What Is Electric Wallpaper?
If you’ve been keeping up with the news, many Brits recently stated they would give up working from home due to soaring heating bills. While the annual heating price cap was set at £1,971, some industry experts estimate this could skyrocket to over £6,000 as inflation and cost of living increase.
The solution? It might not solve all heating problems, but electric wallpaper is a great place to start. This revolutionary wall covering, also known as heated wallpaper, could be exactly what your home needs to inject a bit of magic into the décor while also helping lower your heating costs.
Electric infrared wallpaper is becoming increasingly popular in UK homes, and here’s what you need to know about this unique home insulation product.
What Is Electric Wallpaper?
It sounds like a unique type of wallpaper from the 80s, doesn’t it? While the name sounds, dare we say, electrifying, electric wallpaper is a lot easier to understand if you know it as electric infrared wallpaper.
It’s not just ordinary wallpaper; it utilises electric power to create infrared radiation. The wallpaper automatically releases the heat that infrared radiation produces directly into your home’s walls. And before we get too far into this explanation, let’s answer one question.
If it’s releasing infrared radiation into my home, does that make this home insulation product harmful? No, it’s not that kind of radiation. Basically, infrared radiation is invisible to the human eye. It’s a light that we feel as heat. That makes this home furnace replacement a cost-effective and safe solution to heat homes in the winter.
How Does Electric Infrared Wallpaper Work?
Electric infrared wallpaper is truly revolutionary, taking traditional electric heating to the next level by utilising infrared nanotechnology. This technology warms up mass instead of air, meaning that things like furniture, walls, and ceilings act as radiators distributing heat evenly throughout your home. You can even act as a conductor of heat!
What goes on behind this type of heated wallpaper that heats if it’s not powered by gas?
The electric infrared wallpaper has thin strips of metallic sheets joined behind the plasterboard. These little metallic sheets are connected to your home’s main electricity. This means you never have to activate its heating power. Yep, you can do away with turning on your home furnace and waiting for it to heat up.
Instead, with electric wallpaper, the heat disperses as soon as your electric meter records an electric flow within the house. So if you want an environmentally friendly way of using electricity at home, electric infrared wallpaper could be a good option to explore.
However, it’s not just eco-friendly. It’s easy to install, too. At just 0.4mm thick, it’s still thin enough to apply like regular wallpaper (some UK homes are even starting to use it in the floorboards). Combine this with connectors that can go behind the skirting board, and electric infrared wallpaper is easy to install.
Benefits of Heated Wallpaper
You know how the technology works, but what benefits does electric wallpaper offer versus other heating options? Cost is one, but so is the eco-friendly nature of this unique heating system.
Cost-Effective
According to one report from the BBC, the current cost to install heated wallpaper is about £4,000 for a three-bedroom home. That’s quite a large upfront expense. However, it’s not bad considering what you could save annually by not relying on gas to heat your home.
And yes, you will still have to rely on electricity. So, there will still be utility costs involved. However, due to the effective way electric infrared wallpaper heats the room, initial studies seem to show that it can heat a room much quicker, thereby reducing the reliance on energy.
Eco-Friendly
Electric infrared wallpaper is much more eco-friendly than traditional home furnaces that use gas. It doesn’t produce emissions or pollution and uses less energy overall. In addition, electric infrared wallpaper is safer than gas furnaces since there’s no risk of fire or explosion.
Air Quality
Electric infrared wallpaper is a great way to improve air quality in your home. By eliminating the need for gas, electric wallpaper significantly reduces the mould you have around windows.
Plus, electric wallpaper has been proven to not dry out the air like other traditional options. This comes in handy, especially in social housing properties where poor air quality has been linked to numerous health issues.
The bottom line? If you’re looking for a solution that will boost both comfort and health, electric wallpaper may be your answer.
However, remember that you’ll still need to take precautions to prevent mould and humidity from causing health issues. While we wish it were the be-all-end-all solution, it’s not 100% effective in eliminating mould entirely.
Easy Installation
We want to preface this by saying that you should always hire an electrician when dealing with electrical wiring. Unless you’re an experienced electrician, you probably shouldn’t install electric wallpaper on your own. However, professionals who do install this type of wallpaper have an easy time doing so.
This might not mean much for you, but it can reduce labour costs associated with installation. This means that, as the product becomes more widely available, you’ll likely find local UK electricians specialising in electric wallpaper installation. Soon, the process will be so simple it’ll be a no-brainer to opt for this instead of a home furnace.
Tips for UK Home Owners
Electric wallpaper is one of many eco-friendly heating options and home efficiency technologies emerging today. If you’re a UK homeowner, it pays to stay updated on recent news to ensure you’re informed of all the possibilities.
Perhaps electric infrared wallpaper isn’t for you. But another emerging technology might prove beneficial to your home and your wallet. If you’re interested in learning more about central heating for UK homes, browse our helpful central heating articles.
