80% off your next heating bill ...

[TomS_]

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/koleda/solus-the-most-efficient-radiator-in-the-world

Looks like another industrial design project with outrageous claims again.

[StillTrying]

SOLUS will save you approximately 80% off the cost of your heating (compared with conventional water based radiators) and over 95% off the cost of your heating (if you heat your home with other electric radiators).

100% scam.

[timgiles]

So he is trying to say that the efficiency of normal electric heaters decreases by 80% over a long lifetime (shall we say 20 years) due to oxidisation. He admits in a recent update that new radiators are about 100% efficient as their radiator is. Total scam, complete rubbish. If you want an electric radiator that wont suffer from oxidisation just buy a oil filled radiator.... Does not need graphene or any other millennial super hero material to give the same benefit.

[frozenfrogz]

Are these the same guys that "invented" FONTUS?

BS levels seem comparable and maybe they moved from Austria to Switzerland xD

[ebastler]

So he is trying to say that the efficiency of normal electric heaters decreases by 80% over a long lifetime (shall we say 20 years) due to oxidisation.

Ah, right. As electrical heaters degrade, the lose efficency. And hence they convert part of the incoming electrical energy into unwanted... umm.. heat?!   

[radiolistener]

Turbo Encabulator

It's not cheap, but I'm sure the government will buy it 

[coppercone2]

So he is trying to say that the efficiency of normal electric heaters decreases by 80% over a long lifetime (shall we say 20 years) due to oxidisation.

Ah, right. As electrical heaters degrade, the lose efficency. And hence they convert part of the incoming electrical energy into unwanted... umm.. heat?!   

I think he means the constant voltage source that is your outlet puts less energy into a larger impedance so its not drawing as much power as it ages. Assuming of course the thermostat broke too. 

I think it looks cool though, and I wonder if their cermet has a longer life then metallic heating elements, and if any of the stuff about dust particles is true. I think he is confused between electric field attracting dust and magnetic field? Wtf is a 60hz magnetic field going to attract?

Is it safe? The red hot heating coils typically offer a naturally menacing appearance. Do you want a black piece of slate on the wall @ 100C+?

What if it malfunctions and goes lower impedance, where is the cage?? They set it up like a flat screen TV. Some one (kid) is going to run into that and turn into a panini when a hot piece of ceramic falls on him. This is a really BAD IDEA. 

I feel menaced having this in the home.

[wraper]

Any radiator is 100% efficient unless it transmits energy as radio waves or light that goes out through the window.

[coppercone2]

Any radiator is 100% efficient unless it transmits energy as radio waves or light that goes out through the window.

if you read what the author is saying, he says convectional heaters do. significantly. lol

[wraper]

Any radiator is 100% efficient unless it transmits energy as radio waves or light that goes out through the window.

if you read what the author is saying, he says convectional heaters do. significantly. lol

You first need to find any

(compared with conventional water based radiators)

he compares with.
...Or maybe he means those which are not operated by electricity but literally hot water?

[madires]

SOLUS will save you approximately 80% off the cost of your heating (compared with conventional water based radiators) and over 95% off the cost of your heating (if you heat your home with other electric radiators).

100% scam.

120% at least. And with an increasing cost of power (we're around 30ct/kWh) electric heating becomes less economical. It makes more sense to add solar collectors or other green sources to the central heating. BTW, all types of radiators work the same and the heat transfer is based on the difference of temperatures and the surface area. Most of the heat is transferred via convection and only a small portion via radiation. A flat SOLUS has much less surface area than a typical radiator with a sandwich of additional folded sheet metal and therefore can't transfer as much heat. Or in EE terms: a large heatsink keeps the transistor cooler than a small one.

[coppercone2]

Any radiator is 100% efficient unless it transmits energy as radio waves or light that goes out through the window.

if you read what the author is saying, he says convectional heaters do. significantly. lol

You first need to find any

(compared with conventional water based radiators)

he compares with.
...Or maybe he means those which are not operated by electricity but literally hot water?

The only benefits i see is high surface area, lack of metal offgassing from hot coils and burned dust because it seems like a pure convection apparatus. Without hot spots that dust is sucked into a d torched.

The attrotious safety issue aside from it being a mysterious slab of hot ceramic without a safety guard it has no moving parts and it should be more reliable.

I am interested in it but the marketing wank is INSANE. And you need tpuch protection on a 100c large area object. Apple cant get around thermal safety.

