Anyone used Rointe heaters?

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  • Pincher
    Pincher Posts: 6,552
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    I have just invented an almost limitless source of energy.
    It works by creating a hyperspatial conduit to the surface of the sun. The conduit itself is fireproof, but unfortunately the delivery point at the domestic consumption end is not, leading to instant plasma vaporisation of the house and immediate surroundings.

    The installation requires a supercooled superconductor core the size of the Large Hadron Collider. The pay back break even point is therefore somewhere around 100 million years. I am thinking with a government subsidy of £100 billion pounds, I can sell it at £100,000 per household. Most of that will be spent on fireproofing the house.

    Any takers?
  • Cardew wrote: »
    Welcome to the forum.

    Read the report - comprehensive and excellent!

    However IMO the only purpose of commissioning such a report is to use it as a marketing tool to baffle people - and, understandably, it appears to have been successful with you and your electrician.

    The report deals with test results, heat distribution, hot spots etc.

    However it most definately does not show that they use 60% less energy than any other heater or even 1% less energy.

    A £10 fan heater, £20 oil filled heater, or a Rointe heater costing £several hundreds will produce exactly the same amount of heat for the same cost.

    I can only repeat what was stated above:



    Why don't you ring BSRIA, who tested them, and ask them about heat output of Rointe heaters against the heat output of any other heaters?

    Ring WHICH or the Energy Saving Trust for confirmation of what I have stated.

    Better still get on to the Trading Standards office if you have anything making these claims in writing(and not on the internet)

    Sorry to give you news you don't want to hear, but if it is not too late - send them back.


    Cheers Cardew - I spoke to my electrician last night and he said I didnt have to buy them if I didnt want. he then suggested some cheaper panel heaters but I'm not sure as they look pretty rubbish.

    I said I'd think about it and he wasnt too chuffed but I need something to replace my old storage heaters so I'll have another look around - I want something that stays on the wall, is robust and looks nice too!!! Not easy to find without spending a lot.

    Cheers for the help tho' ;-)
  • Ben84
    Ben84 Posts: 3,069
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    edited 15 July 2010 at 2:05PM
    While storage heaters have many downsides (I had them for years in one house), most of all the lack of immediate control and their emitting most their heat during the day when everyone is out and then often being cold by the time they get home, they do have the advantage of only consuming electric overnight at the cheap rate. Swapping to any other type of electric heating that consumes electric outside the cheap rate hours is almost certainly going to make your electric bills go up.

    Because of this, if you're replacing the storage heaters with electric radiators I'd recommend taking a whole house view and trying to reduce the energy you need to stay comfortable. Good controls that thermostatically adjust the heat output and timers to allow you to easily turn the heat off when nobody is using the room make a large difference. Properly insulated walls and roof are important, but even more so when you're using an expensive fuel like electric. It should be pretty cheap at the moment with all the subsidies available to correct any problems with your insulation. Having good lined curtains for overnight is pretty essential for winter nights when your windows stop providing light and just release heat to outside. Adding secondary glazing to a few well picked windows, such as big ones or those in rooms you use the most, or near areas like beds and sofas where people spend a lot of time can also make a large difference to how comfortable you are and how much you feel you need to use the heating.

    With good controls and in a well insulated house, electric heating isn't totally unreasonable, but electric is very expensive and you need to be sure you're using it economically. To be as affordable as gas (the claims some not very good electric heater salesmen make) you need to use far less kWh of energy input to keep the house at the same temperature, enough that it would be difficult in an older house that needs significant insulation improvements. As no electric heater is more efficient than any other, any improvements have to be made in how much you use the heaters (timer and thermostatic controls) and in how well the house retains the heat.
  • Ben84 wrote: »
    While storage heaters have many downsides (I had them for years in one house), most of all the lack of immediate control and their emitting most their heat during the day when everyone is out and then often being cold by the time they get home, they do have the advantage of only consuming electric overnight at the cheap rate. Swapping to any other type of electric heating that consumes electric outside the cheap rate hours is almost certainly going to make your electric bills go up.

