Radiator silver bubble wrap, on furniture??

[ssray]

Largish L shaped sofa, it's in front of the main (only) radiator in the room.

We have bubble silver foil on the wall behind the radiator, it's a 1930's property, so solid walls that eat heat and don't let it go.

We try and keep about 100mm gap in-between the sofa and the radiator, would putting the silver bubble stuff on the back of the sofa work?

Ta Ray

[dhutch]

Why?

[sherman]

You need to maintain the gap which aids the airflow.

Place a box behind each foot of the sofa on the radiator side to stop the sofa moving back everytime you sit on the sofa.

[OzzyR1]

Assume the radiator is below a window?

If so & you have curtains, make sure when you draw them that the curtains are either sitting on the cill or tucked behind the radiator (depending on length).

[dhutch]

As said, foiled foam insulation between the radiator and solid wall makes sense to reduced heating loss to outside.

But between the rad and sofa you just need a bit of an air gap to allow convection to take place. 4-6inch is nice, but 2-3inch is probably fine too.

[Simpo Two]

ssray said:

Largish L shaped sofa, it's in front of the main (only) radiator in the room.

We have bubble silver foil on the wall behind the radiator, it's a 1930's property, so solid walls that eat heat and don't let it go.

We try and keep about 100mm gap in-between the sofa and the radiator, would putting the silver bubble stuff on the back of the sofa work?

Ta Ray

No, the foil is behind the radiator to stop heat being wasted going into the wall.

[ssray]

The radiator is along a wall no curtains etc above

Would the foil on the radiator side of the sofa stop the heat being absorbed by the said in the same way the foil on the wall does?

[Mr.Grooler]

Might reduce some heat into the sofa but it doesn’t matter; it’s in the room so it’s going to warm up anyway and the heat isn’t wasted, unlike what passes through the exterior wall. So just leave an air gap (put some spacers behind the sofa legs or feet as someone suggested) and leave it at that.

[dobly]

As the radiator is on a wall, rather than below a window, what is above the sofa? Is there sufficient insulation, or a path for the convection heat to be lost instead of remaining in the room?

Also, is the radiator installed too close to the wall? - I have seen radiators on “slimline” brackets almost touching the wall in an attempt to make the room feel bigger/minimise loss of floor space.

You have to consider everything - the entire thermal envelope of the house in order for it to work well. If other issues have not been addressed, a bit of reflective bubble wrap won’t transform a cold house into a warm one.

Edited by dobly on Saturday 28th February 22:09