Replacing oil with efficient infrared heating

Background

After using a centralised oil-based heating system, Andrew was looking for new alternatives to heat his house. Wanting to move away from their dependence on oil, and ideally staying away from gas, he looked into a number of electric options including ground source heat pumps and Herschel Infrared heaters. Having spoken to several friends who had recently installed variations of heat pumps, he was put off by the feedback that heat pumps were great for background heat but they never seemed to perform as expected. Several people he had spoken to were now looking into “top-up heating” to get the rooms to the comfortable temperature they were initially after.

Solution

The property has several white Herschel Infrared panels heaters across living areas and bedrooms as well as Herschel’s dual-element towel heater in the ensuite. Andrew plans to phase out the oil heating in the rest of the house over time to eventually have Herschel Infrared heaters as the only heat source throughout.

The Herschel MD2 mains powered (WiFi) thermostat has been installed in each room enabling individual room-by-room control from the MD2’s in-built touchscreen as well as the SmartLife mobile App. This has allowed them to take advantage of the efficiency of Herschel Infrared panel heaters (see our test results on Herschel Infrared panel heaters versus air source heat pumps) but also change the way they heat their home by only warming the rooms that are actually being used. This helps to ensure no energy is wasted making vacant rooms just as warm as those rooms that need to be heated. With Herschel’s MD2, Andrew can also take advantage of smart 7-day programming and useful energy-saving features such as open window technology.

Testimonial

“The reason for selecting the infrared panels initially was we were 100% oil but didn’t want to invest into anymore old oil-based technology and there generally seems to be a move away from gas. We looked at ground source heat pump but a number of friends put us off saying it was good for ambient heat but their rooms never felt really warm and they were having to top up the heating.

The main contractor was initially sceptical of our decision to use infrared but it seemed the only reason they like oil and gas was that it’s what they have always used. Luckily one of the electricians had worked with infrared before and the installation process was very straightforward.

A number of benefits we didn’t know about or take into account when we ordered:

• Customer service has been excellent, there was an issue with one of the ten panels, this was resolved very swiftly without any fuss
• Buying 100% green tariff electricity is a choice we can now make and when the oil fired boiler needs attention we will convert the rest of the house to infrared
• Having the panels ceiling mounted frees up walls for furniture
• The heat is consistent, controllable, it’s a clean heat

Having gone through the first winter we’ve been very pleased with Herschel and the infrared heaters. The main contractor, various subcontractors, and friends have all been fascinated, especially friends who have recently installed ground source heat pumps!” Andrew Robb.