Myson Kickspace 800 Hydronic

[Christian McArdle]

Having calculated my kitchen heat loss, (2.5kW, with only a 900W TRV radiator fitted), I'm thinking of buying one a Myson Kickspace 800 Hydronic to help heat my kitchen. Has anyone installed one? Are they any good? Any alternative manufacturers I should know about? My budget does not extend beyond 200 quid and need 2kW with 60C difference on normal fan. Just how noisy are they? (Hydronic underfloor heating not practical, although I think I can squeeze in a low wattage electric mat to take the edge off the cold slate). There is absolutely no wall space available for conventional radiators or fan convectors.

I'll probably need another fan convector by the summer, too. I'm thinking of building a conservatory. With DG all round, I calculate I can get away with

3kW general heat loss. I've probably decided against underfloor, as it will be a dining room and I don't want it to be generally heated for long periods. I want to hit boost an hour before eating. For this, I was thinking of a Myson Lo-Line 14-10 (2.8-4.1kW variable), or even a Hi-Line 15-10 (2.9-4.4kW variable) above the door, if it will fit. Has anyone used these either, or been pleased with alternatives?

Christian.

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In article , Christian McArdle writes

Hi, I've fitted a couple of Myson kickspace heaters and had no major problems, they come with flexible hoses to connect to your copper, not too sure of the life of these so you maybe tempted to do away with them. My first one came with two front escutcheons, one white and one brown, the second one came without any and it had to be ordered separately so check when you order it. The noise on low speed is audible but by no means intrusive, on high speed it is more noticeable but still not too bad. The only minor problem I had was that one of them was in a room with a cold solid floor and I got the impression that as the warm air was coming out so close to the floor that as it blew across the floor it was being cooled. My second one blows out over carpet and seems warmer although I have done no accurate tests to prove this either way. If I have a situation where another one would suit I would be happy to fit it, they also provide an override so that it can circulate air in the summer, not a lot of use but better than nothing as the facility is there.

[gaz]

I considered fitting one during our 're-do' but after thinking about it I decided to fit a standard 2 kw fan heater instead. Much easier to fit, can be used without kicking up the rest of the system, or as a fan, and its instant. I know it is not as efficient as a device driven off the system, but at around £20 in total to fit it leaves well over £100 of electricity to use. I recon it would be replaced long before the break even point came up.

[IMM]

The flow temp must be very high, 80C ish, otherwise draughts may occur. Another point is that 22mm should be run as far to the unit as possible. they need the temp and the flow. Then they work very well indeed.

[IMM]

Kickspaces are easy to install. Best to have a wall room stat connected to it. See my other post on this.

Regarding UFH in a conservatory. A neighbour recently had a conservatory fitted. I suggested UFH in this, as the back wall of the conservatory was the garage. I also recommended insulating the garage wall on the inside with Cellotex too, to reduce heat loss of the conservatory in cold weather. This he did. He has a combi boiler delivering 13 litres/min. I also suggested installing alongside the UFH pipes 22mm plastic pipes too. In fact far more of it than the UFH, as much as could be installed in a large loop. This 22mm UFH pipe was to take in the cold water mains that supplies the combi. He fitted it all in 28mm to get more water volume under the floor. The advantage was that tin winter the UFH would heat the floor and the cold water mains would gain heat from the floor, pre-heating the combi water giving a higher flowrate. In summer, the sun playing inside the conservatory would pre-heat the 22mm mains pipe under the floor. Also the cold water entering would cool the floor cooling the conservatory.

The total volume of mains water in the pipes under the floor is about 30 litres. The conservatory came on line in August and immediately the rise in mains water temp was apparent just by the sun playing on the floor. The floor was notably cool, especially in periods when water was being drawn off. Also water absorbs 3-4 times more heat than masonry.

Now it is in winter the mains water is pre-heating by the UFH to well over

25C. Not bad. He fills his baths far faster, not to mention the savings on DHW bills too. Also the sun plays inside the conservatory, even when 3C outside and heats it up, heating the floor too, which in turn pre-heats the water supplying the combi. Very simple and very effective so far, and nothing to run and never goes wrong.

[Toby]

Interesting idea, but I guess the overall energy consumption hasn't varied, just been timeshifted a bit to even out the demand. Like those welsh power stations that pump water up mountains overnight.

[Christian McArdle]

According to Myson, the flow temperature simply determines the heat output. The table goes down really quite low. However, the flow temperature is likely to be high anyway (82-85C), as I need to set it so for the heat bank.

It will be 22mm to the heaters, a mixture of plastic and copper. Some of the run is shared with the rest of the house.

Christian.

[IMM]

It is a win, win all the way, even in economy.

- In summer the cold water mains is heated by the floor in the conservatory.

- the cold water mains also cools the floor in summer, by injecting the coolers water temp to the floor and as water absorbs 3-4 times as much heat as masonry, cooling the conservatory floor, hence the conservatory.

- In winter it acts as a pre-heat with heat being transferred from the UFH pipes and absorbed from a sun heated floor as winter sun takes the conservatory temps up very high.

- The combi doesn't need to works as hard in winter and raises the flowrates filling a bath faster.

- The combi lag at the taps (his combi doesn't have an integral pre-heat cylinder) is vastly reduced as warm to hot water enters the combi inlet for most of the time.

I suggested running two 22mm Hepworth non-barrier pipe loops in parallel storing quite a volume of water. he maged to get some 28mmm pipe in long coils super cheap so used that.

[Christian McArdle]

They'll be on independent programmable room stats, like the other heating zones. My overall programmer is set to 24H, so the room stat is required to be programmable.

No good for me. Firstly, the heat bank doesn't require additional heat capacity. Secondly, there would be no solar gain in its shaded north facing position. I doubt sunlight will ever touch the thing. (Which will be good for the paint, I suppose).

Christian.