Mad Idea? Just a waste of time?

[adonis]

How are you powering the computer fan? aren't they 12 volts and will need a PSU.

[Rorschach]

How are you powering the computer fan? aren't they 12 volts and will need a PSU.

12v adapter, I always keep working adapters from old electrical devices, come in handy for all sort of projects like this one.

[Neelix]

For occasional heat the simplest answer is a fan heater

[dewaltdisney]

Just thinking on this R would it be a good idea to mount the computer fan in a kitchen cabinet backboard? If it were low down it would create a gentle convection.

DWD

[Rorschach]

For occasional heat the simplest answer is a fan heater

The eventual plan was to go with something safe like a tube heater that could be left unattended, but I needed to know how much heat input was needed. My experiments seem to be showing that radiant heat alone is not the answer, some kind of fan is needed.

[Rorschach]

Just thinking on this R would it be a good idea to mount the computer fan in a kitchen cabinet backboard? If it were low down it would create a gentle convection.

DWD

Yes that could be done, although it's look increasingly like the simplest option might be to just use a fan heater after all and just accept it can't be left unattended. My suspicion that tube heaters would not do the job is appearing to be correct, but not for the reason I expected.

[Neelix]

For occasional heat the simplest answer is a fan heater

The eventual plan was to go with something safe like a tube heater that could be left unattended, but I needed to know how much heat input was needed. My experiments seem to be showing that radiant heat alone is not the answer, some kind of fan is needed.

Which is why I much earlier recommended an electric plinth heater

[fin]

just of a quick google a standard fan plinth heater is about £50 and one that hooks up to the rads aswell is about £240

run an extension lead for power if necessary.

ive fitted both types on kitchen fits in the past. the type that hooked up to the central heating seemed to work quite well on one job

[Rorschach]

For occasional heat the simplest answer is a fan heater

The eventual plan was to go with something safe like a tube heater that could be left unattended, but I needed to know how much heat input was needed. My experiments seem to be showing that radiant heat alone is not the answer, some kind of fan is needed.

Which is why I much earlier recommended an electric plinth heater

And right at the beginning of this thread I mentioned why a plinth heater won't solve my problem.

[Rorschach]

just of a quick google a standard fan plinth heater is about £50 and one that hooks up to the rads aswell is about £240

run an extension lead for power if necessary.

ive fitted both types on kitchen fits in the past. the type that hooked up to the central heating seemed to work quite well on one job

A plinth heater won't solve my problem. This was discussed right at the beginning of the thread.

[Rorschach]

UPDATE:

Early days but the fan seems to be having the desired effect. The falling average has been reversed. It would appear that air movement was the problem all along, Sorry S_E.

I'll give it a few more days and then post another graph.

[Neelix]

just of a quick google a standard fan plinth heater is about £50 and one that hooks up to the rads aswell is about £240

run an extension lead for power if necessary.

ive fitted both types on kitchen fits in the past. the type that hooked up to the central heating seemed to work quite well on one job

A plinth heater won't solve my problem. This was discussed right at the beginning of the thread.

Really?

I don’t agree. Why are you so sure it won’t solve your problem

[Rorschach]

just of a quick google a standard fan plinth heater is about £50 and one that hooks up to the rads aswell is about £240

run an extension lead for power if necessary.

ive fitted both types on kitchen fits in the past. the type that hooked up to the central heating seemed to work quite well on one job

A plinth heater won't solve my problem. This was discussed right at the beginning of the thread.

Really?

I don’t agree. Why are you so sure it won’t solve your problem

Because the goal isn't to warm the room, the goal is to warm under and behind the cupboards.

[dewaltdisney]

Post by dewaltdisney » Fri Feb 14, 2025 6:16 pm
Have a read up on Hydronic plinth heaters https://www.cef.co.uk/library/hydronic- ... 20solution.

These convector fan heaters are connected to the radiator circuit and work a bit like a car heater. We had a Myson convertor heater on the landing in a house we had. It had a diverter flap that blew through a duct into the bathroom or out onto the landing or blew both areas at the same time. It was very efficient as I recall, the thermostat would keep an even temperature.

I would say that you could easily fix one yourself as you could easily run the pipework and connect it for a couple of hundred.

Certainly worth a look.

DWD
P

Second post on this thread. R pointed out he wanted to heat the back of the cupboards rather than the room.

DWD

[Rorschach]

Amazing the difference a tiny fan can make. Red arrow is where I switched from the fan heater to the light bulbs. Green arrow is where I added the fan. Heat input has been identical every day, regardless of source 1kWh going in.
The small spikes are the morning period before work, the big spikes are evening before bed.

The fan heater reached a plateau as you can see, several days of steady temps, be interesting to see if the bulbs do the same at the same level in a week or so. My suspicion is they will and I will continue the experiment too see if this happens just to satisfy my curiosity really.
My final decision on heating is pretty much made up now. I will put a small, low power, fan heater in each cupboard running only when we are at home and awake. Tube heaters aren't going to be much use as I will clearly need to add fans as well and it's just going to be a waste of money when I can achieve the same thing with something I already have on hand and won't cost me anything to install.

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