HOW TO CALCULATE THE SIZE OF YOUR RADIATORS. AND HOW MANY DO YOU NEED
There are several factors that influence the heating needs of a home and you must take them into account when considering the installation of electric radiators.
LOCATION
A crucial factor will be the location of the building itself, since the climate has very different characteristics in different regions. We can consult a map of climatic zones that, according to these characteristics and based on the average temperature of each zone during the year, will inform us of the external conditions that our heating system will have to face.
INSULATION
This climatic zone will indicate the temperature outside our house, but if something will be decisive it is the transfer of heat between the interior and exterior of the house, that is its insulation. This has to do with the characteristics of the building such as the construction materials or the room arrangement, it is better that two adjacent rooms are at similar temperatures because the temperature will be better maintained; and a room facing the facade will always have more temperature exchange with the outside and, therefore, will need more insulating materials to maintain the comfort.
EXPOSURE TO THE EXTERIOR
For this reason it is easier to keep the heat in a flat than in a semi-detached house, and in a semi-detached house more than in an detached house or a loft, which is more exposed to the elements, since the latest has more surface contact with the cold outside. We assume that if our direct wall-to-wall neighbors also turn on the heating, that will cause our house to lose less heat due to thermal balance.
ORIENTATION OF YOUR HOME
Another factor that sometimes we do not consider is the orientation of the room, when it is facing north we will need more heating power to counteract the influence of the cold outside. Additionally the needs will not be the same in a low floor surrounded by taller buildings that dampen the inclement weather than in a more exposed location.
SIZE
Finally, we have to consider the area of the room that we want to heat since, obviously, the size of the room will influence the amount of heat that we must provide to warm it. Here the height of the ceilings plays a fundamental role since hot air is less dense than cold and tends to rise; therefore, in houses with with a high ceiling, more power will be needed to keep the lower air warm. Precisely because of this density phenomenon, it is important to differentiate whether the room has stairs or not, since if it does, it will be easier for hot air to leave it through the void they leave to access another floor.
OUR CALCULATOR
To facilitate this complicated task of calculations and considerations, at Haverland we offer our calculator to help you know the needs of your home, room by room. In this way, the optimization of your heating system will be maximum and tailored to your needs and those of the comfort of your home.
Also, if you are a professional, Haverland’s easy to use interactive BTU Calculator will help you decide the heating requirements of the projects which you work on, whether domestic or commercial. Once it has computed the heat requirement in British thermal units (BTU), the BTU Calculator can then convert the heat required figure to Watts. This will enable you to determine the electric radiator(s) you need in terms of heating output, type and number.
HOW MANY RADIATORS DO I NEED AT HOME
Once we know the needs of the room, we will simply have to make sure that the radiator we choose has the same or higher output as the one shown on the calculator.
