Low wattage heater - Solar Winter generation

Big_love_of_life....

I was hoping - one of you kind knowledgeable souls, could help or point me in the right direction. I know it has been discussed before, but for the life of me I cannot find the thread. I am looking for some recommendations for a low wattage heater for this coming winter, I currently have a 1Kw heater but I am looking for something that will work with my baseline as the panels generate less in the coming months… There seem to be so many options – oil, convector, ceramic, halogen and panel heaters. I was thinking 400-500w. Money is a bit tight, but I am looking for reliability overall… Many thanks in advance for any advice you guys may have!

EricMears

Big_love_of_life.... wrote: »

I was hoping - one of you kind knowledgeable souls, could help or point me in the right direction. I know it has been discussed before, but for the life of me I cannot find the thread. I am looking for some recommendations for a low wattage heater for this coming winter, I currently have a 1Kw heater but I am looking for something that will work with my baseline as the panels generate less in the coming months… There seem to be so many options – oil, convector, ceramic, halogen and panel heaters. I was thinking 400-500w. Money is a bit tight, but I am looking for reliability overall… Many thanks in advance for any advice you guys may have!

If you bought a 'builders transformer' (mine came from eBay for £15) then any 230V heater you plug into its 115V output would be derated by 75%. e.g. a 1 kW oil-filled rad would become a 250W version.
N.B. Can only be used with pure heaters - NOT fan heaters.

Big_love_of_life....

Well, that is pure genius… Thank you so very much! I wasn’t expecting that I could use my current heaters… Could I please ask, are the transformers safe to run overnight. i.e. unattended? My intention was to run the heater 24hrs a day under my desk as I have E7, and wanted to maintain a level background heat throughout the winter. Thank you for taking the time and trouble to help me, I really appreciate it!

Martyn1981

Big_love_of_life.... wrote: »

There seem to be so many options – oil, convector, ceramic, halogen and panel heaters. I was thinking 400-500w.

Hiya. Funnily enough I got out the oil rad yesterday, for autumn/winter number 5, and it's been on today too. GCH not on yet, but it's getting closer, and I use the rad during the day between morning and evening heating periods to keep off the chill in one room.

£30 to £35 should get you a decent oil rad with three settings (2 heaters with different Watts, or both on together). Mine is 400/700/1100, others may be 500/1000/1500. Try Screwfix.

But don't make my mistake and get a real cheap one, as after 20mins mine only runs 10 mins on and 10 mins off, as it gets itself a little too warm, even on 400W. So get a 7 panel or better.

Erics idea would work well for me, as at only 25% it would probably stay on all the time on the 700W setting, and I could switch it on at lower generation without importing. :think: would Wifey like a transformer in the living room?

Mart.

pinnks

I run my rads through the immerSUN (not relevant here on cost grounds and the 24/7 requirement) and even though they are 9 panel and 11 panel they frequently display the 10 mins on and off.

For the living room I use two 2.4kW rads and can mop up most surplus generation at this time of year. I pop the smaller one near my desk when working when it is really chilly and set it on low and reduce the thermostat and it does a good job.

Big_love_of_life....

Hi Martyn,
I have a 3.84kw system with serious shading issues in the Winter! I currently have two 2Kw oil rads each with 1000/2000. Both of them (which are reasonable makes) seem to cut in and out after 10 mins – I am running them both at 1kw each turning one on after the other cuts out at the moment, if that makes sense…. Works at this time of the year – but I am sincerely looking to utilise most of the power that I am wasting (and not be so very cold again) during the next coming months… They are both 5 fins – does that relate to the panels that you refer to? Also, when you refer to your whether or not your Wife would like a transformer on in the living room – I take it the noise from the unit, would outweigh the benefit…. Thank you all for your time and trouble…
Big love of life…

EricMears

Big_love_of_life.... wrote: »

… Could I please ask, are the transformers safe to run overnight. i.e. unattended?

Put it this way : the things are designed to run all day with minimal supervision by builders and are very often mistreated when several guys try and plug too much kit into them. With one careful user using only half a kW or so they'd probably be safe to run for a year unattended.

But why are you asking ? Have you found some new type of solar panel that runs on moonlight ?

Big_love_of_life....

EricMears wrote: »

Put it this way : the things are designed to run all day with minimal supervision by builders and are very often mistreated when several guys try and plug too much kit into them. With one careful user using only half a kW or so they'd probably be safe to run for a year unattended.

But why are you asking ? Have you found some new type of solar panel that runs on moonlight ?

Seriously just trying to find some solutions to utilise the best of my generation (during the day)... Glad to hear - that the transformers can be reliable though!!!


P.s. I am sure anyone who reads this... Would wish we could tap into 'Luna power' as well!

pinnks

I read an article a couple of years ago which suggested we could :rotfl: Something about using rust. Can't actually remember whether it was more about storage or generation but was allegedly serious research about night-time and PV

Big_love_of_life....

pinnks wrote: »

I read an article a couple of years ago which suggested we could :rotfl: Something about using rust. Can't actually remember whether it was more about storage or generation but was allegedly serious research about night-time and PV

Now that would be fantastic - I did have to stop myself from checking whether or not there was any generation, from the last full moon!!!

GreenBo

I've just setup in the past 2 weeks an oil filled radiator in the bedroom that comes on if my Smappee detects more than 500 watts Solar Export going back into the grid. It then switches it off if the grid import goes over about 250 watts. Seems to work great so far. The radiator takes about 500 watts from memory on a low setting. With the good weather recently it's been working great, lots of relatively free heating to keep the wife happy.