Reduce Your Use - Week 1
Radiators and Portable Electric Heaters

This week's Reduce Your Use theme is the radiators in our workspaces & homes and what we can do to make them work at their best. 

Have a look below at the Energy Exercises of the Week on keeping radiators clear and the use of supplementary electric heaters.

Take a look at the webinar (opens in a new window)Radiators - Uncovering their Potential, to learn about the different types and what works best where.

Finally, have a look at the (opens in a new window)Heating System Health Checks Blog from the Office of Public Works (OPW) on the Top 4 checks you can make in your home.

Energy Exercises of the Week

People have long practiced the art of Feng Shui, arranging their furniture in a way that brings harmony into their homes. However, we’re suggesting moving the furniture away from radiators as it could be a simple action that will make your office (or your home) more comfortable this winter.

Radiators need a clear space around them to let air circulate. Air has to be able to freely access the bottom where it is warmed up over the surface of the radiators and then the hot air flows out the top.

If there is furniture up tight to a radiator then the air can’t flow and the heat from the radiator will not circulate around your room. The furniture will be absorbing heat that could be warming your office.

We know space is limited in offices but take a look around, where are your radiators? Can you make a simple change to improve air circulation by moving your desk back a few inches or getting that filing cabinet moved? 

It’s the same story with curtains.  Curtains should be long enough to cover your window, but not long enough that they hang over your radiators.

Unlike Feng Shui, this measure may not help you attain inner peace, but moving furniture away from your radiators, just a little, can make a big difference to room temperatures and the efficiency of the heating system.

Electric heaters are the heating device of last resort in the workplace. Only PAT-tested (Portable Appliance Testing) and safety-approved models, supplied by your workplace, should ever be used.

Portable electric radiators usually have rated outputs of 2 or 3kW - that's how many units of electricity they'd get through in an hour on full blast. For reference, that's about the same amount of energy taken to boil a kettle constantly. This makes them a very expensive and environmentally damaging heat source. If your office radiators are out of order or maybe not performing as well as you think they should, get in touch with (opens in a new window)estates@ucd.ie to report the issue for investigation.

Portable heaters should never be left unattended or placed near combustibles. They should always be plugged directly into a wall outlet and NEVER used with an extension lead.