Helping Your Elderly Relative Stay Warm This Winter

With gas and electricity prices skyrocketing, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to heat our homes. For older people, this is compounded by the fact that they feel the cold more harshly than their younger counterparts do. Fortunately, there are things that you can do to help make them comfortable, and the solutions aren’t necessarily expensive.

Insulation

If they don’t have insulation, they might be able to benefit from government initiatives offering free insulation to homeowners and renters. Check with your local council to see if they know of any schemes happening in the area. Take advantage of this while it lasts.

Draft Exclusion

House can lose a lot of energy through drafts, and this is especially true for properties with single glazing. Draft excluders do not have to be expensive. First, you can buy special sealants to place around doors and windows. This will help to fill any gaps. You simply peel off the backing tape and stick it in place. It’s easy.

Next, make sure that curtains are thick and thermal. If they aren’t, and you can’t afford to buy thermal curtains, don’t worry. You can buy lined curtains and fill them with newspaper or stuffing. If you aren’t too fussed about the decoration, you can buy duvets for as little as £5 and fit those over the windows to act as curtains.

We have one for our front door that we attach using Velcro. During the day, we put it away. It works great. The reason we chose to do this is that I didn’t want a curtain pole over the window. I actually really like it and it doesn’t look weird to me at all – although some other people have commented that it’s a bit odd. Still, it saves us a lot of money because there are no blasts of cold air coming from the front door.

Change the Radiators

Radiators UK are relatively cheap, and you can pick up a super-efficient 3-panel, 3 convector finned, radiator for as little as £50. If your relative has older style radiators, then swapping them out for the latest models will make a lot of difference. You don’t have to replace radiators throughout the house – just in the room where they spend the most time. It can make a HUGE difference, particularly if they only had single panels beforehand.

I hope that you found these tips useful. If you are interested in buying a new radiator, then check out the collection on offer at designerradiatorsdirect.co.uk/.

Two Things to Bear in Mind When Using a BTU p/h Calculator

BTU p/h calculators are brilliant for the consumer. They allow us to calculate roughly how much heat output our radiators need to provide in order to maintain a specific temperature. However, it’s important that you understand the following two concerns when using a BTU p/h.

If you do not address these concerns correctly, then you can end up with estimates that are widely inaccurate. In turn, this can mean that you buy the wrong radiator for the room, which in turn can prove costly in terms of your energy bills.

1.       You must provide accurate dimensions

The first thing that you need to bear in mind is the exact measurement of the room. Do not use a BTU calculator and just guess the figures. Unless you're lucky, or you have an unbelievable eye for measurements, then you are highly likely to get it wrong. If you get it wrong, the BTU p/h calculator will return an inaccurate result.

When taking your measurements, take the length, height, and width of the room. You should have three measurements.

NB: make sure that you are using the correct measurement system. Double check to make sure that you and the BTU p/h calculator are using either the metric system or the imperial system.

2.       You must make allowances for insulation differences between the room and the variables on the calculator

 

While a BTU calculator will usually make some allowances for these differences – for example, they’ll ask which room the radiator is to go in, they don’t necessarily make enough allowance. For example, in a room that has triple glazing and cavity wall insulation, you will need around 10% fewer BTU p/h to keep the room warm than a double glazed non-cavity wall insulated room.

Now that you understand a bit more about the considerations you should be taking when using a BTU p/h calculator, you should be able to get a much more accurate reading. If you have any questions about the issues raised here, then please visit http://www.designerradiatorsdirect.co.uk/

How Size, Water Content, and Material Affect Radiator Efficiency

Before you rush out and buy yourself a new radiator, it’s important that you understand how size, water content, and material affect their efficiency. This way, you can make an informed decision about which radiator to buy. If you don’t realise that these things make a difference, you might end up buying a radiator that is unsuitable, or expensive to run.

Surface Area

Surface area has a huge impact on the radiator. With all things being equal (e.g. Water content, design, etc.) the radiator with the largest surface area would be the most efficient. If you need to choose between two different radiators and they are the same in every way except size, then the larger of the two will provide the most heat.

Water Content

According to some experts, radiators with lower water content are actually more efficient than those with more water are. This is because the more water there is, the longer it takes to heat up. For each individual radiator, that might not prove too much of a difference, but as you move through the system, it does add up.

In other words, you should try to ensure that all of your radiators have less water volume if you want the entire system to be efficient. One or two radiators with higher content won’t make much difference, but if they all have more water, then that will make a difference.

Material

The material of the radiator does make a difference, but they are good or bad depending on how you use the system. If you want a highly responsive system, i.e. one that comes on quickly once you turn it on, then choose either aluminium or steel, such as Aeon Radiators. However, if you want a system that is slightly more efficient and that can retain its heat longer, choose cast iron.

If you would like to buy radiators, then please visit http://www.designerradiatorsdirect.co.uk

Towel Radiators: Which Fuel Type Should You Choose?

