radiant heater panels

[Dan_574]

has anyone had any experience with econo-heat panels, or the more expensive nobo panels, Im thinking of putting one in each of the bedrooms, no natural gas where Iam and main heater is the wood fire. any comments would be appreciated or what others have done without central heating.

[jmk89]

When we renovated, we looked into the heating situation and, having looked first at radiant panels, went for a thin film that was laid in the carpet (actually between the carpet and the underlay). It was much cheaper to install and no more expensive to run (and a darn sight cheaper than reverse cycle a/c).

The heat rises nicely into the rooms, the floors are comfortable to lie on (I can't get my father-in-law off them when he visits) and there is a great sensation of warmth when you step out of bed onto a warm floor,

[Dan_574]

what do they say about hindsight, ah anyway cant remember.

Unfortunately all the carpet and timber is down, I suppose insalling it under the floor wouldnt work then insulating under the film. I have particleboard then carpet or 19mm timber on top so dont know if it will work, Ive looked at it for the ceiling but at $2000 plus installation its alot more than $200-$300 per radiant panel.

[Ian007]

I have several eco panels in the kids rooms downstairs, and they work great no doubts about them, I even have one in the workshop but have yet to take it out the box:o

I use them on timers so as not to forget the on & off bit ect

a big thumbs up from me.

Cheers Ian

[Dan_574]

ian thanks are they the 600x600 and how big are the rooms.

[masterblaster]

Never heard of any of these you guys wouldn't have a good link would you ?
Sounds really interesting for the back parts of our house - and my daughters room .

Cheers
MB

[Ian007]

ian thanks are they the 600x600 and how big are the rooms.

yep 600x600 and rooms are about 3x5 have also used one in a room 5x7 and while it didnt warm it right up it did take the chill off.

Cheers Ian:)

[Dan_574]

master they are really good or sound like it and low power, paintable wall mounted heaters and chaep the 600x600 about $200.

http://www.econoheatsa.com.au/

[masterblaster]

master they are really good or sound like it and low power, paintable wall mounted heaters and chaep the 600x600 about $200.

http://www.econoheatsa.com.au/

Thanks for the link Dan great stuff. Just took a quick look then and looking forward to checking it all out .
Does amaze you though l reckon how everything they are still designing is still depending on power of some sort cept the solar stuff but l reckon they have a long way to go with that yet as compared to what might be out in 20 years time anyway !
Cheers
MB

[Dan_574]

if you have a look on the rest of that econo heat site there is a thing called the solar lizard or similar which is a solar heater, it works on the same principle as solar hot water but air instaed, again uses electricity to power a fan but I assume that it only works during the day, no way to store hot air (i bet we all know someone who could help with that, ha ha), but I know what you mean master

[dazzler]

Hi

In the places Ive owned/rented I have had all sorts of heating;

Wood, reverse A/C, ducted gas, wall heater etc but the very best I ever had was in a rental.

It had "electric blanket" things that layed on top of the ceiling between the rafters. They are pretty thin and have heaps of tiny wires running that are the elements. Hook up to a thermostat.

It was amazing the warmth they gave. In the babies room we set it at 21deg and because it radiates down all the bedding etc was warm to touch.

Had ours on thermo at 16deg all night.

The power bill was amazing as any rooms not being used were turned off andthere was also a timer function available but not fitted.

Sorry I dont know the name but it was truly amazing. Perhpas if you could find the name you could try it in one room before commiting.

cheers

dazzler

[Dan_574]

thanks dazzler, Ive looked at that system and at $2000 just for 3 bedrooms and the hall its allot more than I want to spend at the moment but it something that I would look at later. I gues Im looking for a quick economical fix and peoples opinios on it, thanks.

[Jim Carroll]

Ian when you say you run them on timers.
What time would you have them set for to turn on so that you could get the chill out of the room.
I am assuming it would be mid afternoon till bedtime or do you leave them on longer.

[masterblaster]

Dazzler that sounds like a beaut .
Don't think l've ever once scored a good heater in a rental .
House we bought 18 mths ago had an open fire , that was a pain but this place now had an old Norseman l was asking about here anyway we got it going now and it's been beautifull .

Dan we put a little fin heater up the hall and that's keeping the damp and cold totally out of that ende and all the rooms . We've only had it set on about 2 - out of 10 and with a thermostat so it's costing nothing .
Had a look at that solar panel heat on that link . Big exspensive bugar isn't it though , would really hurt if it wasn't enough.
Cheers.
MB

[Wildman]

In our last place, a 2 bedroom unit, we heated the whole house with two large Nobo panels, one in the living area, one in the hallway between the bedrooms. On a timer they worked a treat. They dont heat the room up very quickly though so if you are away in winter, the house is cold for some time when you get back. (I used the 6 burner cook top in the kitchen and a fan to quickly heat the house where required). The nobo's were great at maintaining a comfortable temperature though. They cost about $0.12/hour to run so made a noticable impact ont he power bill in winter. I weighed it up against how long we were going to be in the place (3 years in the end) and the $3600 to put in gas ducted heating. You can get them on stands to make them a portable heater which is also very handy, especially for rentals.

