Electric wallpaper – the latest hot innovation?

Have you heard about the next big innovation that’s helping UK homeowners to keep warm in the winter? Switch off the radiators, because electric, infrared wallpaper has arrived.

It sounds like an early April Fools, but the technology is real and consists of wallpaper that includes two, thin copper strips and a layer of graphene that gives off heat when it’s connected to electricity. An installation is said to cost around £2,000 for a flat and up to £7,000 for a house.

According to NexGen Heating, the company that’s selling the technology, as many as 30 different housing associations across the UK have already show an interest.

Ealing council has already run a pilot scheme to replace the gas heating in 25 homes by putting the sheets on the ceilings.

Another tech firm, iHelios, has developed infrared heating panels that can be fitted in the same way as wallpaper and are controlled by an app. According to iHelios, its products have been installed in over 1,000 properties across the country, including a housing association in Hull that delivered a reduction in heating bills of 40%.

All of which made me think – does our industry offer anything that can compete with the marvel that is electric wallpaper?

And then I remembered that yes, actually there is – Glow heated glass.

Glow is thermostatically controlled, toughened safety glass that’s designed for bi-folds. It can be electrically heated to temperatures of up to 400 C.

It’s not an entirely new product but considering the Future Homes standards coming down the line, it could be one to watch.

Glass specialist, TuffX, certainly seems to think so. The company has recently made a £500k investment to expand its Knowsley premises, and part of that is create more space for production of its Glow heated glass.

And speaking of ‘smart’ glass, Rehau’s head of product management and technical, Russell Hand, has pointed out that a recent Supreme Court decision on the privacy of residents living opposite the Tate Modern, has also created an opportunity for the industry…

You can read the story in full here.

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