Calculation of room heating power. Infrared heaters: pros and cons, installation, where to install, optimal models
Cold days are approaching, we take out warm clothes and shoes from our wardrobes and, of course, return to the issue of heating an apartment or house. Many of us have a question: which heating device to choose so that all family members feel comfortable while using it? If you find it difficult to decide on the choice of heating device, our article will help you with this. Below you will find information about what types of heaters there are, their basic operating principle, their pros and cons, as well as some recommendations
Cold days are approaching, we take out warm clothes and shoes from our wardrobes and, of course, return to the issue of heating an apartment or house. Many of us have a question: which heating device to choose so that all family members feel comfortable while using it? If you find it difficult to decide on the choice of heating device, our article will help you with this. Below you will find information about what types of heaters there are, their basic operating principle, their pros and cons, as well as some recommendations.
The most common types of heaters are: oil radiator, convector, fan heater, infrared heater and inverter hot-cold air conditioner.
The most important characteristic of any heater is power.
The area for which the heater is designed depends on the power level. For an unheated room with good thermal insulation, about 1 kW per 25-27 m 3 is required (for typical apartments - 1 kW per 10 m 3 with standard height ceilings 2.50 m). For residential premises with central heating, an electric heater with a power of 1.0-1.5 kW is sufficient for a room with an area of 20-25 m 3. Calculating the required heater power in a room is not at all difficult - just know the area of the room.
| Heating area, sq.m. | Device power, W |
| 5 - 6 | 500 |
| 7 - 9 | 750 |
| 10 - 12 | 1000 |
| 12 - 14 | 1250 |
| 15 - 17 | 1500 |
| 18 - 19 | 1750 |
| 20 - 23 | 2000 |
| 24 - 27 | 2500 |
Most modern heaters have built-in thermostats that allow you to automatically maintain the set temperature. As a rule, thermostats do not have a degree scale, but work on the principle of more - less. Important characteristic heaters is also their type.
Oil radiator
One of the most popular household heaters. They have a power of 1.0 to 2.5 kW and are used in apartments, offices, and country houses.
| Principle of operation | Inside a sealed metal case filled with mineral oil, there is an electric coil. When heated, it transfers its heat to the oil, which in turn transfers to the metal body, and then to the air. Its outer surface consists of several sections (fins) - the greater their number, the greater the heat transfer, with equal powers. The heater maintains the set temperature in the room and automatically turns off in case of overheating. As soon as the temperature starts to drop, it turns on. |
| Advantages | Low heating temperature of the housing (about 60 o C), due to which oxygen is not “burned”, fireproof, silent thanks to the thermostat and timer, some models do not require switching off, high mobility (the presence of wheels makes it easy to move them from room to room) |
| Flaws | It takes a relatively long time to warm up the room (however, it retains heat longer), the temperature of the radiator surface does not allow you to freely touch it (which is extremely dangerous if there are children in the room), relatively large dimensions |
| conclusions | Oil radiators are ideal for heating apartments. Quietness, efficiency and safety are very important here. One heater is enough to heat a living room or bedroom. Oil radiators are equipped with wheels and can be easily moved from room to room. For the summer, you can simply take the oil radiator out to the shed or put it in the pantry. |
Electric convector
By operational characteristics looks like an oil cooler. Convectors are used in apartments, offices, cottages, houses, and can also be used as the main heating system. Suitable for any premises. Most convector models have electrical protection, do not require a special connection to the electrical network and do not need grounding, which allows them to be left on 24 hours a day, and are not afraid of moisture (can be installed in bathrooms and toilets). Any possibility of ignition is eliminated if operating conditions are properly observed.
