Quantum Electrical heating by Dimplex

Cardew · 12 March 2013 at 9:11AM

A first time poster asked about this system in another thread(about Rointe heaters). This thread has been started for comments etc so the subjects don't get mixed up.

Some basic info and prices are here.

http://www.electricpoint.com/heating/dimplex-quantum-energy-system.html

They appear to be modern storage heaters with sophisticated electronic controls and the ability to retain heat for longer than the older storage heaters.

They have 4 models with an input rating of 1600/2200/2800/3400W which is fairly standard.

The output is 700/1000/1250/1500w.

Costs on this link are from £530 to £696 each; so there would be a very high initial cost for a normal house - several thousand pounds.

Richie-from-the-Boro · 12 March 2013 at 1:16PM

- back to the future
- we in general, and I in particular had this system in '81
- its now reinvented in the 2010 HM-GOV domestic buildings compliance guide
- we had a system i the 80's called 'Weather Watcher', an outside 'mouse' temp sensor
- this reborn one has the Quantum Hub a two way intelligent communication system
- the anticipatory controllers, temp sensing and override zone features increase comfort levels

~ - ~

That two way intelligent communication system is really intended to communicate between the appliances and the energy supply utility. It was and is intended to utilise the demand side management advantages of the developing 'smart grid' so that what we call night store space & water heating is no longer a series of individual stand-alone water or space heating units, operating in isolation.

This could knit together the the 7.5 million UK & IR heaters into one giant energy storage system to combat the intermittent vagaries of the renewable energy sources coming onto the electricity grid, particularly for wind generation. Used properly the energy supplier of night store would 'send' extra cheap excess generated energy in any of the 24 hours to each homes water & space heaters. Instead it becomes one Kingdom wide megga storage tank for the farcical renewable industry's very expensively produced energy that we currently waste each single day & night.

Just think about it - as a Kingdom .. .. if the GOV gave the supply industry a severe slap with the 'cluestick' of you soddin well will do it - the (1) smart meter agreement could be concluded and rolled out in volume before the 2015 date the (2) smart grid could be incorporated with the smart meters from the outset and the poor relation of home heating called night store could store trillions of kWh of energy that already goes to waste each year.

Its not really rocket science, E7 & E10 was originally designed to 'soak up' the excess wasted each night from the 'cant~switch~em~off coal power stations, this is the same, precisely the same service for the modern generating system.

Ada3050 · 12 March 2013 at 3:29PM

I looked in to this briefly and could only come up with the dimplex & SSE propaganda, no independent reviews. On paper at least it solves most of the draw backs of storage heating.

I can't see any major advantage over my storage heaters just yet though, maybe the heat retention would benefit those at work all day.

As Richie says, it should be possible now with existing storage heaters with just an upgrade to the meter and a control unit to allow the excess energy to be directed to the storage heater circuits, a much better use of storage heating than economy 7 at present.

I will be holding off on these till I see more independent testing of the system. For the price of the heaters at the moment I could have GCH installed.

Cardew · 12 March 2013 at 4:41PM

Ada3050 wrote: »

I will be holding off on these till I see more independent testing of the system. For the price of the heaters at the moment I could have GCH installed.

It has only fairly recently been launched so it will be a while before we get much feedback.

I suspect the initial cost will deter many people. Take a 3 bed semi. It will need 3 heaters for bedrooms, 2? for living room, kitchen, bathroom and landing/hall. So 8 in all, plus the new quantum cylinder and a quantum hub + fitting.

So how much for that lot?? £7,000???

Richie-from-the-Boro · 12 March 2013 at 9:18PM

In case I've unintentionally amplified both Dimplex the company and Quantum the product, let me say it was not my intention to do so.

There is a place for the often misunderstood 'duality' of the DOU, there is a place for the return to anticipatory controllers, a design element which should never have been discontinued.

My lesser point than the grand plan ~ "think about it - as a Kingdom" ~ one - is that it seems to me only Dimplex are spending any of their profits on research and improving everyday product materials. All others apart from the snake~oil sellers are just producing the same old unloved beige cans with bricks in them !