Cheers
Ben

[Ian007]

Ian when you say you run them on timers.
What time would you have them set for to turn on so that you could get the chill out of the room.
I am assuming it would be mid afternoon till bedtime or do you leave them on longer.

just the normal plug in pin type timer.

I run one from about 6pm till 12pm and 5.30am till 8am takes the chill off around the times when the kids are using the room after 12 there in bed anyways so should be warm enough,
and the other I run all night thats Gavs room as he has chest problems ect so I want a warm room for him in winter.

Cheers

[vGolfer]

Just thought I would bump this. We are looking at installing one of the Nobos in our back living room. We have our hands tied a bit - solid brick walls which are party walls either side with the neighbours, and bugger all ceiling space - no room to put in any ducts.

The room is about 25sqm...lots of glass as well so it does get cold. We were thinking of getting one on either side of the room perhaps.

If anyone has experience with teh Nobo, comments greatly appreciated.

[swiftden]

We have three of these heat panels and find them to be great at maintaining a good warm room. Also not that expensive to run when you consider gas and wood !!

[krm66]

Hi

In the places Ive owned/rented I have had all sorts of heating;

Wood, reverse A/C, ducted gas, wall heater etc but the very best I ever had was in a rental.

It had "electric blanket" things that layed on top of the ceiling between the rafters. They are pretty thin and have heaps of tiny wires running that are the elements. Hook up to a thermostat.

It was amazing the warmth they gave. In the babies room we set it at 21deg and because it radiates down all the bedding etc was warm to touch.

Had ours on thermo at 16deg all night.

The power bill was amazing as any rooms not being used were turned off andthere was also a timer function available but not fitted.

Sorry I dont know the name but it was truly amazing. Perhpas if you could find the name you could try it in one room before commiting.

cheers

dazzler

Hi,

I think you are talking about this, hope this helps;

http://www.speedheat.com.au/prod.htm

Cheers,

[Shedhand]

We have 2 Noirot (similar to Nobo) panel heaters and will be fitting a 3rd to our extension. That will qualify us for a cheaper eletricity rate to run them.
We have one in our lounge room 2.4kW and one in the hallway 2.4kW the new one will also be 2.4 kW. They heat a cold room up in about 15 mins. We love 'em. They were 187 bucks each and are thermostatically controlled.
BTW f you can afford the 2000 to fit the system Dazzler had it will much more economical over time. You'll find the system will pay for itself through lower power consumption in a very short time. Get some comparitive figures from your electricity supplier.
Cheers

[ricgstevens]

Our home is heated using ducted gas - it came with the house and it still works. If I was designing a new home I would much prefer a system which can be zoned or heating elements individually controlled to save energy where heating isn't required.

One thing I hate about winter is not being able to work comfortably in my workshop because of the cold. Subsequently projects come to a standstill until Sept/Oct - nearly 5 months of downtime.

So when I finally capitulated and decided to get some form of heating into my workshop/garage, I began my research into alternative heating systems. Gas and wood fires were immediately rejected on the grounds of them having open flames. I did give gas (natural not propane) a bit of thinking though but in the end having to organise plumbing and then flueing got all a bit too hard (which = cost). I was also wary of gas producing condensation - the last thing I want is to see my equipment get rusty.

It was at this point I came across a Nobo system being used in a display home which gave me an "Ah Ha" moment where all my questions were answered in one go. I didn't even bother with any more research.

I decided to go with Nobo's for the following reasons:

1) they were cheap - I got the largest units 1500mm x 400mm (2 kW each) for $330. These were brand new BTW (I shopped around hard). I have two of these units installed in my 7M x 6M double brick garage.

2) all they require is a powerpoint - simple plug and play. No need for plumbers to route gas into my workshop

3) installation is simple - 4 screws into the wall to mount the bracket and the unit simply clips on

4) the literature indicates these units are cheap to run

5) it does not blow around dust (unlike ducted heating)

6) the units I got came with timers which can be programmed to suit usage patterns. BTW, I simply turn mine on when I come home and allow about an hour for my workshop to heat up

7) the heat it produces is 'dry' heat. I have a hydrometer in my workshop which often reads <50% moisture in the air even when its raining outside

8) If and when I move house, I will simply unscrew these units and take them with me - simple!

I am now enjoying working in my garage but there are a few things I need to do to improve the efficiency of these units. I have three 'must do' jobs:

1) insulate my panel lift garage door. Being bare metal, it simply transmits all the cold outside into the workshop

2) do something about my windows - while they are fixed pane units, a friend suggested I install another layer of glass on the inside of the windows to create a double glazing effect without sacrificing natural light

3) insulate the ceiling

Once I do all this, I think I'll come quite close to replicating insulation I have on the inside of our house.

HTH

Rich

[havenoideaatall]

There's a bloke on Ebay selling them (Nobo) cheap in Melbourne. We bought 3 x 1KW heaters off him.