LiquidLumen
Active Member
Anyone know of any readily available (Home depot, hydro shop, etc) highly reflective material to use for a DIY CFL reflector?
Best DIY reflector material
- Thread starter LiquidLumen
- Start date
Well the most reflective metal known to man is silver, but thats not really an option. Your best bet is to just get some sheet metal and paint it with high temp flat white paint. It will reflect more light than you think, the only thing better would be polished aluminum or again silver.
it's about the trip
Member
Whatever you do, do NOT use aluminum foil. It has relatively low reflective properties, and causes hot spots. The reflections are uneven and can cause problems. Matte white paint works well, much better than aluminum foil. Mylar is the best, but for some reason I have never seen it at home depot. I have seen some other stuff on their website that should work almost as well as mylar, but I cannot remember what it is called. Do a search for water heater insulation.
LiquidLumen
Active Member
Well I actually have a roll of some IR reflective film- which is supposed to be better than mylar, maybe I'll just use a cardboard frame and staple some of that onto it....
pastafarian81
Well-Known Member
go buy a cheap car window sunshade. it'll hold up to the heat from cfls and it will reflect light back very well.