Fan assisted radiators; are they the best option

timmy4u2

My heating system is over twenty six years old now and in need of a little bit of an upgrading.

My main source of heat is a Bosky 90 solid fuel cooker, 82000btus burning timber and 110000btus burning coal. It is also 26 years old.

I also have an 18" firebird back boiler; rarely used now and an outside oil burner.
My present radiators are alurad-again fitted from new.
My piping system is acorn, metric size and the tank is a triple coil. There are three grundfos 25/50 circulating pumps. The house is two storey.

Due to the fact that all my rads are not alurad-due to scarcity at the time I had to fit three steel rads-and the two remaining steel rads are now due for replacement what is my best option to get adequate heat from the main source of heat, the solid fuel cooker.?

Two years ago I replaced the rad in the hall with a Solo six radiator and it really transformed the hallway from being a cool place to a very cosy part of the house. The radiator is barely audible and keeps giving out heat at far lower temperatures when the other rads have ceased to radiate heat.
I am thinking of replacing my six down stairs rads with these Solo rads.
I expect that I may need to upgrade my pump to a 6mt head.
Do any of you have experience of how these rads operate when fitted en-masse
Opinionsare also welcome

timmy4u2

timmy4u2 wrote: »

My heating system is over twenty six years old now and in need of a little bit of an upgrading.

My main source of heat is a Bosky 90 solid fuel cooker, 82000btus burning timber and 110000btus burning coal. It is also 26 years old.

I also have an 18" firebird back boiler; rarely used now and an outside oil burner.
My present radiators are alurad-again fitted from new.
My piping system is acorn, metric size and the tank is a triple coil. There are three grundfos 25/50 circulating pumps. The house is two storey.

Due to the fact that all my rads are not alurad-due to scarcity at the time I had to fit three steel rads-and the two remaining steel rads are now due for replacement what is my best option to get adequate heat from the main source of heat, the solid fuel cooker.?

Two years ago I replaced the rad in the hall with a Solo six radiator and it really transformed the hallway from being a cool place to a very cosy part of the house. The radiator is barely audible and keeps giving out heat at far lower temperatures when the other rads have ceased to radiate heat.
I am thinking of replacing my six down stairs rads with these Solo rads.
I expect that I may need to upgrade my pump to a 6mt head.
Do any of you have experience of how these rads operate when fitted en-masse
Opinionsare also welcome

Any of you heating experts have any views on these issues?

Outkast_IRE

Have fitted these plenty of times, only once the entire house.

All I can say is have never had a call back for issues with them, I find them a good option in a large room where a small solo can heat the same room a large double would previously be needed.

They are a neat option once the electrical supply and pipework are done neatly to them. I usually fit small valves at each one hidden where the pipework enters the casing, allowing for them to be easily removed or replaced if anything happened in the future.

The only thing I would consider when fitting them on-masse is the costs associated with running all those fans inside the radiators, it adds up over time.

Also are any of your rads acting as a heat dump for either the solid fuel system or solar ?.

My main concern would be the lower water content of these radiators may lead to short cycling of the oil boiler it may be worth contacting oil boiler manufacturer and picking their brains. Fitting with a gas boiler , the gas boiler can modulate down as necessary etc, unfortunately oil boilers are not modulating.

whizbang

Is there any chance of using these on existing 15mm pipework ?

Outkast_IRE

whizbang wrote: »

Is there any chance of using these on existing 15mm pipework ?

Yes they are designed to be used with existing size pipework, look up their literature for exact details, but as far as I remember the connections are 15mm on the solorad.

timmy4u2

Outkast_IRE wrote: »

Have fitted these plenty of times, only once the entire house.

All I can say is have never had a call back for issues with them, I find them a good option in a large room where a small solo can heat the same room a large double would previously be needed.

They are a neat option once the electrical supply and pipework are done neatly to them. I usually fit small valves at each one hidden where the pipework enters the casing, allowing for them to be easily removed or replaced if anything happened in the future.

The only thing I would consider when fitting them on-masse is the costs associated with running all those fans inside the radiators, it adds up over time.

Also are any of your rads acting as a heat dump for either the solid fuel system or solar ?.

