Radiative heat transfer accounts for around one third of the heat released from fires, and this is the most important mode of heat transfer for example at long distances and from a hot smoke gas layer to lower objects, such as to a floor for example. The possibility for reducing the absorptivity of surfaces in the infrared part of the spectrum has been discussed for several decades, mainly for energy saving purposes. Such surfaces are called low emissivity surfaces, or low emissivity coatings, and much focus has been on the spectral absorptivity up to wavelengths around 2.5 μm, e.g for solar reflective paints. Spectra from fires are distributed to longer wavelengths and this paper concerns the absorptivity for paints and thin coatings over the full spectral range where radiation from fires is important. The correlation between absorptivity and time to ignition in the cone calorimeter is also investigated.