| Principle of operation | Heating of the room using a convector occurs due to the passage of air through the heating elements. Circulation occurs due to various densities cold and warm air: cold air, heating up, rises, and the next batch falls in its place. After which the process is repeated. A heating element It has large area and low heating temperature. Therefore, the lower the convector is installed, the more efficient its operation. There are floor and wall convectors. Convectors are convenient to use if they have a timer and a “on delay” function. |
| Advantages | Low heating temperature of the housing (about 60°C), due to which oxygen is not “burned”, thanks to the thermostat they do not require shutdown, high mobility (the presence of wheels makes it easy to move them from room to room) Fireproof. Silent. Can be mounted on any wall. High efficiency 95%. Fast heating of the room. Protected from overheating. Possibility of programming, convectors can be combined into a system electric heating. Small dimensions. Sleek, flat body |
| Flaws | No |
| conclusions | Low heating temperature of the housing (about 60°C), due to which oxygen is not “burnt”, thanks to the thermostat they do not require shutdown, high mobility, fire safety, silent operation. Possibility of mounting on any wall, high efficiency of 95%, fast heating of the room, protected from overheating. Possibility of programming, convectors can be combined into an electric heating system. Small dimensions and universal design. The only downside is the high price |
| Convectors can have 2 types of thermostat: electronic and mechanical, what are the differences? Advantages electronic thermostat obvious. Firstly, it is the most accurate to date. Set temperature maintained with an accuracy of 0.1 degrees. Heaters with a mechanical thermostat maintain the temperature with an accuracy of 1 to 3 degrees. Moreover, over time, the accuracy of the mechanical thermostat decreases. Temperature fluctuations in the room and a person’s well-being depend on the accuracy of the thermostat’s operation, because our body detects temperature changes of even 1 degree. Secondly, the electronic thermostat is absolutely silent. Thirdly, an electronic thermostat lasts much longer. So if you want the greatest comfort when using a heater, choose a model with an electronic thermostat. And finally, fourthly, an electronic thermostat has the advantage of more accurately maintaining the temperature. And its reliability is higher if the differences in the network are no more than those allowed by the passport. Changes in the power grid often occur on the territory of Ukraine; in European countries they know nothing about them, so this fact is very important. We will also answer frequently asked questions about convectors: |
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| Is there a difference in the efficiency of high and low convectors? | Hardly ever. Thermal efficiency is determined only by the power of the device |
| How safe are convectors? Can they be left unattended? | Absolutely safe and designed specifically for battery life. Each device has an overheat sensor that will turn off the device in case of a fire hazard. |
| I want to buy a 1 kW device. To what temperature will it warm my room? | The goal is incorrectly formulated. The convector will warm the room to the temperature you need, IF it is chosen correctly. Accordingly, you need to choose power based on what you want to get. 1 kW is enough to heat a room with an area of 10-12 sq.m. In this case, you can set ANY temperature within the range of 5 - 30 °C. If the area of the room is larger, then the power of the devices should be higher |
| My dacha has 50 sq.m. 3 kW allocated. How can I heat it? | Taking into account the fact that at any dacha there are also electrical household appliances (kettle, TV, electric stove, etc.), the answer is disappointing: you will be cool. For 50 sq.m. you need 4.5-5 kW of heating power. We recommend considering additional heating sources (for example, gas convectors). |
| What are convectors for 800 UAH? differ from convectors for 2000 UAH | As with any household appliances: the main difference is the efficiency (for example, for Ballu convectors it is 95%). It is also important in which country the device was manufactured (and this means reliability, build quality and the components themselves), the warranty period, additional functions. In addition, the price of 2000 UAH for a convector is not the limit. There are models with an exclusive design, costing over $1000 |
| How to maintain a positive temperature in the house when minimum consumption electricity? | Almost every electric convector has an anti-freeze mode. When turned on, the device will maintain a temperature of 5-7 °C, which is enough to prevent the house from freezing |
Fan heater
The simplest and most affordable heating device. Used for quick warm-up small rooms. Fan heaters have a power of 2.0-2.5 kW. Compared to an oil radiator and convector they have small dimensions. Fan heaters can be located on the floor, on a table, or there are models with wall mounting
| Principle of operation | In the fan heater, the air is heated by hot electric spiral and is supplied by a fan to the heating zone. The temperature of the open electric coil is about 80°C, and the air at the outlet of the fan heater is always up to 20°C. To improve the uniformity of heating of the room, the fan rotates in the housing. The material of the fan heater body is usually plastic |
| Advantages | The air is heated very quickly and distributed throughout the room. Turns off if dropped. Protected from overheating. Thanks to the thermostat, the set temperature is regulated and does not require shutdown. Compact and aesthetic |
| Flaws | Noise produced when operating at high speeds. Air pollution due to the combustion of oxygen and dust particles. Collected dust, burning on a hot spiral, can be a source unpleasant odor in room |
| conclusions | Fan heaters provide the highest rate of room heating, but create increased noise at high speeds, and models with an open spiral have another drawback: they burn oxygen and pollute the air with combustion products |
Infrared heater
The most advanced and economical heating devices are infrared heaters. A quartz emitter is more suitable for temporary heating if you do not need to heat the entire room
| Principle of operation | An infrared heater, unlike traditional heaters, heats nearby objects rather than the air. He radiates thermal energy(like the sun), which is absorbed by surrounding surfaces (floor, walls, furniture, etc.) and people. Infrared heaters allow you to create zones with local heating and save energy. They heat objects and do not heat the air. Infrared heaters are designed for suspended ceilings, heating residential and non-residential premises, as well as people in open areas. They are used for heating bathrooms and shower rooms, terraces, balconies, cafes and restaurants. |