My main concern would be the lower water content of these radiators may lead to short cycling of the oil boiler it may be worth contacting oil boiler manufacturer and picking their brains. Fitting with a gas boiler , the gas boiler can modulate down as necessary etc, unfortunately oil boilers are modulating.

I have fitted one in the hallway two years ago and it transformed that area and the landing and indeed any bedroom that cared to let its door open.
My concern is that I have come across several instances where these rads have been removed again within a short time of fitting . I am presuming that they were fitted on a system that either was not a two pipe system or else the return and flow were under the minimum recommendation of 22mm.
I have obtained a number of these rads and intend fitting them to my system.
Do you think that the present pump, a Grundfos 25/50 is man enough for them or should I change to a 6m head as recommended.
Also do you know if seven on a run is the max as stated.

timmy4u2

Outkast_IRE wrote: »

Yes they are designed to be used with existing size pipework, look up their literature for exact details, but as far as I remember the connections are 15mm on the solorad.

The connections to the pipework is 15mm but the flow and return has to be 22mm. Reverse return is also recommended

Outkast_IRE

timmy4u2 wrote: »

I have fitted one in the hallway two years ago and it transformed that area and the landing and indeed any bedroom that cared to let its door open.
My concern is that I have come across several instances where these rads have been removed again within a short time of fitting . I am presuming that they were fitted on a system that either was not a two pipe system or else the return and flow were under the minimum recommendation of 22mm.
I have obtained a number of these rads and intend fitting them to my system.
Do you think that the present pump, a Grundfos 25/50 is man enough for them or should I change to a 6m head as recommended.
Also do you know if seven on a run is the max as stated.

The 22mm minimum is just for the main flow and return pipes, you can pipe from that main flow and return in 15mm to the rad usually this is only a short distance anyway.

The reverse return is recommended because they are covering their ass as you cant really balance a solo rad , like you can a traditional rad. A reverse return system is self balancing, but to pipe in that manner usually means more pipework in terms of length and requires a well thought out design beforehand.

I would stick with the manufacturer limit of 7 on a run, but I would assume this to mean 7 on a run of 22mm pipe, if you had 1 inch feeding the area its probably a different story. But most domestic heating is 22mm on main flow and return , and 15mm to radiators from the main pipes.

And you could always zone the system in such a way as to have a limit of 7 on each run, just needs some careful design.

As for these rads being removed, they would always be fitted on a 2 pipe system anyway, nobody would be silly enough to pipe them up to a one pipe system I hope. Again with the removal some people cant take even the slightest noise in the bedroom, the fan might bother them, or their system may not be set up correctly to get the most from them.

As for the pump, my opinion is that a pump is easy to swap afterwards, if your current one is in good condition see how it works and if there is an issue then consider changing it.

I imagine they are recommending a bigger pump because the pressure loss/resistance to flow in these solo rads is quite high in comparison to your bog standard rad. Bigger pump can cost more to run too so that's another consideration, it all adds up over the space of the year.

timmy4u2

I have a very good plumbing system. I made sure it was done well first day so that is a plus.I was contemplating two zones and seven solos on one zone and six on the other but I think I will just fit the seven that I have; five solo 6's and two Solo 3's to see what happens.
I have them all plumbed up ready to push into a quick fit connection. I used the larger half inch lever cut off valves hidden behind the cover as I felt that those smaller valves might cause too much of a restriction.
The pump is almost as old as the plumbing system, 26 years, but it was a spare and was only fitted last April when the original pump was getting slightly noisy.
I will take your advice and hold off on the pump although I was thinking on the lines of a Grundfos Alpha for the added running economy.

tred

i have 2 of them in a large room based on BTU, id have needed bigger rads.
I am as happy as well wiht the performance from the normal stelrad, so dont be going spending tonnes of money on these and expect free heat. They run at a lower temp, and the air is blown out of top. they are neat. tidy. i have them at a medium setting. they have an independent stat as well, so theyll shut down, if u have a stove in taht room say, and the heat on for other rooms in house. they need power. and the pipe entry and exit as far as i remember is all on the one side, not end to end like a standard radatior..i need to check that though.

timmy4u2

tred wrote: »

i have 2 of them in a large room based on BTU, id have needed bigger rads.
I am as happy as well wiht the performance from the normal stelrad, so dont be going spending tonnes of money on these and expect free heat. They run at a lower temp, and the air is blown out of top. they are neat. tidy. i have them at a medium setting. they have an independent stat as well, so theyll shut down, if u have a stove in taht room say, and the heat on for other rooms in house. they need power. and the pipe entry and exit as far as i remember is all on the one side, not end to end like a standard radatior..i need to check that though.

