How to find the right electric heater for your home
When building or renovating your home with an electricity-heating system, it is inevitable to ask yourself several questions: "Which heating system works best to suit my needs? Among the available options, which one will weigh less on the bill? And how can I get a good level of thermal comfort? "
First of all, you need to understand the differences between the various electric heating appliances, in order to understand what advantages each of them can offer and which is the most suitable for your needs.
Let's start with a simple question: what is heat?
Heat is an energy transfer and its modes of diffusion are basically three:
1 - Heat conduction: the heat is transmitted through the contact between two bodies (eg heat that is transmitted from the tip of a turned on poker to its handle).
2 - Thermal convection: it is the natural phenomenon whereby a hot fluid tends to rise and a cold fluid to go down, so the air heated by the radiator rises while the cold air comes down to the ground (eg the water in a kettle is heated evenly, even if it is in contact with the stove only inferiorly).
3 - Irradiation: contactless propagation of thermal energy in the form of electromagnetic waves (eg the warmth emitted by a stove that spreads throughout the environment).
Knowing how to distinguish the different types of heat transfer is essential to identify the heating system meeting your thermal comfort requirements.
Let's now look at how to distinguish the different electric heating appliances in order to avoid confusion.
Often the words "convector", "radiator" and "radiant panel" are used as synonyms, even though they indicate very different devices:
Convector or thermo convector heater = heat obtained through thermal convection (air heated by a resistor).
Radiant panel = heat emitted by infrared rays through a perforated grid.
Radiator = a heating body + heat diffusion trough radiation.
Let's see in details how they work:
1- ELECTRIC CONVECTOR HEATER
The thermo convector heater is the oldest and most basic model available on the market and its technology is based on the phenomenon of natural convection: the hot air emitted by the appliance rises while the cold air comes down.
It heats the air through an electrical resistance. The cold air in the room, heavier than the hot air, passes through a grid in the lower part of the unit, gets heated by the heating element and - subsequently - comes out from another grid located in the upper part of the convector. This process takes place very quickly, offering the advantage of a rapid heat diffusion.
2- RADIANT PANEL
The operation of IR panels is based on heat generation and transmission by irradiation. The effect you will obtain is similar to the warmth you feel while passing from the shadow to a sunlit area. IR radiant panels have an electrical resistance usually heating an aluminum plate - the most suitable material for rapid thermal propagation.
These panels do not produce annoying noises and spread the heat evenly throughout the room, avoiding partial overheating or cooling as it happens with the classic radiators.
3 - ELECTRIC RADIATOR
Electric radiators work by combining a convection and an irradiation resistance. Heat is diffused quickly and with lower energy consumption compared to the above mentioned models. The desired temperature is reached through the convection principle, and then maintained thanks to the radiant panel placed on the front of the appliance. When environment temperature is stable, consumption is reduced thanks to the convective resistance going off and - at the same time - giving way to the radiant one.
Now that you have a greater awareness of the available options on the market, do not hesitate any further: contact our experts for a free consultation at
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