There’s nothing worse than being cold in your own home. Be it due to high bills or poor radiators, it’s incredibly frustrating to be left shivering when you’re trying to relax.
I’ve been on a quest to sort out the heating in my home this winter, and after spending a small fortune upgrading many of the radiators, it has made a huge difference. But the front room remains, annoyingly, the most challenging to heat up. With the living space and dining room all combined into one, it’s the biggest room in the house, and it takes the longest to warm up.
Add in a hard floor and it has a chilly feel to it. While it’s absolutely fine once the radiators are fired up, it does take longer than you’d like and isn’t ideal when you arrive home from the chilly outdoors and want instant warmth.
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There are lots of gadgets and gizmos out there that claim to make a difference when it comes to heating your home, so I was intrigued when offered the chance to try out the SpeedComfort radiator fans.
They claim to heat the room up in “half the time while saving energy”, but how did they fare when we put them to the test?
Setting them up
Setting them up is simple enough, and only takes a few minutes. You just have to fiddle around with the magnets on the fans and sort out the wires, then once plugged in, they’re good to go.
The instructions aren’t amazing, they’re not terrible, but all you get is a diagram on a box. Despite this, they aren’t hard to set-up, they simply stick to the underside of your radiators with the magnets provided and as soon as they’re plugged in they’re ready to use.
I had two sets of the SpeedComfort radiator fans to try out on the two double radiators in the front room, they join together via a wire so only one plug is needed for each set of fans.
Do they work?
Since I added the fans the room has heated up noticeably faster. Whereas before it felt like it took a while from turning on the thermostat to it feeling toasty, that time is definitely reduced with the fans running.
The front room is now getting warmer quicker, while, if you leave them running for a while, I’ve found it to get swelteringly hot. I went for a dog walk recently and when I got back in the house it was so hot I considered reaching for a fan.
When you stand near a radiator, there’s definitely a warmer plume of air rising that’s noticeably stronger than usual. While the original set-up was capable of warming the room sufficiently, what the fans have done is really reduce how long it takes to reach a toasty temperature.
A temperature sensor attaches to the fans, meaning they automatically activate when the radiators heat up, and then shut down when the heating is turned off.
This aspect of the product works well and means you don’t have to do anything to turn them on or off, which keeps it nice and simple.They’re also very cheap to run which is an added bonus, and they come with the reassurance of a 10-year guarantee.
What’s not so great?
There is one big problem I can see with these – the price. They’re a good product and do what they claim, but they’re really not cheap and it’s hard to see how they’ll be a viable solution for a lot of people.
The fans come in three sizes:
I’d envisage the reason a lot of people would look to buy these in the first place would be to save money on their bills, and it’s a difficult one when you have to spend so much up front.
While they may do that, the initial outlay is so expensive that it would take a very long time to recoup that in energy savings. Ultimately, if you were to add these to all the radiators in your house it would cost an absolute fortune.
I worked it out roughly and to buy them for every radiator in my house it would cost more than £900 – clearly an amount that’s beyond an average budget.
If you need a boost in one or two rooms then they’re a solid option, but as far as improving an entire house, the price feels like a real sticking point. You also need to have a power socket within reach of the radiator in order to plug the fans in.
I’m not a fan of visible wires as they look a bit unsightly, so I’ve done my best to disguise them, but it’s something that’s not ideal and worth considering before you buy.
They do also make a bit of noise. If you plan to use these fans in a busy room where you have a TV or music on then it won’t be a problem. But they definitely aren’t silent, they emit a bit of a humming sound that I imagine would annoy some people in a quiet room.
Where to buy
Overall, the SpeedComfort radiator fans are a solid product that definitely do make a difference to the heat output of radiators. As I’ve covered, the price will likely hold it back from being the product everyone turns to in a bid to save money on bills, but if you’re looking for something that will maximise the heat you get from your existing radiators then they’re definitely worth considering.
They provide a very noticeable boost and are probably the perfect solution if you have a problem with just one room. However, the cost of them means they’re unlikely to be the most cost-effective solution if your whole house is cold.
The fans range in price depending on the size you require (from £49.95 to £139.95) and can be bought from Amazon , Robert Dyas or directly from SpeedComfort .
What else is out there?
Alternative products are available that claim to improve your radiators. One is theSmartAir Boost two pack of fans, priced at £94.98 on Amazon, that has the advantage of being cordless when charged up.
These work by sitting on top of your radiators and redirecting the air out into the room. The fans “prevent heat from instantly rising to the ceilings. Instead, it accelerates the warm air forward, boosting and improving the heat distribution more effectively”.
Another, cheaper, energy-saving product that’s grown in popularity of late is radiator foil, which sits behind the radiator to ensure heat is being reflected back into the room rather than lost to the wall.
Amazon stocks some Bubble Insulation Foil for £16.99, while Screwfix has a cheaper option, priced at £7.51.