The British have so many more radiator options than we do here in the States. This one's new to us: it's the Marble Heating Company's stone radiator.
The design takes advantage of the heat retention properties of natural stone. The radiators become almost architectural, as large, solid, slabs of stone...
The slabs are warmed with electric heat, retaining it and distributing it through a space. The Marble Heating Co. states that in any given hour, the actual heating element is working for only 10 to 15 minutes. The rest of the time, the stone is slowly releasing heat.
The stone radiator design won the Product of the Year award at the Design and Decoration Awards in 2005.
Copyright © 2008 Apartment Therapy
They have all that and yet their homes are all cold and damp.
view SeanG's profile
Anything heating by eletricity uses exactly the same energy...a lot, since electric heat is 3-4 times as expensive as gas or oil. It makes absolutely no difference how the heat is transferred to the destination. So this is no different, efficiency-wise, than a space heater.
The manufacturer's claims such as "10 or 15 minutes" are meaningless. Compared to what? At what thermostat setting?
That said, like oil-filled space heaters, no doubt the quality of the heat is soothing. Albeit at a price.
view chandru's profile
It's hard to tell anything with such tiny pictures.
view Matilda's profile
The manufacturer's claims such as "10 or 15 minutes" are meaningless.
Indeed! Heaters set to a thermostat don't run constantly anyway. The heater heats the air... then it turns off until the air cools to a certain level. How long it runs depends on your settings and your interior air circulation.
I'd love to hear how far from the stone the heat actually goes. Maybe I'm skeptical from too many years with iron radiators, where the 3' next to the radiator is toasty hot, while frost is forming on the other side of the room.
view wende in phoenix's profile
Which reminds me...I "branded" myself on the bathroom radiator the other day. I have to do something about that.
ouch ouch ouch
view I Love Upstate's profile
They're expensive but the quality of the heat is fantastic and I think the running costs are relatively low, particularly compared to a convector or similar. They installed beautiful white granite radiators from LVI (the Galle range) in my engraving workshop and it's toasty warm. I daydream about putting them into my flat...
view Laurita's profile