Anyone used Rointe heaters?

Cardew · 17 July 2011 at 7:32AM

pc134 wrote: »

Hi all,

Thanks for teh very interesting info. So basically i should get any electrical radiator with a built in thermostat and programmer? Is that all there is to it. DOesnt matter what it is made of or what teh quality is its all going to cost the same either way?

Have a 1 bed flat to warm up sperate living room (9m2 floor size) bedroom 8m2 floor size) and height of ceiling in 2.5 metres ish. The bathroom has no heating othe rthan underfloor heating but is very small.

Apprecaite any sugestions on what i shoudl be purchasing for the bedroom and living room. I was just told to get a 1000mm for the living room and 1200mm for the bedroom. Seems to simple. What are reliable electric radiators taht people would reccomend for low maintenance and costs overall including running if there is any difference?

Thanks alot

Virtually all electrical heaters will have a thermostat.

A built in programmer will be fine, but you can buy cheaply 'plug-in' timers that can be programmed. Ensure you get ones that will handle 3kW.

Electrical heaters are effectively maintenance free and reliable and, as explained above, the running costs will all be the same.

A 3kW is the largest 'plug in' heater but virtually all will have different settings 1kW, 2kW. It doesn't matter cost-wise if you use a 3kW or 1kW setting as the thermostat will cut in as soon as the room has reached the desired setting - a 3kW heater will reach that temperature quicker.

Ben84 · 17 July 2011 at 6:46PM

pc134 wrote: »

Hi all,

Thanks for teh very interesting info. So basically i should get any electrical radiator with a built in thermostat and programmer? Is that all there is to it. DOesnt matter what it is made of or what teh quality is its all going to cost the same either way?

Have a 1 bed flat to warm up sperate living room (9m2 floor size) bedroom 8m2 floor size) and height of ceiling in 2.5 metres ish. The bathroom has no heating othe rthan underfloor heating but is very small.

Apprecaite any sugestions on what i shoudl be purchasing for the bedroom and living room. I was just told to get a 1000mm for the living room and 1200mm for the bedroom. Seems to simple. What are reliable electric radiators taht people would reccomend for low maintenance and costs overall including running if there is any difference?

Thanks alot

The energy costs to heat the room to the same temperature are the same with all electric resistance heaters. A kWh of electric going in to any electric heater will turn in to a kWh of heat output. There is no exceptions, so in effect any electric heater, from old cheap ones to new costly ones have exactly the same efficiency. You may however still choose to spend more for other reasons. Safety, size, how quickly it heats up.

I would rate the oil filled heaters best as their heat output is spread out over a greater surface area, making them safer than bar heaters and fan heaters. They don't produce any hot scorched dust smells either.

If you buy one with a thermostatic control it's very little work for you, just switch it on and set the temperature. Talk to someone at the electrical store, but I would expect their advice to be that oil filled heaters are the ones considered safe for use overnight in bedrooms.

pink_rabbit_2 · 13 August 2011 at 1:41PM

Hi, I am a qualified electrician.
I think the efficiency of the heaters in question is based on the ability of the material used in the heater to hold the heat in, whether it's water, oil or clay; traditional storage heating uses some kind of bricks.
The properties of these elements will all be different and there for the heat loss per hour will be different so this will require different amounts energy to top up the heat of said element to maintain a constant temperature.
So really all of the heaters in question are in fact glorified storage heaters but with control ability that conventional storage heating systems lack. So instead of heating up said element over night and releasing it during the day the heat of said element is kept and a constant temperature therefore reducing the overall energy output.
A fan heater or other heater with a thermostatic control on it will do a similar job but using such heating to supplement traditional storage heating can work out expensive if on E7 tariff.
I currently have a water radiator system with a gas boiler, and I know for a fact it is more cost effective to keep the boiler on all the time at a low temperature instead of turning it on and off all the time as the energy required for the boiler to heat up from cold is more than used when kept at a constantly low temperature. I have tested this theory.
So both the Elti and Rointe heating systems work on the basis of precise control and monitoring meaning that the house is kept at a constant temperature meaning that high amounts of energy are not use for initial heat up and only the required amount of heat is used to reach the desired temperature rather than peaks and troughs in the temperature causing extra heat to requirement being produced and therefore extra energy used.

Cardew · 13 August 2011 at 2:19PM

pink_rabbit wrote: »

Hi, I am a qualified electrician.
I think the efficiency of the heaters in question is based on the ability of the material used in the heater to hold the heat in, whether it's water, oil or clay; traditional storage heating uses some kind of bricks.
The properties of these elements will all be different and there for the heat loss per hour will be different so this will require different amounts energy to top up the heat of said element to maintain a constant temperature.
So really all of the heaters in question are in fact glorified storage heaters but with control ability that conventional storage heating systems lack. So instead of heating up said element over night and releasing it during the day the heat of said element is kept and a constant temperature therefore reducing the overall energy output.
A fan heater or other heater with a thermostatic control on it will do a similar job but using such heating to supplement traditional storage heating can work out expensive if on E7 tariff.
I currently have a water radiator system with a gas boiler, and I know for a fact it is more cost effective to keep the boiler on all the time at a low temperature instead of turning it on and off all the time as the energy required for the boiler to heat up from cold is more than used when kept at a constantly low temperature. I have tested this theory.
So both the Elti and Rointe heating systems work on the basis of precise control and monitoring meaning that the house is kept at a constant temperature meaning that high amounts of energy are not use for initial heat up and only the required amount of heat is used to reach the desired temperature rather than peaks and troughs in the temperature causing extra heat to requirement being produced and therefore extra energy used.

Welcome to the forum.

