Paul Ridden speaks to Radiator Booster founder David Haydon

The humble radiator quietly and anonymously sits against the walls of numerous homes throughout the UK. When we're cold it gives us heat. It requires little if any attention, it just sits there and provides us with efficient warmth when we need it - right?

Well, sort of. There is a secretive side to this familiar beast that can be quite wasteful and costs us money - the side I'm talking about faces the wall. But thanks to a simple innovation that sits on top of the radiator all this wasted heat can be drawn back into the room to get you feeling all toasty much quicker and allow you to turn down that power hungry thermostat, saving you money!

When David Haydon found that the radiators in his home were not giving out as much heat as he needed he first considered installing bigger ones but then hit on the novel idea of using small fans to circulate the wasted heat from the rear of his radiators back into the room. He built a prototype and tested it out where he worked. It performed perfectly, heating the room much faster and allowing him to turn down the thermostat a notch or two. After more testing and being sufficiently chuffed by the results, David took his invention to BBC's Dragon's Den.

Unfortunately none of the Dragons liked the product. But luckily others did and the Booster went into production. The design has been modified slightly to include its own thermostat (which automatically turns the unit off when there's no warmth coming from the radiator) but otherwise the product has changed little since the first prototype. The outer casing is made from polypropylene so can be recycled at the end of the product's life. Fans inside the unit have been specially chosen for their longevity giving buyers a long-term investment. And instructions have been printed on the box to save paper. One slight drawback is that the unit is powered from an electric outlet but it has low energy needs and should only cost pennies per year to run.

It's often said that the simplest ideas are the most effective and, it would seem, the Radiator Booster is proof positive of this adage. David is convinced that the savings buyers experience far exceed those conservatively claimed on the website. So if you've got £20 to spare why not see if he's right? If he is, your investment will pay for itself in no time at all.

Head over to the website for stockist information

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