Rointe K Series Electric Radiators

Scatty

Hi


I moved into a rented cluster (quarter) house end of May and there are two K Series Rointe radiators installed - large one downstairs and a slightly smaller one in the bedroom (even though the house has gas, but obviously the landlord has saved money on CH installation).


I've read lots of threads about electric heating but I really just would like to know how good they are at providing enough heat to keep me and my house warm - are they really comparable to central heating? I know they're going to prove expensive but I'm in the (painful) process of switching over to smart meters so at least I can keep an eye out on usage.


Oh and can anyone actually program the little tinkers??! I didn't need them on last night, just sitting in front of them with an instructions book prodding at them well and truly warmed me up!!

CashStrapped

Heaters

They are probably the most expensive way to heat a property. However, if the property is well insulated, this should help mitigate the costs of using them. If it is not, and we are talking about a high ceiling Victorian property, it could get expensive.

What is the Gas supply used for? Oven? How is the hot water heated?

Back to the heaters.

How they operate should be pretty simple. They hopefully have a timer and/or a thermostat (automatically controls when they turn off and on).

Use the timer to control times when you are actually in the property, or want the property heated.

Set the thermostat for the temperature you prefer. Once the room reaches that temperature, they will turn off until it requires a top up. The quicker the room cools (insulation) the more it will have to turn on.

If you do not have a manual, look on the sides of the heater for a serial no. You may be able to find the manual on-line by searching for that serial no.

Electricity Tariff

In terms of electricity tariff. They will use a standard (single rate) electric tariff. A smart meter will not save you money per say, it will just ensure your bills are accurate.

It is far better to be on the best single rate tariff for electricity.

Annual averages for all electric properties can range from 5000-7000KWH. Use that range of figures in a comparison site and see what comes up cheapest. You smart meter may not work with all suppliers, but I would prefer to be on a cheap tariff than one with a smart meter

If your gas is not used for anything except cooking. I would look to have split suppliers. One for Gas the other for Electric. You do not need to have a duel fuel supply.

In addition, with it being a converted house. Ensure the meters relate to your flat. It is a very common f***-up to have the meters registered to the wrong properties.

If you gas use is predicted to be very very low, you may want a supplier like ebico, with no standing charge.

I would start taking daily readings to get an idea as to your energy use.

Cardew

Scatty wrote: »

Hi


I moved into a rented cluster (quarter) house end of May and there are two K Series Rointe radiators installed - large one downstairs and a slightly smaller one in the bedroom [/B

I've read lots of threads about electric heating but I really just would like to know how good they are at providing enough heat to keep me and my house warm - are they really comparable to central heating? I know they're going to prove expensive but I'm in the (painful) process of switching over to smart meters so at least I can keep an eye out on usage.

From what I can see from the largest K series is 1,600 watt(1.6kW).

So with just 2 radiators in the house - the small one presumably less than 1.6kW - they are clearly not going to compare in output with a Central heating system.

You haven't mentioned the size or standard of insulation of your house, but with a maximum output of 3.2kW(probably less) they would provide inadequate heat for most properties in winter. That would apply to any electrical heaters of the same capacity.

Scatty

CashStrapped wrote: »

Heaters

They are probably the most expensive way to heat a property. However, if the property is well insulated, this should help mitigate the costs of using them. If it is not, and we are talking about a high ceiling Victorian property, it could get expensive.

What is the Gas supply used for? Oven? How is the hot water heated?

Back to the heaters.

How they operate should be pretty simple. They hopefully have a timer and/or a thermostat (automatically controls when they turn off and on).

Use the timer to control times when you are actually in the property, or want the property heated.

Set the thermostat for the temperature you prefer. Once the room reaches that temperature, they will turn off until it requires a top up. The quicker the room cools (insulation) the more it will have to turn on.

If you do not have a manual, look on the sides of the heater for a serial no. You may be able to find the manual on-line by searching for that serial no.

Electricity Tariff

In terms of electricity tariff. They will use a standard (single rate) electric tariff. A smart meter will not save you money per say, it will just ensure your bills are accurate.

It is far better to be on the best single rate tariff for electricity.

Annual averages for all electric properties can range from 5000-7000KWH. Use that range of figures in a comparison site and see what comes up cheapest. You smart meter may not work with all suppliers, but I would prefer to be on a cheap tariff than one with a smart meter

If your gas is not used for anything except cooking. I would look to have split suppliers. One for Gas the other for Electric. You do not need to have a duel fuel supply.

In addition, with it being a converted house. Ensure the meters relate to your flat. It is a very common f***-up to have the meters registered to the wrong properties.

If you gas use is predicted to be very very low, you may want a supplier like ebico, with no standing charge.

I would start taking daily readings to get an idea as to your energy use.

Thanks. The heaters come with manuals, but by god they are hard to program even with them, and I've got quite a few brain cells for a girl


The gas only powers the cooker; the hot water is powered by electricity but I don't use it - I have an electric shower and don't generate a lot of washing up so the kettle every couple of days sorts that.


The house is bedroom, bathroom upstairs and open plan kitchen/lounge downstairs so not too huge a space to heat. On my "free electricity" Sunday I turn the electric towel rail on from 9am to 5pm full blast to heat the bathroom and dry any drips on the carpet (bloomin' carpet in the bathroom no less!).


It's a purpose built quarter house (two semis built on the back of each other) so my meters are my own. I've had both gas and electric meters changed to smart meters so it is easier to monitor my usage. Well, once I get the heaters working it will be!