Your post is wrong in so many ways it is hardly worth discussing the issues.

I suggest you read this thread, and perhaps read about thermodynamics.

May we assume that you have a vested interest in posting what is frankly rubbish.

Sorry to be so frank with a new poster.

P.S.
I am a chartered electrical engineer.

budokan · 24 August 2011 at 4:54PM

Thanks again for all the advice.

Can you get a cheap, slim, plain looking electric heater that won't make a room dry?

What is it that dries the air? Is it the exposed element? Does the same thing lead to a burnt dust smell?

I like how slim and unobtrusive cheap electric radiators are, but don't want the dryness and smell.

An oil filled electric radiator would solve that, right? As would a water filled electric radiator (like the one I found googling 'easy heat radiators' - expensive though).

Trouble is - they're all a bit cumbersome / ugly.

Thanks

Cardew · 24 August 2011 at 5:37PM

budokan wrote: »

Hello again, and thanks for all the previous advice - this is a really enlightening thread.

Before I splash my cash, could I ask one more question?

I've found a cheap, not terrible looking, electric panel heater for £45 on Amazon
(Can't post links but Google B002J9ASSY - it's the top result).

It has a timer and a theromstat

Assuming that the thermostat is fairly accurate, will this do the same job as the much more expensive electric heaters (Rointe is just one - there seem to be loads out there).

I understand that at 1500W it's less powerful, so I plan to buy 2.

Will I really get a room that is just as warm for the same running cost over the winter?

Considering that I can't get gas and I don't want to use storage heaters - are there any downsides to this?

Am I right in thinking that Oil filled radiators are exactly the same, just with a big delay (longer to heat up, longer to cool down).

Thanks, particularly to Cardew, for all of your time.

I can absolutely guarantee that your 1.5kWh heater will produce EXACTLY the same amount of heat/warmth/BTu as any other 1.5kW heater - that might cost 20 times as much - and for Exactly the same running cost.

The accuracy of the thermostat isn't really a factor; indeed some just have a dial reading 1 to 6. All you are interested in is that it maintains a temperature at which you feel comfortable.

You are quite correct that an oil filled radiator takes some time to reach full heat- as it is heating the oil - but retains heat after electricity is switched off.

Depending on the size of your room and temperature, 3kW might take some time to warm up the room. It might be wise to buy a 3kW fan heater for about £10 to quickly bring the room up to temperature.

If you want to be really flash you can connect the heaters via a remotely controlled socket!!

dickllewellyn · 25 August 2011 at 7:51AM

Cardew.

You are still wrong. How can you be so confused over such a simple matter? Heat a room with a 3 KW element for an hour, and as soon as that element is turned off the room begins to cool. Heat a room with an oil filled radiator with a 3 KW element for an hour, and once the element is turned off the oil retains and continues to give out heat so the room cools slower. If this oil temperature is maintained, the element will be on for less time and hence cost less. Once you have built a test rig and accurately proved your ridiculous hypothesis, I will bow before your mighty greatness. Until you've done that, stop trying to disprove simple physics, and stop being such an idiot.

Owain_Moneysaver · 25 August 2011 at 9:02AM

budokan wrote: »

Can you get a cheap, slim, plain looking electric heater that won't make a room dry?

What is it that dries the air? Is it the exposed element? Does the same thing lead to a burnt dust smell?

Yes; convector heaters are the worst because the dust settles on the open elements.

You could consider Dimplex Calidou heaters which have an enclosed element and very accurate electronic thermostat. Not cheap, but not the same price as Rointe, either. (£419 compared to £558 for a 1.5/1.6kW)

Personally I like the old Dimplex Mk. 1 electric oil filled radiators.

Cardew · 25 August 2011 at 9:04AM

dickllewellyn wrote: »

Cardew.

You are still wrong. How can you be so confused over such a simple matter? Heat a room with a 3 KW element for an hour, and as soon as that element is turned off the room begins to cool. Heat a room with an oil filled radiator with a 3 KW element for an hour, and once the element is turned off the oil retains and continues to give out heat so the room cools slower. If this oil temperature is maintained, the element will be on for less time and hence cost less. Once you have built a test rig and accurately proved your ridiculous hypothesis, I will bow before your mighty greatness. Until you've done that, stop trying to disprove simple physics, and stop being such an idiot.

It is rather sad that you have to resort to such posts in order to sell your heaters?

grahamc2003 · 25 August 2011 at 9:18AM

dickllewellyn wrote: »

Cardew.

You are still wrong. How can you be so confused over such a simple matter? Heat a room with a 3 KW element for an hour, and as soon as that element is turned off the room begins to cool. Heat a room with an oil filled radiator with a 3 KW element for an hour, and once the element is turned off the oil retains and continues to give out heat so the room cools slower. If this oil temperature is maintained, the element will be on for less time and hence cost less. Once you have built a test rig and accurately proved your ridiculous hypothesis, I will bow before your mighty greatness. Until you've done that, stop trying to disprove simple physics, and stop being such an idiot.

OMG.

If anyone reading this thinks the above makes any sense whatsoever, then just ask someone with gcse physics and they will put you right.

As to the question someone asked about what dries the air, then the answer is simply the temperature. For a fixed amount of water in the air, warming the air lowers the relative humidity, and it is the RH which we sense, not the absolute amount of water in the air.

Say you have 1kg of water in the air at 10C, giving a RH OF 80%. Heating the air to 20C will drop the RH (eg to 30%), yet the amount of water in the air stays the same (1kg). At 10c, the room may feel damp, at 20c the room may feel dry, even though the water content of the air is the same.

Anyone used Rointe heaters?

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