Don’t let heat hang on your home’s ceilings

Press, 13 April 1978, Page 13

Don’t let heat hang on your home’s ceilings

Energy is New Zealand’s most precious commodity. Every day we are urged to conserve energy, yet every day a considerable amount of valuable electric power is wasted through inefficient heating methods.

Many heaters are kept running much longer than necessary to maintain a comfortable room temperature. In many rooms the warmest place is up near the ceiling. There is often 20 degree difference in temperature between ceiling and floor level — yet it is at floor level where we want to keep our feet warm.

Bar heaters, which are common in most homes, heat the air immediately in front Of them. This

rises to the ceiling and hangs there. In an average room there will be several stratas or layers of air with different temperatures. This can be proved by climbing up a ladder.

To obtain the greatest efficiency in heating, warm air should be kept circulating. The most efficient — and cheapest — method of heating a room by electricity is to use a thermostatic heater. This is pre-set at the required temperature and automatically switches off when this point is reached.

This means there is no waste of electricity to over-heat the room. If the thermostatic heater contains a fan system — to circulate the warm

air — this is even more efficient because it immediately breaks up the layers of varying temperature and brings the hot air down from the ceiling to floor level where it can keep our hands and feet warm.

Power authorities support the use of thermostatic heaters becase they conserve electricity, make more efficient use of energy and reduce running costs. Power bills today are expensive. Fan assisted termos' tically controlled heaters are much cheaper to run than other types of heaters and will cut several dollars off household power

It is possible today to have underfloor thermos-

tatically controlled fan assisted heaters installed at a comparatively low cost.

These can go into existing homes or into new homes without difficulty. One type available in New Zealand not only warms the air as it circulates, it cleans it too. This works on a simple principle. A small vent on one side of the room sucks in air. It goes through a filter to clean it, passes over a black element which heats the air and then delivers it back into the room cleaned and wanned, through another grill on the opposite side. This means warm air Is circulated all the time and no electricity is wasted just to put warm air on the ceiling. The thermostat in this convoy type of heater also ensures no electricity is used making the room warmer than you need it. There are also wall mounted thermostat controlled heaters available which carry out similar operations and which also deliver the warm air along the floor so that again the layers of heat are nett allowed to sit on the ceiling.

For the economy of the country and for the economy of the household fuel bills thermostatically controlled heaters should be standard in every home. Then we will not be using precious energy to keep the ceiling warm.