Radiator Booster - any thoughts?

don0301

Cardew wrote: »

Z,
Don't feed the troll!

this is funny

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/3738661

i answered jimjames question with fact

Cardew wrote: »

I think you have got that wrong as well.

The link you gave is for the 4.8% RPI increase that came into force in April 2011.

I believe it is the September CPI/RPI figures that sets the increase the Government uses from the following April.

This year's CPI increase(for April 2012) will be 5.2% and for RPI 5.6%.


So if the government stick to the RPI figure(for installations before 12/12/2011) FIT will rise 5.6% in April 2012.

Of course this Government reneged on their committment to increase pensions by RPI and are using CPI for some.

EDIT
http://www.ifs.org.uk/bns/bn120.pdf

troll post?

YOU replied i was wrong, when in fact YOU were completely wrong. then replied weeks after to that thread, but never 'manning up' and admitting you were completely wrong!

is that trolling?

you should really desist from 'piggy backing' other people to try and call me a troll, isn't that trolling itself?

http://www.ofgem.gov.uk/Pages/MoreInformation.aspx?docid=30&refer=Sustainability/Environment/fits

for those interested, proof what i said was correct, and cardew was completely wrong.

VfM4meplse

So the consensus is what exactly? I just want a warm home for less.

rogerblack

In short, low power fans on radiators may slightly lower your central heating loop temperature, and have very small positive effect on efficiency.
Similarly, reducing the temperature of the wall behind the radiator may do a small amount.
But, you,d get a similar effect with something like http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Mini-Portable-USB-Powered-Desktop-Cooling-Desk-Fan-Computer-Laptop-Quiet-Black-/180922004885?pt=UK_Home_Garden_Hearing_Cooling_Air&hash=item2a1fcab595#ht_1880wt_982 and a USB 'charger'.
Or something like http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/ZALMAN-ZM-F3-ZMF3-120mm-ULTRA-QUIET-PC-Case-Fan-3pin-5V-12V-/120949978835?pt=US_Computer_Case_Fans&hash=item1c292e36d3#ht_8531wt_689 ( run from USB)

Radiator_Expert

If in doubt take a look at the Which Test Lab report from August 2011 -Which said "Our test lab found that with the radiator booster fitted, the room heated up more quickly, the thermostat needed to come on less often and energy consumption dropped"

If in doubt buy one form Argos, try it and if not for you return it. Nothing to loose?

zeupater

VfM4meplse wrote: »

So the consensus is what exactly? I just want a warm home for less.

Hi

You can have a warm home (slightly) faster, you can have a warm home (slightly) slower, but overall there will be little difference ... but if you want a warm home for less you have four options, which in terms of priority will be ...

#1 - Have a slightly less warm home
#2 - Manage the heat provision in the house better
#3 - Decrease the rate of heatloss ... the cheapest form of energy you will ever find is the energy you don't need to buy !!
#4 - Increase the cost efficiency of your heatsource ...

... The first can be done today, will cost you nothing with a simple 1C reduction likely being unnoticeable by anyone, probably saving somewhere around 10% of your heating bill

... The second will involve only providing heat when necessary using a timer (which could be done today), fitting and/or adjusting TRVs if/where possible could also be done or arranged today ... you could have a look at installing a programable thermostat (if you don't already have one) in order to vary temperatures throughout the day ...

... Some of the third could be done for free, but you can still improve your heat retention by spending more, see this as an ongoing exercise concentrating on the largest and most cost-effective heat-loss sources first (cavity & loft) then work through a list .. if you stop insulating then you're not taking it seriously ...

... The fourth, well that's the expensive option and will depend on the efficiency of your current heat source and could therefore not be cost effective .....

HTH
Z

Kernel_Sanders

Ken68 wrote: »

Amazed that heat suits have never been invented.

They have been, for motorcyclists.

zeupater wrote: »

For simplicity, an analogy ..... take two identical teapots, fill both to the brim with boiling water and let the fabric of the teapots reach equilibrium with the water. What we have is two high mass structures, so we'll empty one pot, leaving one high mass uninsulated structure and one low mass uninsulated structure, both having the same initial temperature - which one cools fastest at room temperature ? ....... now lets repeat the above and immediately place a tea-cozy over each pot in order to provide an identical level of insulation - which one now cools first at room temperature ?