I've read such horror stories about Rointe but obviously my landlord doesn't care. There was no heating in the house bar a plug in heater before last winter apparently, how the previous tenant lived there is beyond me!

Scatty

Cardew wrote: »

From what I can see from the largest K series is 1,600 watt(1.6kW).

So with just 2 radiators in the house - the small one presumably less than 1.6kW - they are clearly not going to compare in output with a Central heating system.

You haven't mentioned the size or standard of insulation of your house, but with a maximum output of 3.2kW(probably less) they would provide inadequate heat for most properties in winter. That would apply to any electrical heaters of the same capacity.

I have absolutely no idea about the standard of insulation; the house is bed/bath upstairs and open plan lounge/kitchen downstairs so not too big. But it only has sun until 10am so I don't get natural sun heat.


I guess I will be supplementing with the plug in heater the landlord left behind!


My pet rats have a tendency to run on the radiator downstairs, accessing via the sofa, so it's probably not too bad a thing if they don't get too hot - sore paws abound!

matelodave

a You can get a rough idea of the amount of heat you'll require in each room by using an on-line calculator like this http://www.homesupply.co.uk/radiator_output_calculator.php

I've just been in a holiday cottage fitted with Rointe Kyros heaters and as you say the controllers are beyond being difficult, they are nigh on impossible. It took me a couple of days to try and work them out but as we were only there for a few days, I set them to manual and fixed the temperature to 18 degrees and left them to get on with it.

I suggest that you persevere in trying to work out how to programme them as leaving them on all the time will bankrupt you

As far as I can see you can count the number of segments and work out their output - it's 110 watt/segment so a nine segment unit = 990watts.

Good luck

CashStrapped

Scatty wrote: »

The house is bedroom, bathroom upstairs and open plan kitchen/lounge downstairs so not too huge a space to heat. On my "free electricity" Sunday I turn the electric towel rail on from 9am to 5pm full blast to heat the bathroom and dry any drips on the carpet (bloomin' carpet in the bathroom no less!).

If the house is modern and purpose built, then the insulation at least should be up to current standards, which is good.

I will again re-iterate about the electricity tariffs.

The free weekend day tariff from British Gas is not a competitive for electricity, despite a free day. It is especially not competitive for Gas. If you are not using any gas, you will still be charged a daily standing charge. This automatically costs you £94 a year for your tariff.

If you do a comparison, based on an annual electric use of 6000kwh, you could save up to £250 for my area.

You could also save on your Gas as well, depending on how much you actually use.

But, that is just something to consider.

Scatty

CashStrapped wrote: »

If the house is modern and purpose built, then the insulation at least should be up to current standards, which is good.

I will again re-iterate about the electricity tariffs.

The free weekend day tariff from British Gas is not a competitive for electricity, despite a free day. It is especially not competitive for Gas. If you are not using any gas, you will still be charged a daily standing charge. This automatically costs you £94 a year for your tariff.

If you do a comparison, based on an annual electric use of 6000kwh, you could save up to £250 for my area.

You could also save on your Gas as well, depending on how much you actually use.

But, that is just something to consider.

Thanks CashStrapped. We're in a seven week process of getting these blasted meters to work after the engineer stuffed up the installation so once they're working and I've put in my complaint, I shall take stock of where we are with regards to tariffs etc. The "free" day (and you did obviously note my speech marks above) works for me in a way as Sunday is the only day I have free to do anything laundry, tumble drying, mowing related so I will work out my usage once we're all up and running and the bloomin' heaters are working.

matelodave

In the meantime, I'd be reading my meters manually and recording them at least weekly so you've got some idea of how well you are doing

Scatty

matelodave wrote: »

a You can get a rough idea of the amount of heat you'll require in each room by using an on-line calculator like this

I've just been in a holiday cottage fitted with Rointe Kyros heaters and as you say the controllers are beyond being difficult, they are nigh on impossible. It took me a couple of days to try and work them out but as we were only there for a few days, I set them to manual and fixed the temperature to 18 degrees and left them to get on with it.

I suggest that you persevere in trying to work out how to programme them as leaving them on all the time will bankrupt you

As far as I can see you can count the number of segments and work out their output - it's 110 watt/segment so a nine segment unit = 990watts.

Good luck

Thank you! I shall be persevering as I'm starting to get a bit chilly and I hear my rats shredding paper in their cage a lot at night so time to heat the building up I think.


Thanks for the tip about watt/segment output, awesome. Until next year when the warm weather starts, I shall be quite obsessed about my usage!!!

Richie-from-the-Boro

Rionte, Fischer et all all share the same marketing mantra. They fall into the same category as politically 'green such as get someone to save carbon by transferring the cost to an unsuspecting householder.Rionte have their own arbiter design chip built into the logic to switch electric heating off 40% of any hour. If you therefore take Cardew's 1600W per hour the maximum delivery will be 960W, add to that any further reduction mitigated by the thermostat and the heating value will be less than 960W.

So that is what they are, and what that model number's maximum output can be. Using them as someone said, take control yourself, put them on manual, highest output setting and reduce as appropriate. I too fail to see how even in an EPC rated B to C how two of these can heat to 'a comfort' level of 21C in winter even in a non open plan layout. In your case it's your first winter, suck it and see, only you know your glass area, wall insulation etc etc. Secondary heating - permanent or temporary boost seems inevitable. Best of luck.

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