Aluminium is the most abundant metal on Earth, it makes up about 8% of the earths solid surface and is remarkable for it’s low density and resistance to corrosion. Although the Greeks and Romans used aluminium salts, it wasn’t until the Hall-Heroult process in the late 1880’s that an effective way to extract aluminium from it’s elemental state became available. Prior to this aluminium cost so much to produce that it was more expensive than gold. As the Hall-Heroult process was improved, in combination with electric power, it became the inexpensive commodity it is today. These improvements and the lowering of price, made it possible to make lots of aluminium products. Prior to the developments above and being aluminium produced on a mass scale, traditional radiators had only been manufactured from cast iron.
One of the key issues with the use of cast iron for radiators is the heavy weight of the metal and the large amount of time it took to heat up and radiate substantial heat. Aluminium on the other hand is a very lightweight material that can be reshaped and manipulated without compromising its considerable strength. Therefore, an Aluminium radiators is much easier to manufacture, transport and install, making it a cheaper option than steel and cast iron from start to finish.
However, the overriding benefit of aluminium is it is an excellent thermal conductor and has the ability to heat up very quickly and requires less energy to heat up. These properties lend themselves perfectly to radiators, meaning you don’t have to switch it on a long time before it has an effect on the temperature of a room. This avoids the wasted energy of heating an unoccupied room and, in turn, results in less expenditure on water, gas and electricity. And the BTU or Wattage output of an aluminium radiator is generally higher than an iron and steel radiator of similar dimensions. Because aluminium radiators are so quick at getting to the desired temperature, it makes them very suitable for areas of a house that are only used occasionally such as an attic or a conservatory.
Aluminium radiators are also considered very environmentally friendly and not only because of the lower heating bills it generates. Aluminium is comparatively cheap and easy to recycle and more and more countries across the world are putting systems in place to get scrap aluminium from the home to recycling plants. Many of the aluminium radiators on the market today are manufactured from recycled aluminium, which spares the Earth’s crust from being plundered for more metal as well as the large financial cost of extracting new aluminium from the ground. Once aluminium radiators have served their purpose, they can easily be melted down and go back into the process to be used for something else at relatively little expense.
