes longer to heat up, assuming timer has same settings in both scenarios.)

Wood is an insulator, so even if your room is nice and warm with the cover there, it is definitely soaking up the heat and costing you more.

This is utterly wrong. Anything inside your house that absorbs heat does not increase your heating bill at all. Heat cannot be destroyed, every bit of heat absorbed by something inside your house will be released again, to the inside of your house, thus helping to maintain the interior temperature. There is literally zero heat loss.

The only things you don't want to lose heat to are surfaces that are capable of conducting heat out of your house. Windows and ceilings can be the worst culprits.

Really bad for energy efficiency
We kept the shelf above two of ours (so we still had a place for phone etc) but took off the covers - rooms now heat properly when they were cold beforehand.

I don't agree that it is bad for energy efficiency, because energy is not being taken away or wasted.

however, it will be reducing the apparent output of radiators, because it will be more difficult for heat to escape into the room.

@PigletJohn

I don't agree that it is bad for energy efficiency, because energy is not being taken away or wasted.

however, it will be reducing the apparent output of radiators, because it will be more difficult for heat to escape into the room.

Which means you have the radiators on longer and higher to achieve the same result, which means poor energy efficiency.

I don't like them from style perspective and want to rip the couple we have out, but with young children they've proven to be quite useful. It's a convenient flat surface to put things on out of reach.

If you put 5kWh into the room, it costs a certain amount.

Reducing the power of the radiator and making it slower to heat the room does not use more energy.

Where is the "extra" energy going?

@PigletJohn

If you put 5kWh into the room, it costs a certain amount.

Reducing the power of the radiator and making it slower to heat the room does not use more energy.

Where is the "extra" energy going?

Of course it does.

You have your heating on at mid level for an hour. It heats your room to your desired level . With a radiator cover on you need to either heat it at a higher level to reach the same desired temp in the same time frame. Because the heat does not escape into the room at the same pace.it slows the convection currents.

As it slows convection currents then using a cover means you need to heat at a higher temp to reach the same temp in the same level. One hundred percent, scientifically proven rad covers slow the room being heated.

where do you think the extra energy is going?

@PigletJohn

I don't agree that it is bad for energy efficiency, because energy is not being taken away or wasted.

however, it will be reducing the apparent output of radiators, because it will be more difficult for heat to escape into the room.

.. I don’t think you know what efficiency means

@Regularsizedrudy

I wish you could tell me where you think the extra energy is going.