Electric Heating Systems

There are many benefits to enjoy when a hot water heater is part of the home's plumbing system. Some of those benefits include a hot shower, thoroughly cleansing one's hands, washing dishes, etc.

To make this hot water available there are many fuel sources that are available to heat up the water. Some of those fuel sources include electricity, solar and natural gas. When considering a specific fuel source it is important to weigh the pros and cons.

Therefore, when it comes to a natural gas water heater it is important to know how this specific heating system works and what are the advantages and disadvantages of utilizing a natural gas water heater.

How A Natural Gas Water Heater Works

There are basically two types of water heaters. The electrical water heater works strictly on electrical power. Specifically, the 10, 20, 30, or 40 gallon tank is filled with water. This water is then heated through the use of two elements that run from top to bottom in the water heater. The actual temperature of the water is controlled by a thermostat. The thermostat is set at a temperature that ranges from warm to high and is controlled by the individuals within the home or business.

On the other hand, a natural gas water heater utilizes a gas burner system that is generally found along the bottom portion of the water tank. The same system that utilizes a thermostat is also in place and regulates the temperature of the hot water. However, when the thermostat sends a signal to the burners to be activated the water is then heated through the energy source of natural gas.

In addition, found in each hot water systems, is a water pipe in which unheated water flows into the tank. One additional pipe carries heated water away from the tank and to various faucets within the home or business.

Advantages And Disadvantages

There are perceived advantages and disadvantages associated with a natural gas water heater and electric water heater. Most of the advantages and disadvantages deal with a person's perception in the use of either natural gas or electricity.

Generally those perceptions deal with the efficiency of the use of either one of these energy sources. In addition, another perspective is whether the energy that is supplied to both of these systems is more cost-efficient than the other.

Therefore, it is important for the individual to determine within their own minds what the best water heater system to utilize is.

Therefore a common way of determining which system to install or utilize would be to do an electric and gas water heater review. These reviews can be accomplished by searching the Internet, talking to professionals or talking to individual owners of each set of systems.

If considering a natural gas water heater for the home or business it is important to conduct research. This is because there are other options available as a fuel source for meeting hot water needs.

In addition, like anything else, there are various pros and cons affiliated with the use of one product over another. Therefore, if considering a natural gas water heater it is important to conduct research.

This research can be conducted in a number of ways. One particular method to utilize is the Internet to obtain a gas water heater review. In addition, a potential buyer can talk to others regarding their choice and recommendations as to what water heater to purchase.

Utilizing The Internet

When considering the installation of a water heater, it is important to do due diligence when it comes to reviewing the possibilities of which water heater to purchase and install. This is because it is necessary to not only meet the needs of the individual who is purchasing the water heater, but also to minimize the drain on the Earth's natural resources.

With this in mind there are three possibilities than an individual can explore in regards to meeting their water heater needs. Those three possibilities are an electric water heater, natural gas water heater and a solar powered water heater.

For example, if conducting research on gas water heater, it is important to the thoroughly conduct a gas water heater review. This gas water heater review can be accomplished a number of ways and each of these ways can apply when researching the other forms of energy for hot water needs.

One particular powerful way to conduct gas water heater review is to search the Internet. Suggestions on how to conduct its review would include the use of natural gas and its effect on the environment. In addition research could include the use of natural gas and the implications of conserving energy.

Also, the one conducting an electric, solar or gas water heater review could also find out how each of these three energy sources compare to the other. Comparison ratings could include the efficiency of each of these sources of power, the comparison costs of these power sources, the advantages and the disadvantages of these three energy resources.

Involving Others
Another important resource that can be approached to determine what is the best unit to have installed within a home or business is to talk to others. Specifically, one can ask neighbors, relatives, other businesses, etc. about the energy sources that they may use in meeting the hot water needs of their facility.

Specific questions could include the costs of operating any one of these three particular units and the particular disadvantages or advantages that they have experienced. In addition, it is important to get all of the facts associated with the use of these three types of water heaters.

Therefore, it is critical to talk about the installation process of any one of these three units. For example if asking about gas water heater installation it may be beneficial to ask about the installation process, cost, maintenance, upkeep, etc.

SAP ratings are the UK government's "Standard Assessment Procedure" to assist the assessment of dwellings in terms of their energy efficiency and compliance with building regulations. SAP 2005 is the current performance benchmark for calculating the energy performance of buildings. SAP ratings are a key metric for developers to demonstrate their own adherence to carbon targets.

At present Infrared Heating is not categorised any differently from traditional "electric room heating", which as we've seen in past posts (see Energy-Savings from Infrared Heating") is not energy-efficient or cost effective. This situation puts developers and consumers at a disadvantage when trying to get projects that include Infrared Heating through building control. Green Energy (Eu) publishes an "Energy Facts" pack to assist developers and controllers with just this situation. (This information is Copyright Green Energy (Eu) who can vouch for its accuracy only for Redwell IR appliances. The information may or may not be generally applicable to other makes of Infrared Heater.)