Ada3050 · 13 March 2013 at 9:20AM

I had a look on the SSE web site and put in my post code and get the unavailable in my area message (midlands).
If it works as well as they say it does then it could be one to watch if the energy companies take the option to manage the power output via smart meters.

If the internet "mutterings" are to be believed then the price of gas will soar in the next few years as we are now reliant on others for our gas supply.

So maybe with this type of heating and wind solar power it could provide some of the solution for heating needs. As Richie points out, to work it needs to be part of a UK wide solution.

Richie-from-the-Boro · 15 March 2013 at 4:13PM

Sadly, whilst the capacity of the technology already exists, the infighting of the manufacture & supply industry [ REM beat-max & VHS video ] and the politics of Europe serve to slow down or even disable good intentions and working technology. The short term inflexible energy storage model and supply chain risks are well known and increasingly critical. Other Europeans already own large chunks of our UK energy supply [ and water ] system, they and the European Governance system have no perceived need to hurry. The current minuscule £/kW per year storage of all energy in the UK Value of storage increases very significantly with the level of penetration of renewable generation - and yet the industry in general and DECC in particular does nothing whatsoever to help itself .. .. Why ?

macman · 15 March 2013 at 5:55PM

Ada3050 wrote: »

I had a look on the SSE web site and put in my post code and get the unavailable in my area message (midlands).
If it works as well as they say it does then it could be one to watch if the energy companies take the option to manage the power output via smart meters.

If the internet "mutterings" are to be believed then the price of gas will soar in the next few years as we are now reliant on others for our gas supply.

So maybe with this type of heating and wind solar power it could provide some of the solution for heating needs. As Richie points out, to work it needs to be part of a UK wide solution.

In which case, electricity prices will rise too. Where do you think our generation capacity is going to come from in the next 10 years except from new gas-fired plant, which is relatively quickly and cheaply built? New nuclear capacity is twenty years away, if it comes at all, and coal is being phased out. Renewables will not even begin to fill the gap.

Cardew · 15 March 2013 at 6:50PM

Ada3050 wrote: »

If the internet "mutterings" are to be believed then the price of gas will soar in the next few years as we are now reliant on others for our gas supply.

All the internet 'mutterings' I read talk of gas getting more plentiful with the adoption of Fracking.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2013/mar/15/fracking-monster-greens-must-embrace

Take the US. From a standing start a decade ago, it now gets more than a quarter of its natural gas from shale. Production is so cheap there that shale gas is replacing coal in power stations; and as a result its carbon dioxide emissions
are the lowest since 1992

Richie-from-the-Boro · 15 March 2013 at 10:28PM

I live 8 crow miles from this, it took about 15 years to build and went onstream in the early 80's. I took the view then and now that while the political class and the tree hugging pratts fiddled, France and others were building nuclear and sufficient nuclear to future proof their nations needs. It was an unwelcome pragmatic view then, I hold the same view now, off the graph price increases and reducing security over the last 3 decades looking for alternatives that do not exist will only led to more extraction.

More extraction of cash from the British taxpayers pockets because the political class and the tree hugging pratts still fiddle while nothing real is done. 4 decades later we still have the same reality of supply and 4 decades from now we will still have the same problem with supply because the political class and the tree hugging pratts continue over the decades to fiddle while nothing real is done.

Wind & wave and fracking if ever its adopted [doubt it will think ! tidal power and estuaries] will be a short term desperate fix equally as dangerous as nuclear a long term dangerous fix . Just get real, find the money, build them - you were out of alternatives 30 years ago - and you still are - build nuclear as bad as it is it works and we need it.

Ada3050 · 16 March 2013 at 11:10AM

I was thinking the same thing my self Richie. Decades of delays and procrastination have led us to high bills. It will be too late when the lights have gone out.

And to think at the start of the nuclear age they were saying it would be so cheap it would be hard to meter for it.

Quantum Electrical heating by Dimplex

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