A short video is currently trending on TikTok with the tip of using a rescue blanket to save on heating costs in winter.
Does it work?
Should you turn the heating down or switch it off completely when you leave the apartment?
Rising energy costs are a huge burden for consumers in Germany.
The federal government's third relief package is intended to ease the situation for citizens, but for many that is not enough, which is why creative ideas on how to save energy are circulating, especially on social media.
A short video was recently shared on the TikTok channel IGarden, which received countless likes and was shared several times.
There was a lot of encouragement for the original idea in the comments: "Politicians hate this trick – how you can save on heating costs with a rescue blanket".
Bleeding the radiators can also reduce energy costs.
TikTok Save heating costs: This is how the rescue blanket trick works
Buy a rescue blanket, unfold it and cut it to the size of the window you want to cover.
Attach the rescue blanket, cut to size, to your window with the gold side facing out, meaning the silver side is facing in.
Although less light shines into the room through the rescue blanket, more heat is emitted.
@inflation_garden The rescue blanket becomes a rescue heater 🛟 #blackout #heat #heating #fy #fyp #sparen ♬ Cornfield Chase - Dorian Marko
The TikTok community celebrates the idea of saving heating costs with a rescue blanket
While some TikTok users worry their neighbors might think they're growing a hemp plantation at home because of the emergency blanket on the window, one TikToker writes: "Cool idea, I find it sad what we have to come up with to survive and that in today.” Another user suspects: “Tomorrow all houses with golden windows”, to which IGarden, the creator of the video, responds with “If you see something, post it in the story and link me or send me the video”. .
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Have you ever used an emergency blanket?
© Zerbor/Imago
The TikTok community is also extremely creative when it comes to developing its own tips for saving energy.
For example, one user writes: "Play a few hours with a PS4 and the booth is warm".
However, it is questionable whether the electricity consumption is cheaper than the costs for the heating.
Read here which eight tips you can use to really save on heating costs.
Heat with a rescue blanket?
There are also critical voices on TikTok
Some TikTok users doubt that the trick of saving heating costs with a rescue blanket on the window actually works.
For example, someone criticizes: "When the sun is shining, I don't need it." This raises the question of how a rescue blanket is supposed to help with heating when the sun is not shining enough in autumn or winter.
Another user is of the opinion that the trick does not bring the desired effect anyway: "The foil heats up less than the surfaces in the room without foil.
You reflect a significant amount of heat back out as a result.”
You forget these spots all the time when cleaning
You forget these spots all the time when cleaning
There are also concerns that the prices for rescue blankets could skyrocket due to the video, and there is also talk of an additional heat tax.
Frag-Mutti.de
, on the other hand, recommends attaching the rescue blanket behind the radiator.
The silver side should face in to reflect heat and the gold side should face out.
How does a rescue blanket work to protect against the cold?
Normally, a rescue blanket is used to protect a person from cold.
According to
Kaelteschutz-ratgeber.de
, the person concerned is wrapped in the rescue blanket with the silver side facing in, whereby the face must remain free.
The heat that the body gives off is reflected by the rescue blanket.
According to the report, clothing, blankets, foam, air mattresses and sleeping bags can also help to keep warm.
List of rubrics: © Zerbor/Imago