The information in these factsheets can be used to assist buildings control officers calculate the energy-efficiency of IR heaters on their own merits and not just apply the current guideline without question.

As things stand, Green Energy Eu is working closely with the BRE (the Buildings regulation accreditations organisation) who is the body responsible for the SAP assessment methodology to help develop the distinction backed up by the appropriate evidence and controls. Our hope is to have Infrared Heating recognised as an individual category of energy-efficient electrical heating in the next SAP specification SAP2009 due to become operational in 2010.

Check back on this blog or on our website for latest news.

Here is a very simple calculation to determine your infrared heating energy consumption needs, versus that of an oil-fired heater.

1) Calculate the room volume to be heated (width x depth x height) = m3

2) Calculate the infrared consumption = Room volume (m3) x 25 Watts

3) Cost per hour = Consumption (your answer in 2) x Unit cost of electricity (which currently stands at about 14p per kWh.

4) Divide total running time by 3 (as Redwell panels draw current for only 1/3 of the total time they are 'on').


To calculate oil heating consumption:

a) Calculate room volume as above

b) Calculate Radiator output watts = Room volume (m3) x 45 Watts

c) Calculate Boiler output watts = Radiator output watts + 10% (due to loss between boiler and radiator)

d) Calculate Boiler Consumption Watts = Boiler output watts (from 'c' above) divided by "age deflator" (see below) x 100.
(The "age deflator" is to account for the fact that boiler output efficiency degrades over time. A 1-3 year old burner is generally considered 90% efficient so your deflator = 90. 3-5 year burner is considerd 70-80% efficient so your deflator is between 70 - 80. A boiler older than 5 years can be as little as 55% efficient so your deflator is 55.)

e) Divide your kWh figure in d) by 10.22 and multiply that figure by the per-litre cost of your oil. (10.22 is the generally accepted figure for "kilowatts per litre" and by using the age deflator above, we can take into account the efficiency of the burner).

In this second post on energy-saving benefits of Infrared heating we will look at total heating requirements in a room of a family house from October through March 2007 - 2008. A 600 W Redwell ceiling mounted heater was used.

The room was westerly facing a net volume of 30.5 m3 required 451 W heat and was fitted with a 600 W heater.



Over the October to March period, the data was recorded as follows.



Observations: as the Autumn season kicks in during October, the house temperature falls and is maintained at a fairly constant 21 degrees C with some fluctuations above 21 degrees and not a single fluctuation below 20 degrees.

Outside temperature falls to a minimum -8.1 degrees C. By and large, you can see the "Consumption kWh / day" curve follows the outside temperature fluctuations inversely. This shows that home insulation is not perfect and heat is required inside to compensate! (We'll write a separate post on insulation! It's important!)

Over the 5 month period, total energy required to maintain 21 degrees centigrade was 208 kWh which we calculate to be roughly £29.12 at 14p per kWh.

It is difficult making a direct energy/cost-saving comparison with other forms of energy (e.g.) oil since:

- The energy efficiency of oil depends on the type and age of the burner which in all cases become progressively less efficient with age;

- Electricity tarifs can differ over a 24 period (e.g. peak and nightime hours);

- Oil prices are not stable, reaching a peak in September 2008 of 66 pence and settling by the end of the year to about 40 pence per litre (but unlikley to fall back below 30 ppl going forwards and currently 33p). EX VAT.

- the way people behave with oil heating is different because they can typically see/hear the fuel being burned and are aware of its unit cost! So typically people tolerate greater temperature fluctuations between daytime and nighttime whereas the temperature in the Redwell house was maintained at a steady temperature;

- The generally accepted heating benchmark is 20 degrees, not 21, and any form of energy will cost proportionally more to heat a given volume above 20 degrees;

- People overlook the electrical cost of running oil heating itself (about £75 per annum for a 50kW burner depending on use).

(But you get the idea)

We can roughly say that:

a) Using our previous post (see "Energy Savings from Infrared heating") we can infer that at least 736.28 kWh of energy would be required for oil-based heating for this room.

b) Assuming the burner is new (less than 3 years), condensing, lightweight, you could be seeing 10.22 kWh energy per litre of oil (@88% efficiency) meaning you will require about 72 litres of oil. An 'old' heavyweight, non-condensing boiler can be as bad as 55% efficient implying up to 115 litres.

So?

At September 2008 fuel prices of about 66p per litre then the equivalent fuel bill would have been anywhere between £47.52 to £75.90 depending on the efficiency of the burner and not including the electrical cost for running the burner. A brand new, lightweight, condensing boiler at mid 2009 prices would just about wash its face but would still decay over time and be subject to price uncertainty.