When it comes to towel radiators, we actually have three different options when it comes to fuel. These are centrally heated, electric, and dual fuel (which combines the previous two). They’re actually rare in the radiator world, in that they offer a choice of all three. Most other radiators only come as central heating units or as standalone units.

This should tell you something about the way we use towel radiators, i.e. that we use them throughout the year. Below, we’re going to explain the benefits of each type. You can then match your preference to the choice of fuel that’s right for you.

1.    Centrally heated radiators: these are probably the most common type of towel radiator in the UK. They work very well in winter. During the summer months, they are dysfunctional. You cannot switch them on. This is fine if you have a well ventilated bathroom and somewhere to dry your towels, but if you don’t, you can find it problematic because it’s difficult to dry a bathroom out entirely if there is little ventilation.

With this style of radiator, you will have to switch on the entire central heating system, just to dry your towels. That’s unacceptable and often expensive.

2.      Electric heated radiators: these are good because you can dry your towels throughout the year and you don’t have to turn on the central heating. However, if you have central heating, they're less cost-effective in winter, because you have to run them off electricity, when it would cost you less to have the radiator joined to the central heating. Nonetheless, if you want to dry your towels throughout the year, they are certainly better than option 1.

3.      Dual fuel: these are the best of both worlds. When you want to heat the radiator during the summer, you can use electricity. When you want to heat the radiator during winter, you can use the central heating. There are some really beautiful dual fuel radiators, such as those in the Chatsworth radiators range. However, there are fewer examples in this style, so it can occasionally be difficult to find a funky design.

If you are interested in buying towel radiators, then come along and view the collection on sale at Designer Radiator Direct

Four Ways to Reduce Your Energy Bills Next Winter

Well, spring is still in the air, so why on earth are we talking about next winter? Well, because there’s no better time than now to make those changes that will help to keep your bills down next winter. All of the suggestions we outline below are cheaper to install/carry out at this time of year, than in autumn and winter. You might as well make those changes now so you can make savings later. 

1.       Double and triple glazing.

Do you have single paned windows and doors anywhere at home? If you do, then it’s well worth considering switching to double or triple glazing. Such steps will dramatically decrease heat loss, and consequently, reduce your household bills. Our only word of warning is to make sure that you ventilate the property well too; otherwise, the lack of air can lead to issues like damp.

2.       Replace your radiators.

If your radiators are more than 10 to 15 years old, then it could be time to make some changes. Buying trade radiators, rather than replacing each radiator at a time, can massively reduce the cost.

Bulk buying radiators is always cheaper than buying single, retailer, radiators. If you’re thinking of replacing all your radiators at once, definitely consider buying trade radiators. New radiators will always run more efficiently than older radiators will.

3.       Add thermostatic radiator valves (TRVs) to your radiators.

These allow you much more control over you heating. They open and close to allow water in and out, so that they maintain a specific temperature. They do this automatically. For instance, you set the TRV to 3, which is a medium heat. When it senses that the radiator is hot enough it closes, and when it sense that it’s too cold it opens. This helps you to save a lot of money, because the radiators adjust to the temperature.

4.       Install draft excluder

Finally, you should use draft excluders to cover any incoming drafts. This will help to minimise heat loss, and will thereby reduce your heating bills.

If you are interested in buying new radiators, then please visit Designer Radiator Direct

How to Choose the Most Efficient Radiators

We are fortunate in the UK that our retail sectors are heavily regulated. This means that we are afforded many consumer rights. For this reason when shopping online, you should always make sure that you shop with a UK trade retailer. This will ensure that your products meet safety standards and that they are of a decent quality.

Here we are going to explore how to tell from product description whether a radiator is efficient or not. We are writing this article for a UK-based market, so if you’re retailer is based outside of the UK, the information might be inaccurate.

1.Radiators UK will be efficient if they have the appropriate BTU/hr reading for the size of the room. BTU/h stands for British Thermal Units per hour, and it is the rating that we give radiators in the UK. It tells you how much heat that radiator can produce in an hour. You match the BTU/hr to the size of the room and this ensures that the radiators will produce sufficient heat. Don’t worry about working this out for yourself; there are online calculators (called BTU calculators) to help you.

2.In the UK, many products come with an energy rating label. These labels run from D to A+++ (no idea why, because it means there are 4 A settings, and that’s confusing). You should choose a radiator with as high an energy label rating as possible. However, do bear in mind that radiators do not have to have this label, and that many do not.

3.Finally, in the UK, the best radiators have TRVs. These are thermostatic radiators valves, and they allow you to control the temperature of each individual radiator automatically. So, you set it to say, point 3, which equates to 15oC in comparison to your thermostat, and the TRV opens as it cools below 15oC and closes as it exceeds 15oC. This additional control means that your energy bills are much reduced.

If you would like further help and advice about choosing radiators in the UK, then please visit Designer Radiator Direct