Boost the heat in your home AND save energy?
The Radiator Booster is designed to increase the efficiency of central heating by sucking hot air out from behind a radiator and circulating it into the room. The idea is that energy is saved as the room heats up more quickly, allowing the boiler to shut down sooner. The manufacturers say that most of the tests carried out with the Radiator Booster have made it possible to reduce heating thermostat settings by more than 2 degrees. (UK energy providers state that reducing your thermostat setting by just one degree Celsius could save the average home £49/year or 10% of heating bills.)
The unit is powered by 2 small fans similar to those in a home computer, and runs for about 500 hours on 1kW of electricity (currently about 15p) giving a total running cost of about one penny a week.
I’ve been testing one out and have found it makes a noticeable difference to the temperature of the room and also eliminates cold spots. Initially the noise from the fans was a bit irritating, but they settled down after a few days. To prolong the life of the fans the booster should not be used for more than six hours a day, so I have put mine on a timer to come on each evening.
The unit is 700mm long and about 56mm square, very lightweight, and very easy to use – you just sit it on top of the radiator and plug it in. It can only be used with water filled radiators, as storage heaters or oil filled radiators get too hot and damage the fans.
The Radiator Booster is not very robust and has a trailing cable leading to a power socket, so I wouldn’t recommend it for a house with very small children. Otherwise, it does seem to work as intended and might reduce your heating bills by over £50 per year, or it could be the answer if your heating is struggling in the cold weather.
For more information or to buy a Radiator Booster visit Nigels Eco Store.
Posted under energy, money saving ideas
