Infrared wallpaper set to be tested in homes

Electric infrared wallpaper should be effective in poorly-insulated homes

Electric infrared wallpaper you can plug in to heat individual rooms is set to be trialled in Nottingham homes that leak heat.

A company, which makes the wallpaper, says infrared can provide greener, cheaper heating when paired with solar panels and batteries.

NexGen Heating say its priority market is hard-to-heat homes facing fuel poverty.

But heat pumps are still more efficient for well-insulated homes.

The wallpaper acts as an infrared radiator to heat people and furniture

A total of 45 social housing groups across the UK are already testing how effective the graphene-filled paper is to heat homes that would be expensive to insulate.

NexGen's chief executive, Ian Sanderson, says the firm is are targeting social housing with poor insulation.

"There's a direct correlation between fuel poverty and hard-to-heat homes. We're trying to help people as well as the environment," he said.

Chris Pryke-Hendy, from Nottingham Community Housing Association (NCHA), wants to trial the wallpaper in the next two years

Researchers at Nottingham Trent University want to find out more.

They see infrared as a solution for older properties, which need expensive retrofitting before they can reliably abandon oil and gas.

Dr Mike Siebert, a lecturer in low-carbon construction, is impressed.

"Everything we've looked at so far is a positive," he says.

"Health benefits, cost benefits, carbon benefits. It's very hard to find a negative."

The secret to making this wallpaper act as a radiator is the layer of carbon under the surface called graphene.

Graphene is a thin layer of carbon atoms in a hexagonal structure. It emits infrared when powered by the electricity conducted through two copper strips, one on each side of the wallpaper strip.

Provided you do not cut through the copper, the paper can be cut to fit around light fittings and painted to match your room décor.

Chris Pryke-Hendy, head of sustainability for Nottingham Community Housing Association (NCHA), says electric wallpaper has potential to allow older homes to ditch fossil fuels and switch to green electric heating.

"What appeals to us [about infrared wallpaper] is that the heat is almost instant. It can be really responsive when people feel they need their heating," he said.

Analysis

By Sally Bowman, BBC East Midlands environment correspondent

At a demonstration organised by Nottingham Trent University, people were invited to stand under NexGen's gazebo, lined with their infrared wallpaper.

When I try it, the effect is like stepping from cool shadow into a warm patch of sunshine. A thermal-imaging camera shows what is going on.

Using the same wavelength as sunlight, the infrared radiation is not heating the air.

It is heating me, and the furniture around me, up to a distance of two to three metres. The effect is instant and can be triggered by motion sensors.

Even after it is switched off, any fabric in the room continues to give off gentle heat for hours afterwards, creating a "thermal battery".