Can you suggest a good fixed electric panel radiator?

jennifernil

Our son-in-law rents out a 2 bedroom flat in Scotland. Since he first started doing this, 12 years back, requirements have changed and he now needs to fit fixed heaters in the 2 bedrooms.

There is no gas in the building, hall and lounge have nightstore type heaters, he never found the bedrooms cold so had no need for any other heaters.

Now , however, regulations require him to have fixed, hard wired heaters fitted in the bedrooms, nightstore type are not posssible as the wiring for those is not in place in those rooms.

Can anyone advise what type/brand of wall mounted panel type he would be best to get?

daveyjp

Main issue is not to be sucked into false marketing around 'high efficiency' or anything about rads filled with special 'unique' fluids, gels etc etc. It is all nonsense. Whether you pay £50 or £1,000 a 1kw heater will use 1kw of energy per hour.

Knowing the size of the room so the correct output is selected is important and remote operation can be useful through wi fi etc.

Dimplex are still a recognised brand producing good quality products. This site gives and idea of the huge range of styles and colours available:

https://www.electricradiatorsdirect.co.uk/

flashg67

I'm electric only and fitted Millheat heaters all through - each can be controlled using an app, so only on when needed, rather than having to faff about programming them separately. I'd also look at Infra-red heaters - I have a small one in a porch and it works well. They work differently to convection/panel heaters, but worth researching

WIAWSNB

Hi J.

Are there any requirements for min temps? I suspect not.

Even if, when you consider that a room that size will almost certainly be very comfortably heated with less than 2kW of power, and this can be tested easily using a freestanding oil-filled rad of that power, then that is all that's required, and can therefore be run from a normal plug socket. So, no extra wiring should be required.

So, ~2kW power rating (could almost certainly be less depending on room size), and slim oil-filled panel (oil-filled makes it steady and even with its output, with no blockable grills on top), and good control over temp. By that I mean at least two power levels, and a clear thermostat. And finally, I'm sure they'd find a timer - ideally electronic as they won't become noisy - very useful, as bedrooms only require heat just before bedtime, and ditto wake up.

I understand that some heaters have 'setback' where a lower temp can be maintained at other times, but that level of control - including Smart App is really up to your sil to consider whether sensible.

This should be very simple and cheap to do.

If the requirement is for 'permanent hard wired', then this can be fed from fused spurs, and still not required additional supplies from the CU.

That's my understanding.

WIAWSNB

Jeepers, I'm so out of touch! It's near impossible to not find one that ain't WiFi these days...

https://www.amazon.co.uk/SolAire-Oil-Filled-Electric-Radiator-Portable/dp/B0DZHRK9M5/ref=mp_s_a_1_3?

knightstyle

As he is renting the flat I would go for cheap radiators with a thermostat and time clock built in. These are more likely to be trouble free and simple to use.

casper_gutman

I'd go for oil filled rather than a simpler convection panel (basically a heating element in a case with holes for air to enter and exit). The oil-filled rad will have lower surface temperatures and the risk of a fire is generally lower. Some suppliers even say it's safe to dry clothes/towels over them, which definitely wouldn't be a good idea with a basic convector.

born_again

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81975382#Comment_81975382

Then just hope people renting are not savvy enough to realise this is the most expensive form of heating 🤷‍♀️

jennifernil

We know that electric heating this way is expensive, but electric is the only type of heating permitted in the building, high rise ex local authority property, good double glazing and insulation. It does have to be hard wired. A while since I was at the flat, but meeting a painter this evening for a quote so will check whether there is any possibility of extending the existing circuit that the nightstores are on, to the bedrooms, if that would be better.

SIL does have a floor standing oil filled radiator, just in case required, but these days those do not satisfy the regulations. The new heater needs to be able to provide 18 degrees when 0 degrees outside, bedrooms are approx 3.3 x 3 metres.

I was looking last night, but seems to be a lot to choose from……convection….oil filled…..infra red…..no idea what would be most effective. Will certainly need to have thermostat and timer.

Albermarle

I was looking last night, but seems to be a lot to choose from……convection….oil filled…..infra red…

A convection heater will heat up a room quickly, but the room will cool down quickly as soon as it is switched off.

An oil filled radiator will heat up more slowly and therefore take longer to heat the room. However it will stay warm for a while even after being switched off.

Both will have thermostats, but the oil filled will be better at maintaining a steady temperature. Also they are generally thought to be safer - less likely to burn your hand and less worries about fabrics touching them.

However oil ones will be heavier and maybe trickier to fit to the wall ?

I do not think infra red heaters are really suitable for a bedroom, as they seem to just heat the area directly in front of them, and they get very hot.

WIAWSNB

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81975650#Comment_81975650

Google tells me that a ~10m2 room should be heatable to 18oC with 1kW if well insulated, and 1.5kW if not. (100W/m2 for well insulated to 150W/m2 for poor.)

So that would absolutely suggest that a 1.8kW would do this easily, with tons of margin.

Oil-filled, I'd suggest, absolutely; more steady heat output, doesn't become dangerously hot to the touch, smooth exterior surface with no vents to block, quiet, longer-lasting as the element does not get glowing hot, not smelly (ever smelt a convector heater that hasn't been used for a while as it burns off the dust on the element? Pheeeew.)

What I'm not sure about is the 'hard-wired' bit. 'Technically', adding a fused switched outlet to the room, spurred off a nearby wall socket, is 'hard-wired'. And a 1.8kW heater will not remotely be an issue for the existing socket wiring.

Extending the storage heater wiring will be a lot more destructive, but also bear in mind that night-storage heaters only get their leccy supply during the night! No good for bedtime, or for wakeyupski time.

Ask his sparky if he knows if a FSU will conform to 'hard-wired'. It would be utter bonkers if it didn't.