Anyone used Rointe heaters?

Cavell123

Richie & Owain. Thanks for the advise, most helpful, but can i just get some understanding on a couple of other points.

1) Once all of the heat has been dispersed from the night storage heater is there the option to use it as just a convection heater? ie is there a separate element for additional heat? If so why use an additional heater in the evening? (sorry if this is a dumb question but i have never had night storage heaters and haven't a clue how they work)

2) Does it matter what the Kw input of the NHS is, does it have to be matched to the room size? The reason i ask is because i read another post on here which said it didn't matter because if it was a bigger Kw input it would just take less time to heat up the NSH to the required temp. However, on one of the energy suppliers site they said it was important to get the right Kw input for the size of the room. I'm confused.

3) If i use the hot water tank to feed the shower (as opposed to using the electric one) will i need a booster pump. I have a loft but don't know if the cold feed comes from a tank in the loft or direct from the mains.

Thanks again for you help.

Owain_Moneysaver

Cavell123 wrote: »

Richie & Owain. Thanks for the advise, most helpful, but can i just get some understanding on a couple of other points.

1) Once all of the heat has been dispersed from the night storage heater is there the option to use it as just a convection heater? ie is there a separate element for additional heat?

No, on ordinary storage heaters. There are combined storage/convector heaters, and heaters like Dimplex Duoheat where there is a more integrated control system between the two parts.

The combination storage heaters need cabling to both peak and off-peak supplies.

Cavell123 wrote: »

2) Does it matter what the Kw input of the NHS is, does it have to be matched to the room size? The reason i ask is because i read another post on here which said it didn't matter because if it was a bigger Kw input it would just take less time to heat up the NSH to the required temp. However, on one of the energy suppliers site they said it was important to get the right Kw input for the size of the room. I'm confused.

If the heater is too small, you run out of stored heat too quickly, and have to use expensive peak rate heat. Too big is not usually a problem. People nowadays tend to have their houses warmer than the 1970s so sometimes complain that older heaters are inadequate.

Cavell123 wrote: »

3) If i use the hot water tank to feed the shower (as opposed to using the electric one) will i need a booster pump. I have a loft but don't know if the cold feed comes from a tank in the loft or direct from the mains.

If it's an instant electric shower it will come from the mains.

If it's a mixer shower then both the hot and cold need to come from the same place; if they don't then you need to pump the tank hot to the same pressure as the mains cold.

Depending on the distance between the shower and the bottom of the loft tank, you may want a pump to give a higher pressure shower. Pumped showers can use a lot of water.

Or you can get a mains pressure hot water cylinder (often called 'megaflow') with no loft tank. They can only be installed by fitters with a GS3 ticket and must have an annual maintenance/safety check.

Richie-from-the-Boro

Cavell123, my general rule of thumb with a well insulated double glazed draft proof house with normal two meter high room sizes is 90+W per square meter. You could and should up that to 120W+ per square meter for example in an earlier unanswered question on conservatories. Always err on the side of caution and overestimate rather than make do. For example that room with two rather than one window and more so if one was a six foot picture window you would need to re-calc.

An electric shower is a disposable priced piece of equipment, instantly available regardless both winter & summer, no need to consider the alternative.

Most of the rest is covered by 'Owain Moneysaver', and his mention of the DUO Storage Heaters which use stored off-peak cheap electricity and core-rate expensive when you need an extra boost. That same range [not all their range] have two other benefits. One is the sensitivity in the type of chip they use to control the thermostat, the other is the use of particularly good insulation in their night store range.

All night store heaters are designed to charge for 7 and release for 17 hours, not all are good at reducing the thermal leakage from the night store radiator. The DUO range is much better than many of their competitors because of the type thermal blanket they use. One problem you may encounter changing your main heater to a DOU is their biggest is only a 2.6kW, that's about a third smaller than their competitors usual biggest at 3.4kW and I expect a third smaller than the one in your living area.

You've read the thread I gave you here, why don't you just tell the group what you actually have and its size and age and we will be able to offer much more directed advice ? If you don't mind an information overload to help your understanding - try this !

I forgot your other question, the radiant part is an extra 13 amp plug heating element inside the heater that mentioned earlier and can be used at core-day-rate any time you wish for extra heat, it looks like this :



NOTE : The Creda Eco-Response Storage Radiant Heating is a~n~other similar 16 bricker 2.6kW unit alternative.

Cavell123

Richie & Owain.
Thanks again for your help and advise, it's given me a much better understanding of electric heating and plumbing. When i eventually move in i will get the exact details of the current heaters and water storage and get back to the group. Thanks again.
Richard.

melanie_king

There is no argument that a kilowatt of heat output is the same regardless of it's origin. But (there's always a but isn't there?), is it ok to pooh-pooh said heat's distribution in terms of the subjective experience of the room's occupants? I'm told it's not the size but what you do with it that counts. Ahem. I mean, can you tell the difference if you heat your living space with a halogen heater or a fan heater, or, say, a convection heater?

I am considering replacing the 2kW heater in my living room by installing two dry irons (tiny u r l dot com/c83bx49) does anybody have any advice on their most effective positioning?

Watch this space!

