Heating a Village Hall with Electricity

Inactive

Economy7 storage heaters turn themselves on and off.;)

coolagarry

Thank you all for your replies. The heat pump option sounds great but unfortunately is not really an option - a little too futuristic for our committee and the cost is very high (most grants only cover half of the cost of the improvement).
We have two radiant high wall mounted heaters at either end of the hall with the low wall mounted fan heaters on either side of the hall. I suppose what I want to do really is to replace the fan heaters with something quieter and more efficient. The hall is used for about 4 hours most evenings.

Are there radiant heaters that would replace the fan heaters.. most of the ones I have seen seem to be for mounting high on the wall which can give the 'hot head' effect.

http://www.hygienesuppliesdirect.com/sub/radiant_panel_heaters?gclid=CLrkkMD-qpwCFZwA4wodkw9lkQ
I would appreciate any thoughts or advice anyone would have on the panel heaters on this page...
would they do a good job... would the 'radiant' panel heater (last on the page) be an advantage to a hall used for Whist Drives etc?

McAzrael

Grants may only cover half, but the Carbon Trust, if you qualify, will lend you the whole lot interest free. https://www.carbontrust.co.uk

economiser

coolagarry wrote: »

Are there radiant heaters that would replace the fan heaters.. most of the ones I have seen seem to be for mounting high on the wall which can give the 'hot head' effect.

http://www.hygienesuppliesdirect.com/sub/radiant_panel_heaters?gclid=CLrkkMD-qpwCFZwA4wodkw9lkQ
I would appreciate any thoughts or advice anyone would have on the panel heaters on this page...
would they do a good job... would the 'radiant' panel heater (last on the page) be an advantage to a hall used for Whist Drives etc?

Firstly all electric heaters are basically 100% "efficient". You put 1kW of electricity in and you get 1kW of heat out. The difference between heaters is the way they distribute heat. Convector and fan convector heaters heat the air which then warms the occupants. The problem is tall spaces is the hot air rises and heats the ceiling space first. Radiant heaters work like the sun and do not heat the air but heat the solid objects in their path. Radiant heaters have to work at very high temperatures to be effective and are often therefore incandescent and this is why they are mounted at high level out of reach of people using the room. I don't think the panels in the link you show are true radiant panels. They will have a radiant heat output but I suspect the majority will be convective - the data given does not indicate the proportions.

Electricity is a clearly a very expensive energy source though with a low capital outlay. With the hours of usage you have for the hall I think it would be worth your committee examining alternative heating methods. Maybe a conventional central heating system would be better. The problem obviously is that you need a significant capital investment which may take many years to repay.