Mad Idea? Just a waste of time?

dewaltdisney · Post by **dewaltdisney** » Sun Feb 16, 2025 7:58 pm

I am sure it will work, you really do not have to build much heat I suspect. I checked under one of my plinths and it is noticeably colder than the kitchen. Any heat will rise so it will percolate through to the area behind the cabinets fairly easily, it only needs to be a few degrees to achieve what you want.

DWD

Rorschach · Post by **Rorschach** » Sat Feb 22, 2025 4:43 pm

Quick update.

So far, so good. Putting in 1kWh a day at the moment and the average temp has been creeping over the week. From an average of 10c we are now up to around 14c. Fan heater is doing ok, the heat is spreading out slowly across the two cabinets I am measuring. Will keep this going for another week or two before setting up the light bulb test.

dewaltdisney · Post by **dewaltdisney** » Sat Feb 22, 2025 5:30 pm

I suspect that this heat will only be required for the mid-winter months each year. I would think that once warmed the fabric of the wall will stay fairly even in the warmer weather. It was 16 degrees today as we were walking about, compared to last week it was tropical. I am sure this will help.

DWD

Rorschach · Post by **Rorschach** » Sat Feb 22, 2025 6:17 pm

Yes the warmer weather is going to throw off my testing! lol.

My hope is that one everything gets warm it will stay warm and I can cut the heat input a little. The important thing is to stop the condensation forming and it already feels much drier in there.

Neelix · Post by **Neelix** » Sat Feb 22, 2025 6:25 pm

Electric plinth heater ?

dewaltdisney · Post by **dewaltdisney** » Sat Feb 22, 2025 6:59 pm

Read the thread N, we have covered that

DWD

Rorschach · Post by **Rorschach** » Tue Feb 25, 2025 8:16 am

Another update:

Switched out the fan heater for 2 x 100W light bulbs.
So far so good. The light bulbs, while obviously needing to run for a longer period do actually appear to go a good job of warming the cupboards. I checked regularly to make sure nothing inside was getting too hot and it was all fine, just barely warm to the touch. Will continue for a few weeks and then think about what to do going forward.

FYI for anyone worried, at the moment these are only being run when the flat is occupied and we are awake. So a period in the morning while we get ready for work, then again in the evening after work and before going to bed.

Rorschach · Post by **Rorschach** » Thu Feb 27, 2025 8:03 pm

Interesting development since switching to bulbs. Still inputting the same 1kWh per day, but average temp is now starting to fall.

Have attached a graph showing the period. First few days it took a while to warm everything up as expected, then a plateau as we kept a nice steady heat. I switched to the bulbs where the arrow is and you can see it's starting to fall. Also getting a much bigger swing during the day. Outside temp not varied much, if anything it's warmer now than when I started so I don't think that's the problem.

: Screenshot 2025-02-27 195832.png (319.72 KiB) Viewed 563 times

Someone-Else · Post by **Someone-Else** » Thu Feb 27, 2025 8:54 pm

I would say you are better off with your heater than lamps, what was the rating of the heater you used?

Rorschach · Post by **Rorschach** » Thu Feb 27, 2025 9:55 pm

600w and it was run for 1.5 hours. I am now running 200w for 5 hours.

Someone-Else · Post by **Someone-Else** » Thu Feb 27, 2025 11:03 pm

Rorschach wrote: ↑Thu Feb 27, 2025 9:55 pm600w

Oh.

I suspect there is your answer for the drop. Lamps are rated by the energy they use, yes, they do give off a lot of heat while using that energy (Incandescent / halogen lamps) but they don't give out 200w of heat (In your case) where as your heater on the other hand rated at 600w does give close to 600w of heat, also your heater has a fan, which is helpful, and your lamps have no assistance

I did find this 300w fan heater Click me BUT you would need a power supply like this one Click me to power it

Rorschach · Post by **Rorschach** » Fri Feb 28, 2025 7:54 am

200W of incandescent lamps in an enclosed space are putting out exactly 200W of heat, the method is irrelevant, 200W is 200W. The overall heat output is still 1kWh the only difference is the fan but I can't understand why this is making such a difference as if anything the fan would be pushing heat out under the cupboards into the other spaces. I had honestly expected to see a greater overall average, with probably a higher spike (as we do see sometimes) but then less of a drop.

The big swing is confusing but the overall drop in average is even more confusing.

Someone-Else · Post by **Someone-Else** » Fri Feb 28, 2025 10:56 am

Let me put it this way. If what you say is true, then the temperature would rise (To a point.)
The fact that the temperature drops proves something is not right with your theory.

Rorschach wrote: ↑Fri Feb 28, 2025 7:54 am200W of incandescent lamps in an enclosed space are putting out exactly 200W

No they don't.

Rorschach wrote: ↑Fri Feb 28, 2025 7:54 amThe big swing is confusing but the overall drop in average is even more confusing.

No it isn't.

Rorschach · Post by **Rorschach** » Fri Feb 28, 2025 11:09 am

I'm sorry but your physics knowledge wrong. 200W is 200W. The fact that a tiny proportion of an incandescent bulbs output is light doesn't reduce the overall output. Light IS heat just in the visible spectrum.

The only difference between 1kWH from the fan heater and the lightbulbs is that the fan heater is almost moving that heat around rather than just relying on radiant and convection currents.

Rorschach · Post by **Rorschach** » Mon Mar 03, 2025 1:42 pm

Found an old 4" computer case fan, going to put that in and see if moving the air around makes a difference. I suspect the heat might just be collecting at the top of the cupboards and leaking out.