    Because of this, if you're replacing the storage heaters with electric radiators I'd recommend taking a whole house view and trying to reduce the energy you need to stay comfortable. Good controls that thermostatically adjust the heat output and timers to allow you to easily turn the heat off when nobody is using the room make a large difference. Properly insulated walls and roof are important, but even more so when you're using an expensive fuel like electric. It should be pretty cheap at the moment with all the subsidies available to correct any problems with your insulation. Having good lined curtains for overnight is pretty essential for winter nights when your windows stop providing light and just release heat to outside. Adding secondary glazing to a few well picked windows, such as big ones or those in rooms you use the most, or near areas like beds and sofas where people spend a lot of time can also make a large difference to how comfortable you are and how much you feel you need to use the heating.

    With good controls and in a well insulated house, electric heating isn't totally unreasonable, but electric is very expensive and you need to be sure you're using it economically. To be as affordable as gas (the claims some not very good electric heater salesmen make) you need to use far less kWh of energy input to keep the house at the same temperature, enough that it would be difficult in an older house that needs significant insulation improvements. As no electric heater is more efficient than any other, any improvements have to be made in how much you use the heaters (timer and thermostatic controls) and in how well the house retains the heat.

    Thanks for the advice.

    I work a lot of the day so I only need heating for an hour or so in the morning and 2/3 hours at night. I am hoping I will save money with new heaters as they will be used so little plus the standard rate for my other electrical stuff will be cheaper once I switch from Economy 7.

    Cheers :-)
  • Cardew
    Cardew Posts: 29,036
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    Thanks for the advice.

    I work a lot of the day so I only need heating for an hour or so in the morning and 2/3 hours at night. I am hoping I will save money with new heaters as they will be used so little plus the standard rate for my other electrical stuff will be cheaper once I switch from Economy 7.

    Cheers :-)

    Don't forget hot water costs are less with E7.

    However there is no doubt that ditching E7 is the correct thing for some people - especially if they are out all day.
  • Cardew wrote: »
    Don't forget hot water costs are less with E7.

    However there is no doubt that ditching E7 is the correct thing for some people - especially if they are out all day.


    My electrician said the same thing about the hot water so at least something he said was right LOL

    I do think I'll save some money but I also want to do this as the stoarge heaters were so annoying - great if I was in on a weekend during the day but rubbish if i got home late and it was cold!!!

    The only problem now is the better looking ones are more expensive and the cheaper ones look a bit flimsy. Decision, decisions.

    Thanks for all the advice - it has really helped.
  • Cardew
    Cardew Posts: 29,036
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    edited 19 January 2011 at 10:21AM
    supertuber wrote: »
    and before you start banging on about me working for Elka .... I don't.

    !

    Really? Really?

    First post, full of praise for something that despite all your sales patter, gives out no more heat for the running cost than a £10 fan heater or a £50 panel heater or my Granny's 1/2/3/ bar fire.

    You might also want to look up how many kWh the average property uses to heat hot water, before dismissing those costs as inconsequential.

    The good thing about posting and promoting overpriced heating like ELKA heaters is that anyone 'googling' Elka will come up with this thread and read an unbiased view; so posts like yours are counter-productive.

    Now do you want to challenge me about ELKA heters not producing any more heat for the same running costs than a £10 fan heater?
  • Cardew
    Cardew Posts: 29,036
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    supertuber wrote: »
    lol .... you obviously know little about heating.

    Efficient heating is brought about through correct convection of heat which is basic thermodynamics. ONLY fluted radiators allow for convection to occur and your ridiculous examples of bar fires and fan heaters simply proves your ignorance. Without convection a rooms temperature will differ between 5-7c from ceiling to floor so you're burning power to heat your ceiling and that is a fact sir. Second, only a proper convection radiator will allow a thermostat to work correctly hence why Elka style rads can operate at a constant 21c while using only 17 mins in the hour downloaded electricity.
    Thirdly a proper heating system requires a large surface area which is gained using a fluted rad. A typical central heating radiator allows 18sqft of surface area per 3ft in width. These are the facts.

