aki wall heaters
 

Has anyone used these, would appreciate your views:D

Re: aki wall heaters
 

If you mean the flat panel wall heaters then yes!
I have one here in my office and it's very effective, the panel gets very hot and it stays that way long after you turn it off, just make sure you buy the correct size for the room. :thumbsup:

When we bought ours a couple of weeks ago they were selling like hot cakes, I wish we had bought one last winter when we first looked at them!

Highly Recommended

Re: aki wall heaters
 

One is OK in a small(ish) room, a larger room (of lounge size) would require more than one. Heats the wall up behind it, so don't put on an outside wall (or you'll be heating the outside world!). Takes the chill off, rather than heats, supposedly cheap to run. (IMHO)

Re: aki wall heaters
 

Would they be suitable in a bathroom? We have a problem with condenation in there and are wondering what would be the best form of heating that's economical.

Plus - any opinion on heated towel rails?

Re: aki wall heaters
 

I have a heat/light fitting in my bathroom - not the prettiest of things, but it's effective, heats the room up quickly and most of all very easy to fit without having to damage tiling to fit a panel heater or heated towel rail if you don't already have a suitable socket. We bought in the UK (have never seen them on sale here) and two Spanish neighbours were so impressed with it that they asked if we could get them one too (a friend brought them over as hand luggage and my OH fitted them, muchos brownie points for us!).

I bought two spare heating elements for ours before we left the UK but the original one is still going strong after eight years (but is only used for short periods on winter days).

Re: aki wall heaters
 

Something like this:

http://www.scottsofstow.co.uk/wcssto...ght-w-co-t.jpg

See; http://www.scottsofstow.co.uk/Heat-L...-1_58763_10551

or; http://www.amazon.co.uk/Swan-Electri.../dp/B002MF4LGK

Re: aki wall heaters
 

Do you need an electrician to install these aki fires or do you just plug in?????
How much are they new 30x30 approx.:D

Re: aki wall heaters
 

Yes, ugly as sin but they do work well.:)

Re: aki wall heaters
 

The one's I've experienced were the Econo ones (most likely very similar). they simply plug into a socket;

http://www.econoheat.es/assets/images/panels/400W.jpg

Details here: http://econoheat.es/low-consumption-wall-panel-heaters

Re: aki wall heaters
 

Yes that's the sort we have. my husband fixed it to the wall in ten minutes and it then just plugs into the socket.

We bought the smaller twenty three inch one as my office is only small, we paid 49€ for it, as far as I recall the larger model was 99€.

Yes they would be suitable for a bathroom as all the electrical elements are encased inside the metal panel.
We actually have a heated towel rail in our bathroom, but it takes forever to heat up and is not that effective in warming even our small bathroom, when we revamp it next year we will change to the panel heater.

Hope that helps. :)

Re: aki wall heaters
 

Just remember that any claims they make to being "efficient" or "economical" are basically rubbish.

They are no more efficient than any other heater and the only reason they are economical is because the heat output is low and hence it costs less to run.

That said, they are a perfectly reasonable way of warming up a small space.

Re: aki wall heaters
 

Hi

Cheap to run they ain´t !!! mine is 1/2 Kw so if run 24X7 that´s 12Kw or say 1-50 per day, 45 euros a month very rough figures.

Got a friend who was "taken in" by the blurb and installed FIVE. Total electric bill for the month was over 300 euros much to their horror; they don´t run them any more.

Davexf

Re: aki wall heaters
 

Yes - glad someone has said that. You will find that they won't advertise "more efficient" or "more economical" than other heaters in British ads because they ain't and the ASA demands evidence for such claims in ads and there isn't any.

A 500 watt electric heater is a 500 watt electric heater.

Re: aki wall heaters
 

Unless you have upgraded electrics the problem may ocur when you try to put the kettle on at the same time as them:confused:

Re: aki wall heaters
 

They have such a small output that it probably wouldn't make much difference. The small one is only 250w.

The most effective electric heaters are fan assisted convector heaters with a thermostat and variable power ratings. They cost just as much per kilowatt to run but they get the heat round the room quickly rather than heating up the wall. Not a good idea in a bathroom but pretty good anywhere else and of course they are portable.

AKI do one for far less than a wall panel.

http://catalogo.aki.es/calefaccion/c...ermico/idp8818

Re: aki wall heaters
 

So - what is the best recommendation for the bathroom in the end? The light/heater thing?

Trouble is, now I think of it, is that we only have wall lights throughout the house as all of our ceilings are sloping so I don't imagine of those would be easy to fit!

Re: aki wall heaters
 

Have you looked at those small heater/blowers that most stores stock which are ideal for a bathroom, they look like a small air-con unit that you plug into a socket & either blow cold/blow using 1K/blow using 2K and will heat a bathroom airspace quite quickly.

Re: aki wall heaters
 

I still think the panel heater is the answer - put it on a timer if you need heating (to prevent damp) even when the room is not in use.

For those that say it is expensive - the small panel heater is about 500W whilst the light/heater that everyone is raving about (I personally stopped using those about 30 years ago!) is about 750W so far more expensive.

Re: aki wall heaters
 

Correct and it will output proportionately more heat.

One of these will do the same job as a 500 watt panel and cost the same to run. It also has a thermostat which I don't think panels have and it is portable.

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/...fL._AA160_.jpg

There's nothing actually wrong with panels, in some situations I'm sure they are ideal, it's just that claims of "more efficient" and "cheaper to run" should be treated with caution.

