Low level heat source for tiny room

BoardsMember

I've a tiny room that houses my washing machine/dryer. It's a cold room, the underfloor heating coils don't do their job too well, so clothes we hang on a clothes horse dont dry well in there. There's an air extract in the ceiling, hooked up to the house ventilation system.

I was thinking of buying some sort of heater for the room, have it on a smart switch and turn it on when there are clothes drying.

Any suggestions of a low output, cheap to run heater for this? Room is 65cm x 150cm. A

10-10-20

Yes I do. These lads are great, I have one at my toes when in the home-office, all on a remote switch.

https://www.eurosales.ie/categories.html?filter_set%5B%5D=5237,5268,5413

The Continental Op

Another option if there is a way of hanging it is a good old fashion IR heat lamp. This type of thing

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Luxvista-Adjustable-Suspension-Infrared-Brooding/dp/B0C3CYZD24

Not very elegant looking but might do the job (fitting above doesn't include bulb).

250W would use one unit of electric every 4 hours.

ted1

can you insulate the exterior walls of the room?

elperello

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058385133/low-level-heat-source-for-tiny-room

Would a dehumidifier solve your problem ?

timmyntc

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122976532#Comment_122976532

If the room is ventilated and it's not MHRV then heat loss through the vent will be greater than any gains from insulating - certainly not enough extra heat in the room to dry clothes.

OP you can get blower dehumidifiers that have clothes dry settings. They work best in smaller rooms and power consumption is not too high, 2-300W

LambshankRedemption

I have something like this for drying clothes:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Trintion-Foldable-Electric-Portable-Power-Off/dp/B0DM8JL78X?source=ps-sl-shoppingads-lpcontext&ref_=fplfs&psc=1&smid=ASXNODVM5DP4I

Theres a heater at the bottom which blows warm air up through the "tent". Does a great job drying. I have it in a room with no heating.

Could be what you want as you dont want to actually heat the entire room, just the area where the clothes are.

BoardsMember

Actually a blower heater dehumidifier might be ideal. I must search for one. The room is well insulated, it's external wall of new extension, decent insulation part of the spec.

cnocbui

A side effect of a heat pump dehumidifier is that they do slightly warm the air.

Using one to dry hung clothes is supposedly more energy efficient than using a drier.

BoardsMember

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122976461#Comment_122976461

This looks like my beat bet. Low energy, simple, cheap, small/discrete. Dehumidifiers are pricey and with the ventilation I should be OK with humidity.

10-10-20

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122978697#Comment_122978697

They come in other lengths, call a supplier and see what they offer.

BoardsMember

Thanks, I see screwfix supplies them

Calahonda52

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058385133/low-level-heat-source-for-tiny-room

Does the ventilation system recover heat or is it just extract or wha?

Wearb

You could very well be underestimating your requirements. It would be an expensive mistake.

I'd go with a cheap fan heater that can be turned well down. That way you've the option to increase output.

BoardsMember

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122979526#Comment_122979526

It's mechanical ventilation without heat recovery. It's in kitchen and all wet rooms, ducted/piped back to attic. Sensor based that kicks in based on moisture detection, as far as I understand it.

BoardsMember

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122979533#Comment_122979533

The heater I plan to buy is 24 euro, I'm not too worried! Fan heaters tend to have higher consumption, I saw one in lidl earlier by chance and it was many times the consumption of the tubular one in screwfix. Also, I've found screwfix to be great, I will keep packaging and hope they take it back if it doesn't work out. The room is well insulated so I'm hoping only needs a little help.

Calahonda52

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122979578#Comment_122979578

so then the de-humid option might be best, or the "tent"

re this

Fan heaters tend to have higher consumption

most fan heater have 2 heat settings:

1kW always on

2 kW with stat

I have one of these from lidl keeping a room at 12 degrees, couple of kWs each 24 hrs

I have another which is 1/2/3 kW, 1 always on, the other two on the stat

elec consumption is power in kWs by duration in hours

the tubular ones are 120 w, which may not generate enough heat quickly enough so the heated air may just get extracted before it does any work

batistuta9

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122978671#Comment_122978671

you mean a desiccant dehumidifier? they'll blow out warm air which you can angle at the clothes but they're using a lot more energy than the other type, about 600w.

depends too on the room & how wet the clothes are to dry but really just depends how long it takes if it's cheaper, definitely easier on clothes though

cnocbui

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122980899#Comment_122980899

No, I said heat-pump. There are two elements to a heat pump dehumidifier, the evaporator and the condenser. One gets hotter while the other gets cooler - so water vapour condenses on it out of the air and is collected in a tank. Even though you might think that the heating and cooling would balance out - being in the same room - they don't, because the cold condenses water and so some of the temperature differential between the two circuits is reduced, ending up in the water and resulting in a net warming, as well as the electric motor adding some warmth.

Using a heat pump dehumidifier to dry clothes uses less energy than a heat only tumble dryer, which is why there are condensing tumble dryers which incorporate a heat pump.

Is a dehumidifier cheaper than a tumble dryer?
In most cases, although a dehumidifier needs to be turned on for longer compared to a tumble dryer, it’s far cheaper to run. Over the course of a year, you could save as much as £376 by switching to a dehumidifier.

https://www.householdmoneysaving.com/dehumidifier-vs-tumble-dryer/

batistuta9

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122982048#Comment_122982048

right, never heard or seen them called heat pump before. it's the compressor one you meant

dbas

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122979578#Comment_122979578

So extract only system then.

Buy a dehumidifier.

I have this one. Around 160w peak power and will mitigate against any existing moisture damage in the room as your already using it to dry clothes. They're brilliant. 3 kids in the house, it's always used

https://www.meaco.ie/meacodry-abc-10l-compressor-dehumidifier/

This is it

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122983924#Comment_122983924

I bought this about 2 months ago and find it brilliant. Originally to help with condensation at night in our room, I move it to the spare room when I need to dry clothes. It has a laundry option and generally clothes are bone dry after it. Runs 6 hours at 160w if I remember right, so 1kw for a warm room and dry clothes, pretty good.

BoardsMember

Thanks for the link. I think k it might be worth the extra above the tubular low watt one above - taking moisture out will make everything work better.

Does it emit much heat? One thing I notice is that when sitting with my back to this little room I can feel a small draft. It would be good if this balanced out the diff in heat between kitchen and little room.

User567363

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122978671#Comment_122978671

100%

But the drier air and the breeze from it will make the room feel colder to you, but it is in fact warmer,

This warmer, moving and drier air, is absolutely perfect for drying clothes quickly

dbas

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122984470#Comment_122984470

It does emit heat alright as someone already explained above. Have to remember to empty the dehumidifier every day.

I hang clotheshorse in the smallest room in the house with one of these. Right job they are.

Kinda strange you feel a draught here assuming the vent is extracting, the draught should go into the room.

There may be a reason for that draught. Dehumidifier will help mitigate any moisture issues