Published: 4 April 2014
Category: Technical articles
Offering stylish design, future-proof technology and the chance to tap into lower carbon electricity, a new generation of energy efficient products is helping to change outdated perceptions of electric heating. Chris Stammers, marketing director at Dimplex, highlights some of the latest advancements and how they can create opportunities for contractors:
As homeowners struggle to keep up with rising energy bills, heating continues to make headline news. The number of excess winter deaths rose by a third last winter and even allowing for the Government changing its definition of fuel poverty, up to 2.4 million people remain ‘fuel poor’ in the UK. The latest reports from Whitehall even blame soaring energy costs for a 10% rise in the number of people going to A&E with circulation problems or respiratory diseases the winter just finished.
Homeowners are increasingly looking for energy efficient heating solutions that can cut bills without compromising on performance and, with growing pressure from the Government to use lower-carbon energy in order to meet ambitious national targets, electric heating can provide the solution. In fact, the Department for Energy and Climate Change (DECC) has already outlined the electrification of heating as the future for the UK.
The electric heating industry has responded. A host of new appliances and supplementary products from leading manufacturers now combine style, performance and efficiency, designed to tap into lower-carbon electricity from renewable sources to provide cheaper heating with better controllability.
Design has become an important factor too, with everything from black appliances, glass fronted facades and stylish design features to complement interior styles. Electric heating products don’t have to be boring.
For contractors and installers, it presents a new generation of attractive, efficient, future-proof heating appliances and advanced controls, which can add value by changing the way we store and use electricity for the better.
A Quantum leap
One such appliance is Dimplex’s Quantum space heater, which was billed by the industry as the biggest innovation in electric heating in the last 20 years when it was released in 2012.
Winner of the ‘Electrical Industry Award for Energy & Carbon Saving Product’, this space heater gives users the chance to use stored heat as and when they need it with easy-to-use controls and can tap into cheaper, lower carbon off-peak electricity to help home owners cut their energy bills. 90% of the power comes from cheaper off peak tariffs and only a 10% top-up is required in peak ñ compared to the 85/15% peak/off-peak split of conventional storage technology.
This high level of energy retention means that in a correctly-sized system, the bulk of the electricity required can be drawn down during off-peak periods to store as heat, costing as little as around 6p per unit, compared with around 14p per unit for peak rate electricity.
The result is a potential energy saving of 22% and running cost saving of 27% - or £278 per year - compared with a similar property heated with conventional storage heating. With no comparative product on the market, the opportunities for contractors to deliver an innovative solution are obvious.
Cutting costs, cutting carbon
Quantum is one of a wide range of electric heating solutions now available to contractors, each designed to meet increasingly stringent building regulations intended to maximise the efficiency of domestic properties.
Direct acting panel heaters, for example, use convection to offer rapid warm-up and cool-down, only using energy when required. The latest models also include more accurate digital controls than ever before to ensure maximum comfort and minimum cost.
Alternatively, electric towel rails offer low energy towel warming with no need to run the central heating system, together with a choice of sophisticated timers and controls for added savings. Of course, with higher efficiency comes lower energy bills for house holders.
Replace older systems and improve business
The real opportunity for contractors lies in using the latest technology to replace existing electric heating systems.
The number of electrically heated homes in the UK now accounts for more than 2.3 million homes, or 9.3% of the total housing stock and, with many of those relying on outdated or poorly specified electric heating appliances, now is the time for contractors to step up. Don’t let the opportunity of electric heating go cold.
Voltimum Expert Panel on Electrical Heating, Ventilation & Control
Note that Voltimum UK and its manufacturing and other partners that are involved in HVAC, have formed a 'Electrical Heating, Ventilation & Control Expert Panel'. The members of this Panel meet together regularly, with the aim of bringing heating, ventilation and air-conditioning issues and opportunities to both manufacturers and to Voltimum UK users.
This Panel issues technical white papers on HVAC, and will be providing webinars and seminars, and is prepared also to answer frequently asked and specific questions.
The current members are: Kelly Butler (Expert Panel Chairman) Marketing Director, BEAMA; Chris Stammers Marketing Director, GDC Group; Paul Lovegrove, Horstmann Controls; and Robert Higson, Group Technical Manager, Vent-Axia.
For further information on Dimplex heating systems and knowledge, please use the links below: