Aluminium Radiators

Mayo self-build

I have a question about aluminium rads? Do people feel thay are worth the additional cost? I've been told that they'll cost between 1.5 and 3 times the cost of ordinary rads, but that they use less oil and generally provide more efficient heating.

We'll have KS cavity insulation as well as insulated plaster boards and feel that alu rads may further contribute to efficiency.

Any thoughts?

yop

John, what about them fan assisted rads that are out there now?

http://en.ivt.se/products.asp?lngID=488&lngLangID=1

Use something like 1 pint of water, don't quote me on that though. Place there on the Tuam road in Galway do them

Mellor

Are you sure they use less oil?

Two rads, one steel and one alu, both sized for the same room, will have the same output. The alu will be smaller I would imagine due to a higher conductivity.

The boiler loses some energy as its not 100% efficient, the flow and return loses some heat too, to unwanted areas, I imagine this is the same for both alu and steel.
All heat given to the room by both rads is equal as are sized the same. Where does it save energy? There is a small potential for the metal in the radiator to hold less heat, but this is very small and could be offset when considering the rad cooling, less heat.

Could it be a response time issue, thats a control and use issue. im sure someone wil know, I am quite possibably overlooking something obvious, mind elsewhere etc

limerickbuild

I asked my plumber about the alu rads aswell and his opinion was that if you have a well insulated house then there should not be a need for the additional cost of the alu rads and more insulation was a better use of my money.

Mayo self-build

Thanks for your feedback. Maybe I'm just being taken in with the sales patter?! I'll do some more research, and will keep asking around.

De_man

yop wrote: »

John, what about them fan assisted rads that are out there now?

http://en.ivt.se/products.asp?lngID=488&lngLangID=1

Use something like 1 pint of water, don't quote me on that though. Place there on the Tuam road in Galway do them

i've installed XXXX rads see <SNIP> don't know if they're the job yet....

yop

thats them, the XXXX rads alright

Mellor

They look quite nice, the rad is easiest the ugliest thing in a persons house. These are quite stylish (i avoided the obvious "hot " pun)

As I said above this confirms that alu rads are smaller that conventional ones, 20% smaller.
And I think i've cleared up the mytery around the reduced energy bills. Alu rads do not use less rads they use the same, but the rads linked above operate XXXX. Each rad is yurn on or off when needed independantly of the others, this is where is energy is saved. Think of it like complete radiator zoning. I should point out that zoning is a must and this level of zoning is possible with both conventional rads and UFH. XXXXX rads are the only ones i'v seen that do this on their own

Price this verses steel rads plusa a controler for the zones and see how it goes.

De_man

Mellor wrote: »

Price this verses steel rads plusa a controler for the zones and see how it goes.

they're ching ching alright when compared to "normal" rads... (must check back the exact price but in the region of 465 yoyo each)

limerickbuild, phone PJ mathews (bathstore) in ballysimon he stocks them,
6KW is the norm but you can get a 3KW for kick boards in the kitchen....advantage with these is that you can fully automate /network them via X10 but thats another story and forum.

honestly i went over the top with the insulation and i reckon these could be a waste of money i'll just have to wait and see how we go

if you decide to go for these PM and i'll give you the exact measurements
for the power supplies etc

Villain

That <SNIP> site looks very suspect, first of all you have only a mobile number as contact and the number of spelling mistakes is shocking. Does anyone know anything about them?

De_man

irish1 wrote: »

That <SNIP> site looks very suspect, first of all you have only a mobile number as contact and the number of spelling mistakes is shocking. Does anyone know anything about them?

hi

two of my friends had them installed, 1 four years ago, the other last year
i've got v high ceilings sun room etc and my plumber recommended them
detailing the low running costs etc, well my xxxxx arrived last month
in top shape, and am looking forward to years of efficient & low running costs


Irish1, don't get me wrong here i'm not attacking you but your thread
since i put up the link i feel it my duty to defend the product

You have a point regarding a mobile number on a web site but if you look up the telephone book you'll see a cork number.

i think the quotation "Very suspect" is quite damaging to a companies reputation on this website, if you took the time to phone around and spoke to people in the industry you'd see they were around quite a long time (i did due to the large capital outlay involved in my new build)

as i said before i'm not involved in the building game, i'm involved with the bits of aluminium tubing that go across the sky


Comment should be withdrawn

smashey

De_man wrote:

hi

two of my friends had them installed, 1 four years ago, the other last year
i've got v high ceilings sun room etc and my plumber recommended them
detailing the low running costs etc, well my xxxx arrived last month
in top shape, and am looking forward to years of efficient & low running costs


Irish1, don't get me wrong here i'm not attacking you but your thread
since i put up the link i feel it my duty to defend the product

You have a point regarding a mobile number on a web site but if you look up the telephone book you'll see a cork number.

i think the quotation "Very suspect" is quite damaging to a companies reputation on this website, if you took the time to phone around and spoke to people in the industry you'd see they were around quite a long time (i did due to the large capital outlay involved in my new build)

as i said before i'm not involved in the building game, i'm involved with the bits of aluminium tubing that go across the sky


Comment should be withdrawn

I think it's a fair comment and stays. A mobile number for a contact would get my alarm bells ringing.

Villain

I was only asking the question, its just the sites graphics etc are excellent but then the only contact is a mobile.

The product looks interesting I might see about getting a quote.

Mellor

I imagine its not actually the company that makes the rads.
Its the number of a guy who is a supplier for ireland, sort of like a rep, it is most likely a small operation at the moment (in the overall scale), so he possible spends alot of time on the road.

yop

No physical address, no landline, no vat number, cronic spelling. Even if they are legit, its very poor show to have all the spelling and grammer mistakes.

muffler

Concerns expressed about that company are indeed well founded. believe it or not their main activity in the Companies list is given as "LABOUR RECRUITMENT AND PROVISION OF PERSONNEL"

They are currently listed as - struck off

End of.

De_man

muffler wrote: »

Concerns expressed about that company are indeed well founded. believe it or not their main activity in the Companies list is given as "LABOUR RECRUITMENT AND PROVISION OF PERSONNEL"

They are currently listed as - struck off

End of.

Fair Points and accepted...the quote above gives me "food for thought" never thought about looking at the companies list, who actually checks the companies list for buying stuff:eek:

i reckon mellor is correct, must find out where these things are actually manufactured, good god if i need spares,,,,i'll be out with my multimeter
taking test readings for the future

always good to have a bit of debate:)

dandoon

Had a good quote from the guys you mention and have official quote from <SNIP>any success with the xxxx rads ? As a mech eng I can see the rationale for the air and xxxx especially for a working couple who spend less time at home



Edit by muffler: And seeing as you only signed up today how did you know who was mentioned?

As for mentioning a company name in your first post - I smell shill and I know where its coming from and Im damned if I am going to allow this behaviour on this forum.

Im going to talk to smashey about this but in the meantime this thread is locked

muffler

This thread was going to become a problem with all sorts of shenanigans going on both in public and in private. I have removed all links to companies and radiator types and I would ask - in fact warn - not to post the names of these items and their manufacturers that you would have already have seen prior to this.

Its not fair on the genuine users to leave this locked so I will open it gain but please be careful with company names etc.

Mayo self-build

Didn't realise that the thread would cause any problems. I appreciate that posting names of specific manufacturers is frowned upon - I was simply looking for generic advice.

So does anyone have alu rads that are working well?