    I know full well how much hot water the average family uses ... with a 5ft tank (all 3kw) my family uses less than a tank a day because the kids have a bath and we have electric showers. We have no dishwasher so wash everything by hand. 3kw x 1hr heating = 30p a day = £109.50 a year. Sometimes we use more but rarely more than an extra tak or two a week. Again a fact.

    I don't work for Elka but I have 'invested' in many of them and they are brilliant. I'd rather spend 4p running my handsome Elka than 20p running a crappy noisy fan heater or panel heater which heats my ceiling!! Hot air is less dense than cold air and without convection. Oh and if you're still on E7 that fan heater would be costing you 26p an hour minimum .. and pack up in a few weeks. Do the math!!

    Well I am a chartered electrical engineer, not some chancer salesman; and I would wager I know far more than you will ever know about thermodynamics.

    You post is quite typical of the pseudo scientific sales patter that characterises adverts for these hideously overpriced heaters.

    Take this masterpiece:
    Elka style rads can operate at a constant 21c while using only 17 mins in the hour downloaded electricity

    Size of room, heat loss of room and output of the Elka style rads are apparently are not needed for you to proclaim that these wonderful devices operate(a meaningless terrm) at 21C on only 17 mins in the hour downloaded electricity. - absolute garbage.

    The facts are quite simple and indisputable!

    Your vastly overpriced Elka style heaters produce no more heat for the same running costs than any other electrical heaters, be that a £10 fan heater a £50 panel heater or my granny's 1/2/3/bar electic fire.

    Do you understand that - I mean really understand?

    As said before, in these days of Google hopefully anyone silly enough to think your heaters give out more heat for the bucks will read this before 'investing'.

    There are plenty of other qualified engineers who visit these threads who will confim my statements.

    Now all that above won't worry you will it? After all you(allegedly;)) don't work for the firm, or have any financial interest in their sales.
  • supertuber wrote: »
    Wow you REALLY don't know anything about HEATING. What does electric have to do with it??

    They run off electricity?
    supertuber wrote: »
    They STORE heat you imbecile hence why they only use 17 mins in the hour.

    So where do they get the heat from that they store? Over what period is that released? What is the thermal mass of the heater?

    supertuber wrote: »
    Heat loss in all my rooms was accurately calculated to determine the correct size and power rad so again you argument falls flat on its face. I had the heat loss calculated by 3 heating companies.

    Typical modern 40cm room with two exterior walls, 2 double glazed windows ... heat loss 3.5 out of 10 = 1.4 kw rad. 1.4 x 10p = 14p per hour
    28% or that is under 4p an hour. Want to see my bill??

    What does heat loss 3.5 out of 10 mean?

    Where do you get the 28% figure from and what does it represent?
    supertuber wrote: »

    I DO NOT WORK FOR ELTI but I have invested over £20,000 in their rads

    And you still have to pay a peak rate electricity bill on top of that.
    supertuber wrote: »
    and they rock. I suppose you heat your house with fan heaters? haha, i dont think so.

    The fan heaters that cost £20 to buy and no more to run than your heaters?
    A kind word lasts a minute, a skelped erse is sair for a day.
  • moggylover
    moggylover Posts: 13,324 Forumite
    supertuber wrote: »
    Wow you REALLY don't know anything about HEATING. What does electric have to do with it?? They STORE heat you imbecile hence why they only use 17 mins in the hour. Heat loss in all my rooms was accurately calculated to determine the correct size and power rad so again you argument falls flat on its face. I had the heat loss calculated by 3 heating companies.

    Typical modern 40cm room with two exterior walls, 2 double glazed windows ... heat loss 3.5 out of 10 = 1.4 kw rad. 1.4 x 10p = 14p per hour
    28% or that is under 4p an hour. Want to see my bill??

    I DO NOT WORK FOR ELTI but I have invested over £20,000 in their rads and they rock. I suppose you heat your house with fan heaters? haha, i dont think so.


    :rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:


    For that you could have had a really GOOD heating system:D
    "there are some persons in this World who, unable to give better proof of being wise, take a strange delight in showing what they think they have sagaciously read in mankind by uncharitable suspicions of them"
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