We've looked at how infrared heating works, the building and installation advantages of Infrared heating, as well as its health benefits.

This is the first of two posts about the energy-savings made possible by Infrared Heating over conventional forms of home heating. Important note: the following data applies only to Redwell Infrared Heating units. The same energy savings may or may not apply to other makes of heater. There are certainly cheap brands to which these savings definitely do not apply. (Buyer beware.)

At the most extreme end of the savings spectrum and probably unsurprisingly is the savings found against an oil-heated 12 room home of 225 m2 area. The house in question used a 60kWh oil heater (heating only) and required 16.95 kWh of Infrared heating.


When compared with night storage electric heating a 6 room house of 150m2 area required 30.10 kWh night storage heating input and just under 8kWh (7.988kWh) Infrared equivalent.


Finally, when compared against gas heating of a 4 room house of 136m2 area, which required a 10.26kWh gas burner, as opposed to 3.714 kWh IR heat input.



In all cases, be aware from previous posts that building and installation benefits (not expressable in terms of energy-saving) would also apply in all the houses above (e.g. elimination of flues, fuel storage etc).

Our next post will look at the financial implications of the energy-savings, when IR heaters were used over a winter period in different rooms of a house.

There are many benefits for buildings by converting to Infrared Heating and the ease of conversion is an added bonus (if you can hang a picture, you can install an Infrared heater).

The main differences also help you understand how infrared heating works and why it is so different from convection-based heating (see former post on this subject).

Convection-based heating warms the air: warm air is damp air and settles on walls and other cold surfaces. Infrared heating only heats objects (such as walls and furniture) - so these objects and masonry now remain dry. No more musty sofas and damp walls. No more unsightly masonry, salt-damp, or expensive re-paint or repair jobs.

Many other types of heater require insulation behind the heat source to protect the wall and to prevent cold walls from chilling the room. No additional insulation is necessary for infrared heating which works by heating the walls (and other objects) which then reflect the heat into the room. (This doesn't discount the need for insulation to eliminate draughts and avoid unneccessary wasted heat. But my point is you don't need additional insulation to actually allow the heater to work in the first place).

Damp masonry also conducts more heat away from the heat source than dry masonry which tends to reflect heat back towards the heat source (thereby heating the room and its occupants better.

Convection heating creates heat layering within a room and this causes discomfort and draughts. There is no such heat layering or draughts with IR.

Traditional heating is typically (and increasingly) expensive to buy and because of the many moving parts implies interim service costs and makes the product life uncertain. The requirement to store fuel implies storage and delivery costs (quite apart from the rising energy costs which will be subject to a later post). Many traditional heaters also require a chimney or flue to evacuate waste gasses. None of the above applies to Infrared Heating!

Traditional heaters typically require an expert to install. As I say, if you have a powerpoint and can hang a picture, you can install your own IR heaters.

In this post, we are going to briefly look at the health benefits of Infrared Heating. Later posts will look at energy-savings and installation / building benefits.

Infrared heating is "heat - as nature intended". It is perhaps one of the most basic, original forms of heat known to man. Radiant heat is how we experience the heat of the sun.

An experiment at the John B. Pierce Laboratory, USA, clarified the human perception of radiant Vs convected heat:

"Test persons in a room with a temperature of 50°C (122°F) of warm air and cooled walls froze deplorably; when in a room with a temperature of 10°C (50°F) and warm walls, they broke into an unpleasant sweat. (source: Techn. Info “Strahlungsenergie – die Ur-Energie, neu entdeckt, TT Technotherm GmbH, Nürnberg".)

i.e. we feel comfortable feeling radiant heat, irrespective of the surrounding air temperature.

And indeed, because infrared heating does not heat-up the surrounding air this adds further health advantages to just "feeling well":

- No draughts to cause sudden chills, uneven layers of heat
- No stirring-up of dust or germs (hence the interest in Infrared Heating from Hospitals)
- Objects such as walls and furniture heat up, therefore dispelling any resident moisture. Therefore mould and mildew are discouraged.

Infrared heating stimulates the immune system and discourages disease that emanates from the combination of heat and damp (milder forms of Foehn disorder found in the tropics). Illness at the workplace increases with the presence of poor convection heating and cooling (and the usual imbalance between the two). Workplace asthma and bronchial infection are largely caused by convection heating and cooling systems and they are on the increase.

Note: I haven't called this "How do infrared heaters" work. Today's post is a discussion about physics. We'll leave the technical "how do the heaters themselves work?" discussion to a later post.

Infrared heating is probably the most original, natural form of heating you can experience. It is how we experience the heat from the sun, even though it is 92 million miles away across the cold depths of space.

