Dimplex Quantum...Worth the Money or Not

LULULU1

We are looking at a number of heating options and were impressed by the Dimplex Quantum.

However at a homes show one of the heating stall holders said the Dimplex Quantum were designed for places such as Spain where the temperature rarely varieties much. The reason being the Dimplex works on memorising the most recent temperatures.

Just wondered if anybody had one of the Dimplex Quantum heaters and had any advice or positive or negative views.

Many thanks lu

ChumpusRex

Dimplex quantum is a modern night storage heater. It uses cheap electricity overnight to heat up internal bricks. The heat then is released from the bricks during the day (avoiding the need to use expensive day-time electricity).

With an old style storage heater, before you went to bed, you would have to guess how much heat you would need the next day, and program it into the heater. Then during the day, you would have to open or close the vent flaps to regulate the heat leakage from the bricks. Even with the flaps closed, the heat would often leak out too quickly, giving a roasting hot house first thing in the morning and a cold house with no heat left in the bricks by bed time.

The quantum has advanced insulation and computer controlled vents/fans which will automatically control how much charge is taken into the bricks and when and how much is released. This means you can program it to save heat when you are at work, keeping it for the evening.

The problem that this type of system runs into is if one week it is warm, then the computer will memorise that and set the night-time charge to minimum. If suddenly there is a cold snap - you'll have to use full-price electricity to heat for 2 days until the computer works out that the weather has changed and turns the night charge back up. The result is that gradual changes in weather aren't a problem, but a sudden change in the weather can result in the house being too hot for a day or 2, or needing to heat on full-price electricity for a day or 2.

Richie-from-the-Boro

a sudden change in the weather can result in the house being too hot for a day or 2

- is true, but its true of all cheap rate night store systems

The Dimplex Quantum, is the top end of NSCH, and if you want a fully functional 'centralised hub' heating system and money is no object then in my view you can not do any better. The Quantum like other top end heating systems uses a more expensive and very responsive control chip that goes a long way to giving better economy and 'comfort', although I do not believe it uses up to 22% less energy than other comparable electric storage heaters in a standard domestic environment. One area it does particularly well in compared to its competitors is it, like its cheaper sibling the Quantum Duo, uses insulation with a low thermal conductivity which many of its competitors do not have. The thermal [heat loss] transfer qualities of the room heater are also reflected in the excellent water cylinder.

Dimplex works on memorising the most recent temperatures

- is true, but its true of the working behaviour of all cheap rate night store systems

LULULU1

So are you suggesting whilst accepting it is a rather expensive product that it is worth the money ???

Thanks for your help, really appreciate it

ChumpusRex

It's an expensive product.

It depends what exactly you need and want from a heating system, as to whether it is worth paying.

If you do not have mains gas, and do not want LPG or oil, then you are stuck with electric heating.

There are various technologies available for electric heating including:
Night storage heaters (which include advanced heaters like Dimplex quantum as well as mechanical manual heaters from other suppliers)
Panel heaters
and
Heat pumps

Heat pumps are extremely expensive to buy and install, but are very efficient to run. They require outside installation and may be noisy.

Panel heaters are very cheap to buy and install, but are ruinously expensive to run.

Night storage heaters are somewhere in the middle. Medium price to install, medium price to run.


So, heat pumps might be worthwhile if you have a lot of spare money and are revamping a property, which already has extreme insulation (allowing you to buy a bottom end unit).

If this is a holiday home, which is only used 8 weeks of the year, then panel heaters may be best - if you are only running the heaters to stop the place freezing solid, then the running costs don't matter so much.

If you are at home all day, every day, particularly if you need it hot for reasons of age or health, then this is ideal for storage heaters. You can put storage heaters in the main rooms and panel heaters in the spare rooms to save on installation costs.

The quantum system is the state of the art in storage heater technology and will give good temperature control all day, while making the most of cheap night electricity. Lower cost manual storage heaters are also a good choice, but you need to keep an eye on the weather forecast and keep adjust them to suit.

Richie-from-the-Boro

My answer would still be """if you want a fully functional 'centralised hub' heating system and money is no object then in my view you can not do any better""", but I'll go deeper for you.

Retired - home all day most days, you would have a profile of - up @ 0800 - bed @ 2359
Working - up @ 0600 - out @ 0800 - in @ 1730 - bed @ 2330

The Quantum would be best compared to competitors [and other Dimplex models] for both of the above but much of its functionality will not be needed for the 'retired' scenario as the heating profile adjustments will not be needed. The 'working' scenario would have the heat turned +10°C when you get up and down -10°C when you leave for work ditto the heat turned up +10°C when you get in from work @ 1730 and down -10°C when you go to bed. How much °C it goes up and down, its duration and precisely when this happens is determined by you.

Now whilst it would still be the gold standard of direct domestic electric heating for a retired couple the ±10°C four or more times per day would not be required, the heating profile in this case would be a on when they get up, constant temp till bed and down @ bedtime. Much of this kind of profile can be achieved with the cheaper Dimplex-Duo range - of course it would be cost ineffective to install the Duo range @ around age 50 as within a few short years the added value of the Quantum profile would be age beneficial at retirement, and as the longevity of this kind of maintenance free heating system is around 50 years + you would want to take that into consideration.

If your question was """Richard, if you could afford this fully functional 'centralised hub' heating system and money was no object .. .. would you buy it ? my answer would be yes yes yes, hell I'd buy it @ 65+ years of age. More questions LULULU1 ask, I hope the above goes some way to answering your questions.