| Advantages | Energy saving, silent, local heating - when installed above the workplace, the infrared heater provides comfortable conditions for a working person without heating the entire room |
Recommendations for using heating devices:
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| Flaws | Heats only the area where it is directed infrared ray. If used, for example, for heating outside in the cold season, the right side of the body will warm, and the left will freeze |
| conclusions | Infrared quartz heaters are used to heat certain areas of the room. They can warm up the workplace |
Inverter air conditioners
Modern air conditioners are able not only to cope with their main task - to cool the air in rooms, but also to effectively heat. If 10 years ago it was unacceptable to turn on the air conditioner in winter, today the situation has changed dramatically. Many manufacturers produce air conditioner models that can reliably heat even at temperatures outside the window down to -25°C
Heating systems based on the use of a heat pump are environmentally friendly, as they operate without burning fuel and do not produce harmful emissions into the atmosphere. In addition, they are characterized by efficiency: when supplied to heat pump, for example, 1 kW of electricity, depending on the operating mode and operating conditions, provides up to 3 - 5 kW of thermal energy. Among the advantages of a heat pump are reduced capital costs due to the absence of gas communications, increased home safety due to the absence of explosive gas, and the ability to simultaneously obtain heating, hot water supply and air conditioning from one installation
| Principle of operation | The air conditioner operates on the principle of a heat pump, which is fundamentally different from the principle of operation of any electric heater. A heat pump is able to “pump” heat from outside to inside. This means that even at sub-zero outside temperatures it is possible to take from atmospheric air warm. This process almost never occurs in nature, but experts have recreated this process in an air conditioner. Freon under high pressure was forced to condense in the heat exchanger indoor unit, which is why it warms up a lot (up to 60-80 degrees). Then the liquid freon is sent to outdoor unit, where, under conditions of greatly decreased pressure, it must again turn into gas, that is, evaporate. It is quite difficult to make freon boil in the outdoor unit, collecting heat from the atmospheric air, but for modern scientists it turned out to be only a matter of time. It is economically quite controversial to design independent system heating country house based on air conditioning, and temperatures in winter can drop below minus twenty. But the air conditioner in a city apartment is quite affordable option heating |
| Advantages | Now about the practical side of the matter, electricity consumption. Inverter air conditioners, capable of heating today at very low temperatures have very high coefficient EER, showing the ratio of heat generated to electricity consumed. In practice, this is a more common efficiency factor (coefficient useful action). So this figure today exceeds 4. This means that by spending only two hundred and fifty watts, we get more than a kilowatt of heat! This is more than four times more economical than any electric heater! |
| Flaws | High cost of air conditioner compared to others heating devices. Installation and installation of equipment by specialists is required, which also leads to additional costs |
| Conclusion | Inverter air conditioners provide high-speed heating of the room. Suitable for heating any premises. High efficiency when supplying, for example, 1 kW of electricity to the heat pump, depending on the operating mode and operating conditions, it provides up to 3 - 5 kW of thermal energy. Today, a heat pump is the most economical type of heating your room. It has only one drawback: the high cost of the equipment compared to other heating devices |
1. I want to buy an IR heater in Moscow. Could you tell me how to do this?
All you have to do is visit the Contact page. All the necessary information is available on this page. For additional information you can contact the operator on duty or get advice via Skype or ICQ. Before arriving in the capital, we recommend that you check with us whether the product you need is available in our warehouses.
2. The ceiling height in the room is 2.5 meters, and its area is 18 m2 (6x3). I'm interested in the power of an IR heater for such a room.
3. We have a warehouse with a three-meter ceiling and an area of 800 m2. This is where we store soft drinks. Recommend an IR heater.
We do not recommend purchasing IR heaters. For such a room you will have to buy a lot of devices. In this case the best option There will be an acquisition of a powerful heat gun.
4. I have a small one country house. For a room of 30 m2 and a ceiling height of 2.4 meters, a mobile (portable) heater is required that will consume little energy and will not burn oxygen. A heater is needed for autumn and spring.
The power of a convector or radiator is usually calculated for each room. Boiler power or total power of convectors - for the entire heated room or house. The most approximate calculation is to divide the area of the house by 10 and get the required total power of the heaters (convector, battery, radiator). For a separate room, divide its area by 10 and get the heater power for this room.
There are professional calculations that take into account the properties of the materials of enclosing structures, their dimensions, climatic parameters corresponding to the geographical location of the structure and many other parameters. But for a rough estimate of the required power, you can use the calculation below. It gives slightly higher power (with a margin of 20%).
Approximate (estimated) calculation of the power of a heating convector, boiler, radiator.
The obtained result can be used to select the heater power - it should be no less than the calculated one. The total power for the house will determine the power of the entire heating system(boiler) for the selected conditions. By changing these conditions, you can see how much they affect the required power.
It is forbidden use the results obtained to calculate the heat, fuel or money that will be spent on heating the house in a year. The received power is the maximum, peak power of the heater, and not the average for the heating period.
Calculation of thermal energy consumption for the heating period -