Hi Z, I'm interested in this subject but didn't comprehend your point. I'm presuming the emptied pot cools quicker in the uninsulated experiment, so are you saying this is not the case when the cosies are applied? If so, why?

zeupater wrote: »

The first can be done today, will cost you nothing with a simple 1C reduction likely being unnoticeable by anyone, probably saving somewhere around 10% of your heating bill

I've seen this 'advice' provided by governments and energy concerns for years, and it makes me cringe every time I read it. What it is basically...no, exactly....saying is
You are not running your heating at the lowest comfortable level.
For God's sake, if anybody looking to economize is without sufficient intelligence to have remedied this already then they shouldn't be in charge of equipment such as heating controls in the first place!

whasup

VfM4meplse wrote: »

So the consensus is what exactly? I just want a warm home for less.

My advice is get to understand your heating controls and adjust them to get heating 'on' times to match your exact heat requirements. For example; my controls had always been set to come on at 4.00pm. We're often not home at 4.00pm and even if we are home we don't always want the heating on. So I now don't have an auto on time for the evening and we just turn it on as needed. Only problem is if you switch on manually you need to remember to switch off manually as well. To sort this I set the clock to come on for a minute at 10.59pm. This then overides the manual on and switches the sytem off at 11.00pm. Try it. I reckon most people could easily save £50 to £100 a year by simple clock adjustments.

zeupater

Kernel_Sanders wrote: »

...
Hi Z, I'm interested in this subject but didn't comprehend your point. I'm presuming the emptied pot cools quicker in the uninsulated experiment, so are you saying this is not the case when the cosies are applied? If so, why?

I've seen this 'advice' provided by governments and energy concerns for years, and it makes me cringe every time I read it. What it is basically...no, exactly....saying is
You are not running your heating at the lowest comfortable level.
For God's sake, if anybody looking to economize is without sufficient intelligence to have remedied this already then they shouldn't be in charge of equipment such as heating controls in the first place!

Hi

The teapot analogy is to show that given two identical size structures with the same level of insulation, whether none (no cosy) or high (with cosy), the high mass option (the one full of water) will take longer to cool ... it's also true to say that it also takes longer to heat, which can also be pretty useful in summer (the house, not the teapot ... )

We have a high mass property which, if left to cool for an extended period, takes ages to reheat, however, once the structure is warm it holds the heat so that a single 'topping up' period is all that is needed, so no need for running heating in the morning, just a variable length burn with the log-burner, depending on the average outside temperature ... simple solar gain at this time of year is enough to provide the 'top-up', a little later on maybe a burn every couple of days ...

Regarding the 1C/10% reduction, I think that you're correct, however, if you talk to people about this you'd be surprised how many still don't equate 1C to 10% and seem to think that turning the temperature down from 20C to 19C would save 5% (1-(19/20)), completely ignoring the ambient heating season temperature of ~6C, so it's really 9.3% (1-(13/14)) .... I certainly can't tell whether the house is 1C cooler, but I do know that the warmer our house is the more I tend to 'feel the cold' ..

HTH
Z

scorpio_biker

I have one of these and I think it works. I have a largish lounge that is north facing, so probably the coldest room in the house. The radiator, at the time, had a desk in front of it. Once I'd introduced the booster I found that the room was definitely warmer, and I still use it now.

I couldn't tell you if it's reduced my bills on its own as I have taken several other steps to cut my costs as well.

I suspect you'd have to review your own circumstances to decide if it would suit. Certainly for a large room that seems to be colder than others and/or the radiator is covered in some way, I think it helped.

crizmo

scorpio_biker wrote: »

I have one of these and I think it works. I have a largish lounge that is north facing, so probably the coldest room in the house. The radiator, at the time, had a desk in front of it. Once I'd introduced the booster I found that the room was definitely warmer, and I still use it now.

I couldn't tell you if it's reduced my bills on its own as I have taken several other steps to cut my costs as well.

I suspect you'd have to review your own circumstances to decide if it would suit. Certainly for a large room that seems to be colder than others and/or the radiator is covered in some way, I think it helped.

Thanks Scorpio Biker. I was wondering when someone would say what they thought after using the product instead of giving me physics lessons.