A Water Filled Radiator for Domestic Heating Essay

As the winter sets in its time for all of us to look for space heaters that causes less inconveniences and inefficiencies compared to the conventional ones. Most of the older ones available in the market is found to consume considerable amount of energy and also result in skyrocketing the energy bills. Further, the noise it generates is another aspect that needs to be eliminated in any type of product model used for space heating. The disturbance its fans would cause to the indoor environment would prevent any peaceful reading activity or undertaking any work that demands a quiet ambiance. The poor material choice on internal moving parts is another problem that might result in improper operation. The clogging of the air intake pipes with rust and dust is a common problem that most of the heater service men are forced to handle frequently. In addition to these, poor thermostats in these units often result in the wide variations in the indoor temperatures causing severe irritations and cannot ensure consistent comfort levels. The equipment if had the flexibility in operation like option to adjust its wattage level would result in higher energy efficiency and lower cost of power. It would also be better if it causes very less inconvenience in its assembly and installation. Some of the equipments in the market had cumbersome process in its assembly which needed any strong support of the installation manual and personnel, which certainly need to be addressed in any of the new models. And ultimately the buyers need to feel the cost effectiveness of the product that can turn out to be the best valued piece for the space-heating requirement. (Mmclynne, 2008) Most of the house doesn’t have uniform thermal environment in the house. The kids space have considerable lower level of temperature causing severe discomfort levels. The installing the water filled radiator heater have found significant advantages over the other type of models available in the market. The major attraction on these units are the total absence on the noise and the awkward operational steps that most of the earlier models had. The opinion from various users were tremendous and all of them unanimously favored the water filled radiator heaters. The positive opinion being given for the Holmes Water Filled Radiator Heaters clearly establishes the merit of these type of models for their efficiency and effectiveness. Most of the operators were amazed on the total elimination of the noise for this type of models as they hardly realized whether the system was working. On the electricity bills too, all the users realized significant reduction in their bills and the heating offered was uniform thus if a parameter like volume heated per unit energy consumed the Holmes model outclassed most of the conventional ones as it ensured uniform heating across the entire room space rather than partial heating observed in the other types. Even the safety aspect the Holmes model has considered in design is enormous. Though the external surface is at a slightly higher temperature even the kids were not hurt when they tried to have a feel their surface when in operation. Most of the buyers have rated it as the most valued product for the money. Specification of the Product The technical specification of the product is as follows (Holmes, n. d. ) Wattage : low to high variability in operation 100 W to 1500 W Working voltage : 120 V AC (60 Hz) Effective control of heat generated using better control of thermostats. Better safety features with automatic cut off and strong carrying case. User friendly fan heater with access control from the top Measures approximately 2. 5 to 3 pounds. Product Design Philosophy The significant difference in the product design statement exist in the water filled radiator based water heaters. The principle heat transfer mechanism is through convection. The radiator type of heaters undertakes the heating of the rooms trough the convective movement of the air for circulating the warm air for the entire volume. Another major advantage in design of this type of system is that it is not required to function on a high power level for heating the entire room space. These types of units consume very low levels of energy as they are able to cycle between the wattages in their effort to make the inner space at the design temperature levels. Besides these, these units also help to eliminate the problems caused from the corrosion of the metal components and the problems caused from the highly combustible nature. As the water is the major liquid in the water heater radiator type room heaters, the problems of corrosion and possibility for combustion can be eliminated. The space heaters are unavoidable gadgets in the cold regions across he world. To give a better thermal environment is necessary to make the indoor stay more comfortable. These heaters vary in size quite differently from the being a small portable heater to large wall or ceiling mounted heaters that are most fixed permanently. The small and portable ones are preferred in the residential units while the permanent ones are preferred in large industrial and commercial centres, though the exceptions always exist. On the different type of fuels being used in them, it could be either electricity, natural gas, biomass or any liquid fuels like furnace oils. They are mostly applied or chosen in some of the situations that necessitate to isolate the part of facility in a central heating system or heating a small unit space in an generally unheated area etc. The efficiency of the system is measured based on the intended use of the system and the expectation of a customer from using it. The illogically using a space heater would result in higher consumption of energy with very low levels of comfort to the occupants. But when done in the most appropriate application these devices can ensure the desired comfort levels and lesser energy costs. Comparison of different type of space heaters -Radiant and Convective The radiant heaters operate on the similar principles of any heat-radiating body. The simplest example is the sun where the sun rays emits large amount of radiation and tries to warms up any body, which receives the radiation. This type of equipments emits the radiation only in some specific direction and the bodies or objects placed in the direction of the emitted source would receive them and helps in the heat gain. The radiating heaters can be operated either on electricity or on any other type of fuel like propene, kerosene or natural gas (MGE, n. d. ). The heating elements in the radiating type heaters are also of different types. The important ones being quartz tubes, carbon tubes , halogen lamps or metal coils. In order to have a uniform spread of heat in different direction, rather than heating up in some specified direction, some of the radiant type heaters use reflectors. Thus these type of heaters are ideal for heating the specific objects than large volumes of spaces and hence is recommended in large open spaces with less openings or hindrances. The bodies that need to be heated must be located in the direction of emission of heat rays . These bodies absorb the temperature when the rays fall them and as the temperature of such bodies increases and they in turn transfer some of the heat to the neighbouring volume of air too. This helps in the complete rise in the temperature of air volume in its surrounding (MGE, n. d. ). It is also recommended to have some percentage of fresh air for mixing up with the inside air in order to avoid the build up of excessive accumulation of pollutants in the enclosed space. If the objective is to receive the heat only for a very short interval of time then the radiant heaters are the ideal choice. The radiant heaters don’t heat up the entire space uniformly and just transfers heat to the occupant and the immediate neighborhood and hence ensure higher efficiency for these type of purpose. The convection heaters operate based on the ability of the hot air to move across the entire space that required to be heated. It depends on the natural movement of the rising hot air. The equipments allow the cold air to move into its compartment and warms it up and then releases into the desired space that need to be at a higher temperature (MGE, n. d. ). Thus it tries to warms up the air directly and the objects would gain heat from the air that is at a higher temperature. Thus they are the most ideal for the small enclosed spaces or rooms that are well insulated and cut off from the surrounding. They are available in different type of designs like the electric heater based radiator and water or oil filled heaters. The water filled radiant heaters are among the high efficient devices in the class of convective heaters. The heating element placed in the bath of water is heated as the unit is turned on it will result in heating the surrounding air. The heated air is allowed to move through the room based on the principles of natural convection. These heaters require fresh supply of air to maintain consistency in its operation (MGE, n. d. ) References Andi, (15 February 2008) , Holmes Water filled heater wars my heart Retrieved from < http://www. propsandpans.com/2008/02/15/holmes-water-filled-heater-warms-my-heart/ > on 16 August 2010 Holmes (n. d. ) , Owners guide, Retreived from < http://www. holmesproducts. com /Manuals/MANUALS/HFH110-UM_43_77278402. PDF. on 16 August 2010 MGE (n. d. ), Business energy advisor, http://www. mge. com/business/saving/BEA/_escrc_0013000000DP22YAAT-2_BEA1_PA_PA_Heating_PA-59. html on 16 August 2010 Mclynne, J. A. (9 January 2008) Proccut review Holmes water filled whole room radiator model , HWH 2605 http://www. associatedcontent. com/article/520241/product_review_holmes_water_filled. html? cat=5 on 16 August 2010