NB As a newbie I can't post web addresses so unfortunately you'll have to pop in that shortened link to the dry irons on Amazon yourself, if you want to check them out.

penrhyn

Why don't you use a 3Kw kettle to heat your room and make a cup of tea with it while you teach your self how electric irons regulate their temperature.

Cardew

melanie_king wrote: »

There is no argument that a kilowatt of heat output is the same regardless of it's origin. But (there's always a but isn't there?), is it ok to pooh-pooh said heat's distribution in terms of the subjective experience of the room's occupants? I'm told it's not the size but what you do with it that counts. Ahem. I mean, can you tell the difference if you heat your living space with a halogen heater or a fan heater, or, say, a convection heater?

I am considering replacing the 2kW heater in my living room by installing two dry irons (tiny u r l dot com/c83bx49) does anybody have any advice on their most effective positioning?

Watch this space!

NB As a newbie I can't post web addresses so unfortunately you'll have to pop in that shortened link to the dry irons on Amazon yourself, if you want to check them out.

Newbie?? Your profile says you joined MSE over 4 years ago(Feb 2009). Could it be another user name you were thinking about?

Do these irons cost less than the £3,500 you paid for two radiators?

This is a money saving forum and you know with certainty you got ripped off paying £3,500 for two electric radiators; and you got 'seriously annoyed' with me(and others) for our earlier input.

Is it your aim on this forum to ensure that other people get similarly ripped off?

melanie_king

A newbie in terms of this site's nomenclature (seen to the side of all our postings under our names) rather than time since joining.

The best form of defense is attack it seems. Come on now, be especially nice.

A kettle surely uses electrical energy to raise the energetic state of water (eventually effecting its physical change in state). An iron, on the other hand, to produce regulated heat.

Our aim is (read: should be) to have sensible, multi-sided discourse: providing information, and thus allowing people to make their own decisions.

Now, shall we a) encourage considerately answering questions or b) cultivate slinging mud about?

So, in order of appearance then:

1) is it ok to pooh-pooh said heat's distribution in terms of the subjective experience of the room's occupants?

2) can you tell the difference if you heat your living space with a halogen heater or a fan heater, or, say, a convection heater?

3) does anybody have any advice on the most effective positioning for two of these 1kW Lloytron dry irons (tiny u r l dot com/c83bx49)?

Cardew

If in a hole and want to get out - stop digging!

So in terms of 'type of heat' what is the difference between the two radiators you bought for £3,500 and, say two similar powered radiators costing £100 each.

Yours are filled with clay?? and the £100 models with oil.

If you want effective heat from the Dry irons I suggest you buy half a dozen. As was stated before they won't continuously consume 1kW as the thermostat works on the temperature of the plate; and of course they will possibly only last a few weeks; but at £12 each or so that won't be a problem.

Plug them into a thermostatically controlled adapter like this USA model:

http://www.amazon.com/Lux-Heating-Cooling-Programmable-Thermostat/dp/B000E7NYY8

A small fan will distribute the heat produced.

As for siting the irons, Well you don't want them in a position where children, pets or idiots could come into contact with them - would that be a problem in your house?

Richie-from-the-Boro

melanie_king wrote: »

A newbie in terms of this site's nomenclature (seen to the side of all our postings under our names) rather than time since joining.

The best form of defence is attack it seems. Come on now, be especially nice.

A kettle surely uses electrical energy to raise the energetic state of water (eventually effecting its physical change in state). An iron, on the other hand, to produce regulated heat.

Our aim is (read: should be) to have sensible, multi-sided discourse: providing information, and thus allowing people to make their own decisions.

Now, shall we a) encourage considerately answering questions or b) cultivate slinging mud about?

So, in order of appearance then:

1) is it ok to pooh-pooh said heat's distribution in terms of the subjective experience of the room's occupants?

2) can you tell the difference if you heat your living space with a halogen heater or a fan heater, or, say, a convection heater?

3) does anybody have any advice on the most effective positioning for two of these 1kW Lloytron dry irons (tiny u r l dot com/c83bx49)?

Even Martin or the team itself can't post tiny URL's on this site.

1.- yes, subjectivity has no valued outcome other than ethereal practices, energies, things and intensities beyond themselves

2.- yes, with halogen my front would 'feel' warm but my back would be cold, my brain, nerves & senses are in the column

3.- melanie king, penrhyn already answered this question for you in #339

Two or three or even four electric irons would not heat the room adequately because they are not designed to deliver a constant 2kW and their thermostat does not work on the air temperature in the room.

There are 3 types of heating, 'conductive convection & radiation' your question on one or more irons used for domestic room heating is 'conduction' transfer [better the conductor-better the transposition] can not be effective, the efficiency of this heat transfer type requires direct contact as in pan / cooker / iron shirt.

This heat transfer type is very very inefficient at heating a room but has excellent efficiency at burning shirts. However the amount of heat energy per £1 produced when converted from electrical energy is exactly the same as the other two examples.

On-Radiation - electromagnetic waves travel through space and heat an object and transfer that heat to the object. On-Convection - the up and down movement of gases and liquids [convection current] cased by heat transfer. Does that explanation help your understanding of why your irons will not work ?