Choosing The Right Number and Size Panels

Choosing The Right Number Of Panels and Sizes For Your House Or Apartment

If you’re looking to provide the same effect as a central heating system, you need to count the number of zones in your home. A zone is an area of use, such as a room or a common area like a hallway or landing. There will be at least one panel per zone. If a room is L-shaped, then that may be considered as two zones.

A typical semi-detached house of about 1200 ft.² will have about 9 zones to heat: hallway, living room, dining area, kitchen, bathroom, 3 bedrooms, landing.

There’s no hard and fast rule on deciding exactly how many panels you need to heat a property. It may depend on the age of the property, the level of insulation, quality of windows, and design of the place. An older, damp terrace house may need bigger/more panels than a standard new build house, despite being the same size.

Generally speaking, Infrared panels can cope with draughty and high ceiling accommodation better than other forms of heating, as the energy is transmitted more to objects than to the air.

To calculate the wattage you need for a living space, you need to calculate the cubic meterage of a room. Do this by multiplying the width and length of a room by its height. We then multiply the cubic meterage by a nominal factor to get the wattage requirement.

An example living room: 4m length x 4.2m width x 2.4m height = 40.32 m3.

Then for standard properties we would multiply the cubic meterage by 30. (40.32 X 30 = 1210 watts.)

For new build properties, with relatively good insulation levels we multiply this by 25. (40.32 x 25 = 1000 watts.)

For places such as churches, halls or naturally colder areas (perhaps in the highlands!) we would multiply by 35. (40.32 x 35 = 1400 watts)

To compensate for the amount glass, we calculate conservatories with a factor of 50. (40.32 x 50 = 2000 watts)

Once you have worked out how much wattage you need, you can then look at which heaters you want to use to make up that wattage. To decide on this you need to consider a few factors. Personal preference on aesthetics will be a big consideration and the layout of the room will be a factor to consider as well.

You may also be influenced by the available power points or current electrics in the property. It may be an easier installation to just have one panel if you only have one plug socket available.

A big benefit of infrared heating is being able to adjust your heaters to make it work for you.

If you’re unsure what panels you need, get in touch with us on 0300 303 9625 or email us on office@warm4less.com.