Anyone used Rointe heaters?

Cardew

The whole point of this particular thread is to explain, to people contemplating buying electrical heaters, that the heat output for any given running cost is EXACTLY the same regardless of it being a £10 heater from Argos or 'systems' on sale where a single radiator can cost in excess of £1,000.

If you do have a storage heater in the flat you are probably on an Economy 7 tariff, and you should be aware that the daytime rates(for 17 hours) are higher than a normal 24/7 tariff.

Depending on your 'lifestyle' i.e. out at work etc, it may be better to have panel type heaters with a 24/7 tariff, rather than storage heaters. However any form of electrical heating is not cheap.

gandalf72

Sorry I am not clued up on these sort of things i no your using terms as eco 7 and normal 24/7 but sorry I am not really sure what these are.

So hopefully I can ask the right question - sorry if I am making a mess of this.

I want to try and get the most efficient electric system that I can get now I am not sure on electric panel heating vs electric storage or energy tariff.

So if i am understanding you can get a normal 24/7 tariff that is cheaper than a eco 7 tariff? I should then make sure that I have heaters that can work on normal 24/7 tariff. I am guessing that the normal 24/7 tariff will not be called normal though it will be called something else?

Cardew

An Economy 7(E7) tariff gives 7 hours of cheap rate electricity in a 9 hour period between 11:30pm and 8:30am. The times vary by area and you need an E7 meter.

A 'normal 24/7' tariff is the same price for all units(kWh) of electricity.

E7 is the tariff used if you have storage heaters. You can also heat a hot water tank during the off-peak period.

The downside of E7 is you are charged slightly more for 'daytime'(17 hours) electricity. So in an all electric house using electricity for heating, it would be pointless having an E7 tariff unless you had storage heating.

The pros and cons of storage heating are discussed endlessly on MSE, so I suggest you do a search.

Richie-from-the-Boro

gandalf72,

Night Store Space & Water Heating Tariff

- cheapest leccy tariff E7
- next cheapest leccy tariff E10

Non-Night Store Space & Water Tariff

- any one of hundreds from 6 or more suppliers - you choose

You are [probably] currently on Night Store Space & Water Heating Tariff, for which you get 365 days of room heat and a tank of boiling water each day. Your dwelling will be wired & metered differently. If you choose to stay with night store, you might choose to replace your old with a new more modern, efficient, comfortable, aesthetically pleasing, centrally controlled system.

You might choose to dispense altogether with your existing storage heating system, tariff, metering, wiring, etc and install a new panel system of which there are many different choices and prices.

So if i am understanding you can get a normal 24/7 tariff that is cheaper than a eco 7 tariff? I should then make sure that I have heaters that can work on normal 24/7 tariff. I am guessing that the normal 24/7 tariff will not be called normal though it will be called something else?

- E7 tariff = 7 hours of cheap stuff - 17 hours of core rate
- E10 tariff = 10 hours of cheap stuff - 14 hours of core rate
- standard single rate tariff - same core rate 24/365

sparkyelec

I've been reading this thread with interest. I am an electrician and I have been interested in installing Rointe heaters. I have installed these heaters before, a year or so ago, but these were sold by a supplier to the customer who had me install them. I have not pushed these heaters to customers, as I, like many others on here are not sure of their claims for efficiency.

I understand that they don't seem to be efficient (mentioned many times here) as they still push out the same heat as the power it uses (1kw of power = 1kw of heat). Added to this no one has come up with an argument that stands up to prove otherwise, which certainly doesn't help Rointes claim!

But, I'm still intrigued. They are still selling loads of these heaters, suppliers claim that they are selling these heaters almost exclusively over storage heaters. Also, whilst Rointe have been pulled up on some of their claims and have had to 'adjust' their wording they are still certified by BSRIA. Also I read at least one comment on here, where that person believes they are saving money with the Rointe heaters (though couldn't give any hard figures).

So, I've decided to do my own test, this is my plan........

I'm borrowing a Rointe heater from a supplier and have an unused (£20) convector heater in my garage. Today, I brought a plug in electric monitor. The Rointe heater has been calculated as the right size for my office. I'm going to install each heater in my office at separate times for a 24 hour period, ideally with the same (or as close to) external conditions. Now, I realise that its still warm at the moment, so I will wait until the temperatures drop a little. I know this isn't exactly factory conditions, but it will prove (for me and least) if they are any good or not. If anyone's actually interested I will post the results on here

Cardew

Nobody has ever stated that Rointe heaters are not 'good'.

Anyone can tell you now the results of your test. The Rointe heater will produce exactly the same amount of heat as the £20 heater - for the same running cost. Both are 100% efficient.

Ask the Energy Saving Trust or any independant organisation -Which etc - if you want verification.

Richie-from-the-Boro

Read the BSRIA again, it says :

- that a 1.6kW unit was used to heat a room with 1kW per hour heat loss and it used 1kW per hour to do it
- any electric resistive heater with an electronic thermostat will do exactly the same
- any stat accurately maintaining a room temp will give the same energy usage and the same running costs
- you will also know that 1400 watts in the UK at 230v translates to 1596 watts at the At 244v that the BSRIA test was run at
- the cooling applied to the [21°C] chamber during the test was 560 watts per hour and the heater used 560 watts per hour
- if you had stuck in a 100kW heater it would have used exactly 560 watts to counteract the cooling

Read the BSRIA again my friend

If I was a sparky I'd flog them [but not to friends & family, and not to locals who can 'slag my name'], easy peasy lightweight 13a install with a good trade discount % to pocket the retail difference - yes please, next please, next please.

woodyrseelectrical

The difference between using a £20 panel heater and rointe/farho/haverland etc is in how long the heater "retains" and distributes heat for even after it has turned off..... when a standard convector heater is cold after even just a few minutes.......

penrhyn

So like an oil filled radiator then?

Richie-from-the-Boro

woodyrseelectrical wrote: »

The difference between using a £20 panel heater and rointe/farho/haverland etc is in how long the heater "retains" and distributes heat for even after it has turned off..... when a standard convector heater is cold after even just a few minutes.......

Essentially what is happening, and its not physics its engineering it is as penrhyn said the oil / fluid filled distributes heat to itself in a uniform way, but there is no 'heating gain :

Fluid / magic oil - gives a slower to start and slower prolonged finish proportion radiant heat at switch off

Non-Fluid / magic oil - would give a faster to start convecting and a faster to finish convected heat at switch off

So there is no efficiency gain, they sell themselves as replacement [brick heaters] storage, which they are not and can't be compared to, when there is no storage other than the 10 or so minutes it takes the [STRIKE]snake~[/STRIKE]oil to release the last of its heat. penrhyn's and Cardew's £20 panel heater heated the room to 21 °C in 72 minutes - your oil filled took 94 minutes a whole 22 minutes longer and cost £478.17 more at trade price and that's before adding on margin / shipping / installing / etc.

Does the graph below help your understanding ?

[IMG][/img]

BTW - Can you tell the group why this fantastic product quality only offers a warranty of only *2 Years on Electrical Components ?