Radfan??

[johnakay]

has any one used these and if so are they worth it?
I just came across them..never knew they existed.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_o...m=R40&_trksid=m570.l1313&_nkw=radfan&_sacat=0

 

[CompoSimmonite]

I've seen them and intend "having a play" with some white, square rainwater downpipe, couple of computer fans and a thermo switch

 

[brightspark]

it wont save energy and improve the output but it will direct the heat out in to the room rather than up to the ceiling . u can only get out what u put in

 

[ukracer]

And you have to factor the cost of running it with turning the heat up a degree or two.

 

[BrokenBiker]

have 'fitted' a few for people in a new build, they are crap, it just directs the heat forward, but if you are more than 2 foot away the heat just rises as normal anyway

 

[colnerov]

Hi, a lot of money for what they are. IF they increase the output, which is doubtful as Brightspark says. Then the temperature differential between flow and return at the boiler is too much, will mean the boiler will run for longer.

Colin

 

[pedrobedro]

Put pipes from floor to ceiling with fans in to bring the heat that's risen back down to floor level so it can do it all over again so you get double benefit from it

 

[johnakay]

just what I though. things like that are gimmickry..
thanks for your opinions.

 

[normspanners]

The only way they could help with economy, is with a condensing boiler by reducing the temperature of the return flow down, because most systems that I have seen are not set up correctly and the condenser doesnt work efficiently.

 

[cliff366]

Can't see the point tbh looks like there blow it out a few ft but it's still going to rise up anyway so your still heating the top off the room may as we just have a fan blowing towards the ceiling so it's circulating air in the room

 

[normspanners]

Actually come to think about it they might work in our bathroom to stop people putting towels on the bloody rad, what is the point of having a k2 rad with a towel over it ARGH and to make matters worse, then the stat closes and I end with air in that circuit.

 

[radfan]

Hi Everyone,

Thanks for chatting about the Radfan, I'm one of the founders of the company and thought I'd add a couple of things (if the mods don't mind).

In an ideal world a radiator would draw cold air in at the base, heat this up and then eject the warm air as a buoyant plume out the top - in a perfect room with no furniture, leaky windows or curtains these two actions (warm air out the top, cool air in at the bottom) would create a circular convection path in the room and create an even heat distribution. In reality, the warm air often just gets trapped at the ceiling and so it takes a long time for the room to heat, effectively from the ceiling down - in most UK rooms you will find a temperature difference between the floor and ceiling of 5 degreesC or more (known as thermal stratification).

The Radfan is designed to help establish this convection current in the room, giving the radiator a top up and essentially helping it do what it naturally wants to do which is convect warm air around the room(radiators only radiate about 20% of their heat, they convect the other 80% - really they should be called convectionators but that sounds absurd).

The Radfan has been tested in the Energy House at the University of Salford and shown to increase the temperature at sofa height by around 2degC by acting as a destratifier, it also showed a reduction in gas consumption of around £35 / year - running cost is £2 per year. Testing with 10 housing associations showed that around 50% of tenants reduced their thermostat by 1 degC because they felt warmer so there are extra energy savings there. Testing at Salford also showed that the temperature of the water leaving the radiator was unaffected by the Radfan, the fans are not powerful enough to introduce forced convection, and so you are right, there is no extra energy being extracted from the radiator, it's simply a redistribution of the heat that is already in the room (you can't get more than you put in as brightspark said).

We designed the Radfan primarily to make rooms warmer with the energy saving as a nice added benefit. As with all products like this though, how effective it is depends on the end use location so we (and our distributors Amazon and Lakeland) offer a 30 day money back guarantee where you can return it for any reason at all for a full refund.

I hope this is of some help, if you'd like any more opinions (good and bad), then pease take a look at the 438 Amazon reviews here http://www.amazon.co.uk/product-rev...UTF8&showViewpoints=1&sortBy=byRankDescending

Thanks

Simon