[wraper]

Frankly it looks like (nano graphene  ) cement or tile adhesive is spread and then covered with ceramic sheet. Must be real, LOL. Not to say it's not even spread decently, is is smeared on the bottom left corner. Not allowed to cure before covering as well.

[tszaboo]

Well, honestly, you need less heating when you use an IR heater. It provides comfortable feeling at lower temperature. You know, when you are outside, and its 15 degrees, while the sun is shining it's still comfy.
But that is no excuse for the buzzwords, and bullshit.

[StillTrying]

Well, honestly, you need less heating when you use an IR heater.

How much less, surely you don't believe their 95% electricity saving.
It's the equivalent of replacing a 1kW radiator with a 50 Watt light bulb, in practice a room already has various things radiating/convecting about 50W or more of heat.

[tszaboo]

Well, honestly, you need less heating when you use an IR heater.

How much less, surely you don't believe their 95% electricity saving.
It's the equivalent of replacing a 1kW radiator with a 50 Watt light bulb, in practice a room already has various things radiating/convecting about 50W or more of heat.

I dont think the overall saving is 95%. In fact in some places, where gas is cheap IR could be more expensive.

[StillTrying]

I dont think the overall saving is 95%.

No, it's higher!

SOLUS will save you approximately 80% off the cost of your heating (compared with conventional water based radiators) and over 95% off the cost of your heating (if you heat your home with other electric radiators).

Who wants a very slightly warmer face and freezing feet.

Just think, most of our monitors and TVs are already one of these radiators.

[EEVblog]

Accidentally created a new thread for this, now removed.
This is completely dodgy marketing
$439K raised!

[EEVblog]

Tempered glass front and back surfaces  glass has terrible thermal conductance 

[EEVblog]

SOLUS’ unique heating element has very little resistance and can directly convert fluctuating electrical currents into heat without the use of the electrical components common in other conventional radiators that decrease their efficiency.

WTF, bar and oil radiators are 100% efficient in turning electricity into heat.

[frozenfrogz]

Tempered glass front and back surfaces  glass has terrible thermal conductance 

There are specialized glasses with very good IR transmissivity e.g. Schott IRG.

However, most of the products efficacy is likely due to the amount of hot air it is full of. 

[EEVblog]

OXIDATION
As we discussed in our first update, conventional electrical heaters use metallic heating elements. Over time these heating elements begin to suffer from oxidation which reduces their efficiency over time.
When you heat a metallic heating element, you will see the element changes colour. This change in color is the effect of oxidation. This creates a Galvanic effect between the oxide and the heating element. This galvanic effect creates magnetic fields of various frequencies and the wire becomes less and less effective with each use, as it creates magnetic fields instead of heat.
So the effectiveness of a metallic heating element becomes less and less effective until it burns out, which you can see in any other electric radiator with metallic heating element.

The oxidisation creates "magnetic fields of various frequencies" 

[EEVblog]

Tempered glass front and back surfaces  glass has terrible thermal conductance 

There are specialized glasses with very good IR transmissivity e.g. Schott IRG.
However, most of the products efficacy is likely due to the amount of hot air it is full of. 

Either way it's a resistive element wedged between two glass panels, with some magic woo-woo coating, operating at low power (in order to save the 80-95% power!), with no fan to help with convection.

[EEVblog]

CURRENT

We use modified pulsed current for supply of our heaters. This current works by ‘pulsing’ meaning that it isn’t a constant supply. By utilising a pulsing supply we can reduce the amount of power being drained by the heater. Most electrical devices require micro components to convert this pulsed current into a usable form. Our unique heating element doesn’t need this conversion step, again allowing us to use less power to achieve a similar result.

RESISTANCE

The resistance of the heater is made with the maximum efficiency in mind. Additionally, normal conductors (heating elements) have different resistance values in cold and hot state. The resistance of our heater has the same resistivity both in cold and hot state. As a result our heater doesn't give fluctuations in the grid during its use. The electric resistance in our heater is adapted to the electric current from which it has to work.We have precisely measured the most effective regime of SOLUS. The tests were conducted in the Royal Technical University in Sweden (KTH).

Who gives a crap if you pulse the power, it doesn't make it magically more efficient by having some COP greater than one or anything 

[helius]

The BS is strong in that one.
Galvanic currents from oxides? RF emissions from resistance heaters? What's the VSWR?
"Grid fluctuations" (= bad PFC) by tempco of resistance heaters?