Re: aki wall heaters
 

I would think if you have a problem with a really cold bathroom, a 500 watt heater would struggle to get up to required temperature, not sure the thermostat would ever be needed. :) I sometimes think people's expectations of these things are too high, the equivalent of five 100 watt light bulbs is never going to provide a huge amount of heat. Economical, certainly, but you get what you pay for. Someone mentions damp, I think fresh air, good air circulation is as important as heat. Although we never have any problems, even through the depths of winter, our bathroom window is never fully closed, plus an extractor fan is on whenever the light is used.

Re: aki wall heaters
 

I have started giving thought to some form of heating and been told by Spanish lady that the best thing to get (she reckons most Spanish do) is an oil filled radiator, she said to go to carrefour. Do people on here agree? I have never had one, do you think it is the best idea and is Carrefour the cheapest? looked the other day and for 250w oil filled with about 10 'fins' don't know correct word, it was €40ish

Re: aki wall heaters
 

... but that was what jimenato recommended back in post #19:huh:

Re: aki wall heaters
 

IMO they are only any good in very small rooms, we bought one originally which did not seem to have any effect at all in our living room. It now lives in one of the spare bedrooms and is used only if we have guests staying in winter, on a timer so that it comes on automatically to warm the room before they go to bed. Couldn't really tell you how much they cost to run as ours isn't used for long enough periods to tell.

Re: aki wall heaters
 

Ooops! that's what you get for not reading every post. Lynn (post 24) is not very enthusiastic about them yet this lady says many Spanish people have them. I wonder if the size matters cough cough excuse me :-)

Re: aki wall heaters
 

250w is the same power as 4 lightbulbs, it's not surprising it doesn't do much!

To even begin to heat a decent sized room you need at least 1000w - preferably more.

That's why I suggested a fan assisted convector heater with a thermostat - they are typically 1 - 2 kw.

Re: aki wall heaters
 

For our tiny shower room we have one of the wallmounted fan heaters recommended by playamonte, it heats it up really quickly -we put it on ten minuted before having a shower in the winter and leave it on ten minutes after to help dry the room.

No heating the rest of the time.

Re: aki wall heaters
 

My oil filled radiator is 1500w, with 2 heat settings. Even on full, it made hardly any difference in my living room - if I sat about a foot away from it, I could feel the warmth on my legs, but that's all!

Re: aki wall heaters
 

:( well I don't know what this woman is on about then, the ones I was looking at in carrefour were 2500w. Anybody got experience of this size? I personally love calor gas heaters but someone is staying here at xmas whos breathing is affected by them.

Re: aki wall heaters
 

Those in your photo are ok and have the advantage of being portable, though naturally have their limitations in big rooms.

I find they are great to use Spanish style by sticking them underneath a table where ppl.are gathered around, thereby utilising the power used and heat created to maximum effect.

Re: aki wall heaters
 

We split our lounge in winter as it is 8m long, use a 2kw fan heater to up the temperature to mid twenties switch that off and use a 2kw oil filled radiator to keep the temperature at that point. With the double glazed windows we had fitted it works a treat. Bathroom we just use a 2kw fan heater when we are in there.
Considering having aircon fitted in the lounge, how effective is the heating side for a large area? We use the aircon heat for the bedroom and it works a treat, that is an area of 18sq. metres but not sure about a larger area. Also like the cheap cost.

Graham

Re: aki wall heaters
 

I agree with you, as we have used these radiators and find that the heat just rises to the ceiling and sits there until it cools enough to fall back to the floor! I find a fan heater of the same power circulates warm air so at least we get the benefit of it, before it heads to the highest point in the room. I am tempted to invest in a portable gas heater for the winters from now on.

Re: aki wall heaters
 

If you have a ceiling fan switch it to the slowest setting with the air being circulated upwards, this recirculates the warmer air that has gathered there. It is a method used in many of the old factories in the UK.


Graham

Re: aki wall heaters
 

:confused: I can picture it now, the family all huddled around an oil filled rad trying to keep warm! :confused: You folks know how to live!;)

Re: aki wall heaters
 

I wouldn't be without ours.

Re: aki wall heaters
 

I've been in a couple of Spanish homes recently where they had just that - a small heater under the dining table to keep everyone warm whilst they eat (and these are fairly well-off people).

Re: aki wall heaters
 

We use wall mounted electric fan heaters, with variable heat and fan speeds,(they come with a remote) in our bathrooms. They look like mini A/C units.

They are, as far as I know purpose made for bathrooms, and are safe and efficient. They heat up the bathroom very quickly and as they are only on for a short while, whilst we shower, they are cheap to run.

Certainly do a better job than the old element type (ie the old Dimplex type we had in the UK years ago) that we had before these new ones.

All electric shops sell them.

Re: aki wall heaters
 

This sounds like a good solution! Will look into it.

We are having our wood burning stove fitted today and I am SO excited :) After ten years of being miserably cold at times in the winter I just can't wait to try it out!

Re: aki wall heaters
 

Throughout one winter I was attending a craft group in a large freezing cold room. We had two of these heaters under a long table and I was amazed that I was so warm. I thought that it would warm the front of our bodies and that our backs would be cold but I was warm all the way through. Amazing for such small devices.

Rosemary

Re: aki wall heaters
 

Someone told me that these can cause awful condensation, is that true?

Rosemary

Re: aki wall heaters
 

That depends on many factors such as ventilation.

What you cannot avoid is the fact that burning a 12.5kg bombona produces nearly 20 litres of water which has to go somewhere.