Hydro-Sil

[gadgetgary]

Just read about this in the newspaper this morning.
Does anyone know anything about these heaters?

The article states that you can replace the high cost of oil, gas and electric heat.

http://www.hydrosil.com/

 

[steved]

efficient, but pricey

Back in the late 1970's, my parents had a old house with a converted coal furnace that died, and we replaced it with these units.... they are like hot water baseboard heat, but electrically powered. I suppose they would be great for supplimenting your existing heating system as well. Even though the thermostat cuts the power when the temp is achieved, they continue to put off warmth from the heated liquid, without the dryness of regular electric baseboard heat

 

[petek]

Hmmmm, first off I see those little catch words "some" of the families have saved "up to" 50%. Which also can mean that "some" of the families will have saved less, much less, or even nothing. What is a hydroelectric heating element? Hydro comes from the Latin meaning water. A hydro electric power plant generates electricity from water.ie Niagara Falls but what if you get your power from a coal or nuclear plant.
From what I understand all electric heating devices are 100% efficient however if you have an all electric heated home or any type of central heat with only 1 thermostat you may be heating areas that you seldom use in effect wasting heat whereby using any space heater or baseboard with its own thermostat MAY save you money by allowing you to lower heat in underused areas. Nothing in this ad when read carefully is untrue however it is not any better than other similar types of liquid filled (oil or water) radiant heaters that I can see other than it may have more variable power usage selections.

 

[panthera]

Gary,

They are much more pleasant to live with than other forms of electric heating, that much is true.
Unfortunately, the 100% efficiency of electricity in, heat out tends to disguise the basic problem: Electric heat, however well modulated and distributed is still far more expensive than burning oil or gas.
Still preferable, if one must use electricity: modern heat pumps, solar heating, geo-thermal (don't know what you call that in the US, guessing) or wind/hydro-electric.
Unless you have to go this way, I wouldn't.

 

[gadgetgary]

I heat my home with a heat pump. I like this way of heating. At first, you have to get used to the air coming out of the vents to be 'body temperature', unlike the warm air of furnace(gas or oil).

Once you are over the initial shock of cooler air, the heating is just fine.

 

[jamiel]

Oh Pete Ontario Hydro would love you if you changed out for these LOL

 

[toggleswitch]

Electric resistance heat is electric resistacne heat. As stated abve, all types of it are 100% efficient at the point of use. As compared to the direct use of a fossil fuel however, electric resistance is woefully inefficient and expensive to run, in most area.

Methinks the way the referenced family saved money was by heating a few rooms (less space) rather than the entire house/space.

Think about this. If fuel oil is say $2.00 a gallon and kerosene is $2.00 a gallon, how can a kerosene heater save money versus a central oil-fired heating system? If you tell me efficiency of nearly 100%, I dont think allowing all the poisonous byproducts of combustion into the room is any great advantage in efficeincy, actually. So again any savings, IMHO is from the ability to heat a smaller space, overall. Kerosene heaters for resiential use were a huge health and fire hazard and appear to be banned in most areas.

 

[toggleswitch]

Statement: Even though the thermostat cuts the power when the temp is achieved, they continue to put off warmth from the heated liquid, without the dryness of regular electric baseboard heat.

Response: yes, this is the same heat that is stored in the liquid in the BEGINING of the heating cycle when the unit is first energized, yet not putting out any heat. (i.e. the heat is time-shifted. not free or generated out of thin air).