Jeff.B

Hi AlanC, We are close to finalising the purchaes of our house in Brittany. Woodboring beatles have been found (not termites but longhorn, etc) so I have looked arounsd for info on treatment that I can carry out. This link may be usful info for you http://www.safeguardeurope.com/applications/woodworm.php or http://www.doityourselftermitecontrol.com/traditional.htm Are you sure what you bought is not a gel? Happy Terminating! Jeff

Chancer, that made me laugh! The image is horrible! Thanks for the info. J

Nice one, Pickles! Their model uses the Stefan-Boltzmann law and assumes a surface temp of 100 degrees C, and perfect black body characteristics. They multiplied this output by two because - they say - the panel emitts to the wall behind it, doubling the effect. Incidentally - you don't happen to be the Beara Pickles from Devon - now in 87? Cheers Jeff

No, nor mine - and you're dead right, Derek, blinding people with science in order to sell a product is a bit disingenuous, and can put people off what may be a perfectly good product. I suppoes the term 'efficient' is used loosley here, I think it's the conversion of electrical energy to 'heat' energy (what we want) that is being described. A heat pump certainly delivers more heat kWh's than the electricity kWh put in - this is the coefficent of performance (CoP) talked about with these systems. I know this is true because I've monitored an air-to-water heat pump for the last 14 months. Electrical energy is used to upgrade low temp air to a higher temp that then heats water. The refrigerant used determines the resulting performance. I have no doubt that the complexity of the physics invloved in heat pumps has a negative effect for people looking to buy them - it's just hard to expliain in layman terms - but they are efficent. You will get 3-4 times more heat from these per unit of electricity, than you will from a 1kW bar electric fire. Heat pumps were rubbished quite a bit at one time - easy to do with complex science - but they are becoming established in mainstream heating outlets now because of their proven record. I'd like to think these IR panels genuinely do perform as described since space heating consumes the largest amount of energy in most homes,so could save people money and help reduce carbon emissions. Apparently, a 12 month study into the performance of these infrared panels is due to be released - should be interesting reading and I'll post a link when it's available.

That's cheap to operate, Poolguy. You're dead right, I will certainly be looking to insulate as much as I can get squeezed into the place. Do you have a woodchip burner? Combining solar thermal with the other heating systems seems a good idea - I'll also be looking into what financial assistance is available for energy conservation now. Cheers

Hallo Derek - this is what they claim. Example: Redwell IHS 600 panel, surface area: 100 x 60 cm = 6000 cm2. 6000 cm2 x 0.22 Watts = 1320 Watts equivalent heating capacity on the front side of the heating panel. The rear side of the panel produces approximately half as much heat as the front side so: 1320 x 1.5 = 1980 Watts equivalent heating output for the whole panel Based on this calculation, the Redwell IHS 600 provides the same amount of heat as a 1980 Watt (≈2Kw) electrical convection heater. An energy saving of nearly 70% = 1/3rd of the energy required. They are making a comparison with the convection heater just so people can visualise the amount of heat-output. It is clear they do mean 600W provides 1980W of heat - i.e. they are over 300% efficient. I originally asked if anyone had real experience with these panels for feedback on these claims. I love this stuff - it's a very meaty subject!

Thanks Nick, I take your point - but Redwell are claiming that for every 600W electricity input, there is 1980W heat delivered. Is that just over 300% efficient? You sound like you know about heating - do you have any advice/suggestions for what route to take to heat a 400 cubic metre stone house as cheaply as possible? Cheers Jeff

Thanks maude, that made me laugh! Yes they are expensive to buy initially, I finally managed to get a price guide from the distributor - from around £400 for basic 350W, to £700-800 for 900W. The pretty picture ones cost more. The point is how efficient they are at providing adequate warmth per unit of electricity. The factsheet from Redwell suggests very good efficiencies - comparable or better than mains gas, and I wondered if anyone had some personal experience of these infrared units that may confirm this. Currently, the CH heasting in our house is from an oil boiler - ok if the house were fully insulated (I will be working on that) but we wanted to provide secondary provision for times the CH is not on, especially in the bathrooms. Trying to decide on the best mix of heating provision is not the easiest task in older properties, I'm sure many folk in France also want to know how to spend their cash in order to provide the best heating options for their buck in the long term. Sorry, I've gone off on one here - I didn't mean to write a tome, but it is a complicated subject. BFN Jeff

Hallo folks, Very soon to be moving to Brittany (can't wait)! Has anyone installed Redwell Infrared heating panels in their properties? They are made in Austria and look great; the blurb suggests they are fairly cheap to run, and easy to install. I need to provide some secondary heating in our property - something you can just turn on and off as required - these look ideal. It would be useful if someone has experience of using them before splashing out cash - here's a link to Redwell: http://www.redwellheating.com/ Many thanks Jeff

Hallo all - new member. My wife and I are about to sign the compromis-de-vent on a property in Brittany. There are 2 hectares of pasture that we think a neighbouring farmer had permission to put his cows on in the past - we need the land for our animals. we have not yet asked the question of his right to use the land in future, but if this is the case we could not accept the condition. Has anyone any information about nullifying such a right of access? Kind regards Jeff