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RADIATORS & TOWEL RAILS
A new solution to the oversized radiator conundrum
Martin Wadsworth, managing director of DiscreteHeat, explains the benefi ts of radiant skirt heating T
he need to meet government targets for Net Zero by 2050 is driving a surge in interest in moving from gas boilers to heat pumps.
It is well publicised that most of the CO2 savings need to come from updating the existing ho using stock, rather than mandating their use on new build properties. However, once the fabric of currently energy ineffi cient buildings has been updated – for example, insulation and double glazing – the next challenge to overcome is often updating the heat emitters to work with a heat pump, whether that’s installing underfl oor heating or oversized radiators. Neither of these options are particularly practical or palatable to developers and homeowners alike. The challenge when installing heat pumps into older houses is that their heat losses are higher, producing a higher heat demand of the system. Compared to boilers which produce heat at around 70°C, heat pumps produce ‘low grade’ heat – typically 40~50°C can, therefore, be less well suited for heating less energy effi cient properties and the choice of heat emitter is very important to ensure the home remains comfortable and cost eff ective to heat. Underfl oor heating (UFH) is often seen as the
natural partner of heat pumps. It generally operates at between 40°C and 45°C, creating a surface temperature of between 27°C (wooden fl oor coverings) and 35°C (tiled surfaces). This equates to between 55 watts and 80 watts per square metre of heated fl oor. As well as requiring considerable work to retrofi t, for older, drafty properties this option is often not suffi cient. Another solution is oversized radiators. This is,
basically, just a bigger version of the existing radiator to compensate for the reduction in fl ow temperature. Whilst from a plumbing point of view this is the easiest solution it is not without its drawbacks, for example, bigger means heavier, so the walls must be strong enough to take the extra weight. And, with space often at a premium, giving over even more wall and useable fl oor space to a radiator probably wouldn’t win many plaudits from the homeowner. An important point to consider is that, despite the name, most radiators are, in fact, convectors, in that they rely more on air movement (or convection currents) to distribute the heat around the room than infra-red radiant heat. Radiators rely on a higher diff erential in surface temperature to the air around them to create the lift or thermal currents that moves the warm air around. With a surface temperature of 40°~45°C, the diff erence is not that great (approximately half that of a normal boiler and radiator system) and so the convection currents created are much weaker. This can result in a phenomenon known as micro- climating, whereby the warm air mainly circulates in
close proximity to the radiator itself due to the lack of lift, resulting in poor distribution of heat. Fan assisted radiators compensate for the lower
water temperature by using a fan to blow air drawn into the housing across a heating element, and then out through the grille on the top. This has the advantage of improving the heat distribution by projecting the warm air and reducing the overall size of the unit compared to a conventional oversized radiator. However, an electric supply is needed and the fans may cause some noise disturbance.
Radiant skirting board heating
Radiant skirting heating is eff ectively a radiator in the truest sense of the word that has been engineered to look like a conventional skirting board profi le. Unlike traditional radiators it takes up no wall space, and, because it has a low water volume, is very responsive compared to UFH. It can be easier to install in existing buildings compared to underfl oor heating, which might require signifi cant changes to fl oor structures. This makes it a practical option for retrofi tting older buildings where heat pumps are being installed to replace traditional heating systems. ThermaSkirt by DiscreteHeat is actually a radiator in its truest sense: it’s an infrared heater. Hot water in the pipe heats up the aluminium profi le and the aluminium radiates heat into the room. Inevitably, some air movement will be created, but the main heat is radiant heat, so no air fl ow is required. It’s a very fl exible solution. When the heat pump engineer fi nds in their heat loss calculations that some of the existing radiators are undersized, they can either replace radiators in those rooms with
ThermaSkirt or they can leave the radiators in place and use ThermaSkirt to make up the shortfall in total heat output. It is also a great option in new build properties.
Underfl oor heating is relatively straightforward to install in a new build with concrete screed on the ground fl oor, while ThermaSkirt provides a convenient, space saving and energy effi cient option for the upper fl oors.
ThermaSkirt is being installed in both privately
owned and social housing by eliminating what is, for many people, a major stumbling block to adopting air source heat pumps: replacing oversized radiators with aesthetically pleasing and practical skirting board heating.
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