I installed one in the hallway two years ago and I am very happy with it. It transformed the whole house by heating the hallway and landing.

At night time the system switches over to a much lower set stat and the solo keeps producing heat into the wee hours when there are only embers left in the solid fuel cooker.
My other rads are alurad and they take perhaps a litre or so of water.
Your steel rad will give out the heat but it will take much more energy to heat up and will require more water to fill one than six alurad or ten to twelve solos.
I would never go back to heating buckets full of water.
Yes they do take both pipes on the one side and I have about sixty plug outlets in the house.

I have obtained a number of solos at a fantastic price so I intend using those to replace my alurad on one floor for starters.
What I do not have experience of is where they are fitted en masse and how they perform in that situation

tred

timmy4u2 wrote: »

I installed one in the hallway two years ago and I am very happy with it. It transformed the whole house by heating the hallway and landing.

At night time the system switches over to a much lower set stat and the solo keeps producing heat into the wee hours when there are only embers left in the solid fuel cooker.
My other rads are alurad and they take perhaps a litre or so of water.
Your steel rad will give out the heat but it will take much more energy to heat up and will require more water to fill one than six alurad or ten to twelve solos.
I would never go back to heating buckets full of water.
Yes they do take both pipes on the one side and I have about sixty plug outlets in the house.

I have obtained a number of solos at a fantastic price so I intend using those to replace my alurad on one floor for starters.
What I do not have experience of is where they are fitted en masse and how they perform in that situation

I am happy enough with the 2 I have in the main living area. but nothing is for free. add in the cost of replacing the cost of running and the cost of buying the new ones. we have a different setup in our house. heat isn't on that much at all to be honest. we followed a strict air tight regime and insulated to a high level. sounds like urs is running off the solid fuel cooker, so u may have ample supplys of fuel so it works for you! there also nice a and tidy..we ave the wiring and the pipes hidden.

timmy4u2

tred wrote: »

I am happy enough with the 2 I have in the main living area. but nothing is for free. add in the cost of replacing the cost of running and the cost of buying the new ones. we have a different setup in our house. heat isn't on that much at all to be honest. we followed a strict air tight regime and insulated to a high level. sounds like urs is running off the solid fuel cooker, so u may have ample supplys of fuel so it works for you! there also nice a and tidy..we ave the wiring and the pipes hidden.

It was the difference that they made to my hallway that prompted me to source some more, coupled with the fact that my existing alu rad rads are 27 years old now.

Replacement alu rads are perhaps even dearer per btu output than the solos.
My solid fuel cooker supplies most of the heating, oil is just for when we are away etc and do not want to come back to a cold house.
I do not have a large source of heat, to be honest I find that one builders rubber bucket full of black diamond, half of the small nuggets on the bottom and half of the larger cosy glow on the top, started off by a small shovel of polish coal will keep all my rads going from 4pm to midnight and the solo continues to give out heat until 2am or so.
It is also because of this ability that I want the extra solos.
The solid fuel cooker is a now 27 yr old bosky 90 and is very handy in that the draught control is thermostatically controlled and it will have the circulating pump on in 10 minutes.

timmy4u2

Are any of you familiar with the OXYVENT as manufactured by Tim Cremmin from Kerry.
His literature states that when the oxyvent is fitted that it does away with the need to balance radiators.
I was wondering would it be an answer to any circulation problems that fitting the solo rads enmasse may cause.

timmy4u2

timmy4u2 wrote: »

Are any of you familiar with the OXYVENT as manufactured by Tim Cremmin from Kerry.
His literature states that when the oxyvent is fitted that it does away with the need to balance radiators.
I was wondering would it be an answer to any circulation problems that fitting the solo rads enmasse may cause.

Anybody on this? I have fitted six solos and apart from air problems, as outlined in another thread, that is not a solo problem they are performing well. As the solid fuel cooker goes low on fuel into the night the ordinary alu rads stop making heat at approx 50c but the solos continue putting out hear for at leas another two hours