In order to live comfortably in your own four walls in winter, most households use heating. In order to keep heating costs within reasonable limits, various tips and tricks are offered. An unusual tip involves using aluminum foil.
Aluminum foil as an insulation substitute
According to the German Association for Environmental and Nature Conservation (BUND), the majority of heat escapes through “poorly insulated external walls and weakly insulated roofs, windows, cellar ceilings and pipes” – this particularly affects old buildings. To prevent heat from being lost through the walls, insulation panels can be installed behind the radiators. According to the German Home Improvement Academy, reflective foils are helpful, which is why aluminum foil is a popular home remedy alongside materials from hardware stores and specialist stores. The aluminum foil is intended to reflect the warm air back into the room, which is why less heat is lost. According to the portal ruhr24.de, this makes particular sense for night storage heaters, as they are powered by electrical energy. This also saves electricity, i.e. money.
A variant of attaching the aluminum foil is to stick it with double-sided adhesive tape, as Chip reports. To enable better installation, thin boards or cardboard can also be covered with aluminum foil and then attached behind the radiator. Ideally, the homemade insulation is cut so that it can be attached to the radiator holder.
Beware of mold
The disadvantage of homemade insulation, however, is the risk of mold if installed incorrectly. If the insulation panels are not completely glued to the aluminum foil, mold can form between the foil and the wall, as myhomebook.de reports. The only way to prevent this is to remove the radiator before installing the insulation. Thomas Weber, construction expert at the Association of Private Builders (VPB), also explains the problem in an interview t online.de: “Any form of interior insulation must be glued very carefully and over the entire surface in order to prevent warm, humid room air from penetrating between the thermal insulation and the old wall surface. However, full-surface bonding behind a radiator that is still installed is difficult or impossible.” The expert therefore always recommends a professional assessment and installation.
J. Vogel / editorial team finanzen.net