Infrared heat does not require a medium (like air or water) through which to travel - and does not require that medium itself to get heated up (unlike heat emitted from fan heaters, gas heaters, convection radiators etc). (This is partly why it is so energy-efficient).

Infrared waves lie outside the visible spectrum of light in the long wavelength low frequency side of the electromagnetic spectrum. The long wavelength of Red light is why sunsets and sunrises are red, as all other colours wavelengths get slowed and dissipated by the relatively "thick" slice of atmosphere being pierced by the early morning or late evening sun.

Incidentally, you'll see plenty of websites touting "far infrared" as a description of IR heating because it has incorrectly become a popular search term - which is why people use it in their sites. But this phrase is a complete mis-nomer for the thermal infrared used in heaters (ultra long wavelength IR is more commonly used in lasers!). However, it is generally true that IR of any wavelength will heat up the surface it touches. But be careful who you listen to.

Infrared waves produce a sensation of heat by vibrating molecules of the surface they strike. This vibration consequently creates heat and a sensation of heat AND IS ENTIRELY INDEPENDENT OF THE TEMPERATURE OF THE SURROUNDING AIR. This is key. It is an entirely natural sensation of heat, like feeling the first rays of the sun on a cool morning. It is efficient, both because the creation of the waves in the first place is energy-efficient and because energy is not lost "in transit" through the medium between you and the heat source (i.e. air). It is perceived directly on your skin (or an item you touch).

This, in brief, is how infrared heating works and why it is energy efficient. In later posts we'll look in much more detail at energy savings, health benefits and installation benefits of infrared heating and even how the heaters themselves work.

OK, stewardship of the planet, "going green", saving the environment is a great thought, but when it comes down to it, most of us aren't likely to swap our existing home or office heating systems just because it is good for the planet. And whilst by and large, infrared heaters are energy-saving and you will be doing your bit for the planet - which is great - it isn't most peoples' primary motivator.


Most people's experience of switching is either because they see an opportunity in IR heaters for cost-savings and capitalising on tax-breaks available, or because their existing heating is in need of replacement and it makes sense to upgrade and then also reap the cheaper running costs, tax breaks, greater reliability, rather than just swap like-for-like with the old unit (of whatever sort that was).

For new build houses, building developers and planners definitely can increase their annual points against carbon emission targets by adopting infra red and the new home / office occupier can benefit immediately from reduced energy bills.

Infrared Heaters, in their correct niche, deliver all of the above benefits. So it really does make sense to consider changing.

Where would you use Infrared Heaters as opposed to other sorts of heater? (i.e. what is the correct niche?)

Where a building has an existing central heating system using heated water, it would not make sense to consider replacing the system with infrared heat, unless for specific circumstances your plan is to eliminate the closed water system all together. But where the presence of the water system is not in question, you are better advised to consider an air-to-water or ground-to-water heat pump or combination heat pump and solar for this type of application and maybe just use IR heat for top-up.

Infrared heating really comes into its own when you are considering heating open spaces in which for reasons of practicality, cost and elegance (in any combination), you cannot use central heating and choose to find energy-efficient alternatives to existing electric heaters, blowers, or gas heaters.

So:
Infrared heating is great because - given the right brand - it can be very discreet - or made to fit-in with overall decor without looking like "just a heater". Gone are the clunky radiators and stand-alone gas heaters or electric heaters or bar fires. An IR element can be placed very discreetly in panels, mirrors, replica works of art, or ornaments suspended from the ceiling. So you really don't need to know they're there. Take a look at this room with a Redwell Infrared heater. Can you see where it is?

Anywhwere you can route a power supply, you can place an IR heater. So you are not constrained to position the heat source where it is convenient "for it". You can locate it where it is convenient for you. In certain applications this means you also don't need so many heaters in a given room.

Infrared heating heats objects, not the air, so again, you can place them for maximum effect for heating people and the room and don't waste energy just heating up the air in the room. No draughts ensue. No 'layers' of heat distribution in the air.

Infrared heaters have no moving parts, so heaters of a reputable brand are incredibly long-living. There is no interim service needed either. (But do ask your distributor about reliability. Like everything, there are reliable and unreliable brands).

Infrared heaters are not necessarily expensive to purchase.

Infrared heating of the right brand is up to 70 percent more energy efficient than other traditional types of heating. So you will save money on your electric bills and also help reduce carbon emissions and safeguard the environment. (Please note not all brands of Infrared Heating give up to this amount of energy-efficiency. Make sure you do you homework with your supplier).

If you have a heating requirement that sounds like Infrared heating could fit the bill, then consider pursuing it with a trusted adviser. Green Energy (Eu) Ltd exists precisely to help customers make the right choice.

In subsequent posts, we'll look at the energy-savings, health benefits, and building and installation benefits of Infrared Heating.

We'll also look at "how does infrared heating work?" and show you some typical products and applications of it.