Smart electric heating suggestions please

Marksfish

We have just converted the garage to a new room, it was a detached garage. Now winter is drawing in, I am looking for an effective and efficient to run wall mounted electric heater, preferably with Android access. Room size is about 12'x 12', 100mm floor insulation (carpet & underlay) and 50mm insulation around the walls/ ceiling and stud walling. A double glazed window and door are also a part of the equation. Interested in peoples thoughts as the best places to look/ buy.

Thanking you.

DullGreyGuy

What sort of power output? 

If its something with a normal plug you may want to consider a smart plug rather than smart heater.

Marksfish

I've had an outlet put on the wall to hard wire it into. Won't be a massive draw and would easily fit on a 13A plug, but wanted it to be a more "permanent" fixture.

casper_gutman

One option would be to use a standard heater with a "smart" connection unit / fcu - e.g. https://click-smart.com/products/smart-fcu

This might give more flexibility if the smart heaters you find don't suit your needs for whatever reason, but will be neater than using a socket and smart plug.

grumbler

Marksfish said:

...50mm insulation around the walls/ ceiling and stud walling.

Was this sufficient to satisfy Building Contrlol?

IMO, the most 'smart' part of 'smart' electric heating is the thermostat placed in the right place.

FreeBear

grumbler said:

Marksfish said:

...50mm insulation around the walls/ ceiling and stud walling.

Was this sufficient to satisfy Building Contrlol?

IMO, the most 'smart' part of 'smart' electric heating is the thermostat placed in the right place.

50mm is no where near enough to meet building regs for a habitable room - 75mm on the walls, and 150mm on the ceiling would have been a minimum..

Lidl have (had) some "smart" electric heaters for £50. Wilco also list a fanless one for £70.. Using a smart plug is OK, but you do need to watch the maximum current they can switch. Some of them are only rated at 10A, and if they are using cheap Chinese components, you might want to down rate them by quite a bit.

Marksfish

casper_gutman said:

One option would be to use a standard heater with a "smart" connection unit / fcu - e.g. https://click-smart.com/products/smart-fcu

This might give more flexibility if the smart heaters you find don't suit your needs for whatever reason, but will be neater than using a socket and smart plug.

Interesting products thanks, but they look to be on/ off and I want to be able to control the temperature. A bit like a Hive sort of thing for an electric panel heater.

danrv

Marksfish said:

casper_gutman said:

One option would be to use a standard heater with a "smart" connection unit / fcu - e.g. https://click-smart.com/products/smart-fcu

This might give more flexibility if the smart heaters you find don't suit your needs for whatever reason, but will be neater than using a socket and smart plug.

 I want to be able to control the temperature. 

Best get a smart electric heater/radiator. Slimline panel type such as Adax or convector like Dimplex. Plenty of choice.

FreeBear

https://tcpi.eu/smart/heating/  https://www.wilko.com/tcp-smart-heating-cooling-fan-37cm-1500w/p/0538029

Marksfish

Thanks for all the suggestions so far. Was thinking along the lines of this: https://www.homebase.co.uk/tcp-wall-mounted-smart-wi-fi-oil-filled-radiator-500w-white/12892565.html, will 500w be enough though? I'm wary of panel heaters and convectors being "instant heat" whereas the fluid filled ones should hold the heat a bit better. I was looking at the panel heaters which are rated well too, but wonder if they may not cost more to run in the long run. The room isn't going to be in everyday use, so it will need to be able to "tick over" to keep the damp out.

sk2402005

i would look at a split air conditioning unit/heat pump, it will cost <1 3rd the running cost to heat the room compared to a panel or fan heater, and also double up as cooling in the summer.