Considering the options for electric heating of a house, apartment or cottage, you have probably come across such a variety of household appliances as quartz heaters and tried to find reviews of real users about them. The picture is as follows: people write on forums about personal experience in operating these electric heaters, but negative and positive responses are divided approximately 50/50. Given the interest of homeowners, fueled by manufacturers advertising campaigns, we propose to find out the real pros and cons of such heaters.
Types of quartz heaters
At the moment, users can buy in the stores or from manufacturers 2 types of quartz heating appliances:
- monolithic in the form of flat panels up to 25 mm thick with a textured pattern;
- infrared equipped with a heating element in a glass tube.
First of all, let's consider how the heater got the beautiful name “quartz”. The answer is simple: in the manufacture of both types of heaters, ordinary quartz sand is used. In an infrared device, a glass tube is made of it, where the electric heater is placed. In monolithic panels, sand is part of the solution from which they are cast.
For reference. The basis for the manufacture of any glass is natural silicon, it is also sand. You can call the windows in your apartment quartz and you will be right, because the translucent part is also made of sand.
In addition to the name, both varieties of heating devices have other common features:
- They use nichrome wire (an alloy of nickel with chrome) as a heating element.
- The devices are operated both in the wall and floor position on the stand.
- To limit the temperature in the room, the products are equipped with temperature regulators.
The principle of operation of monolithic heaters
The heating element here is a nichrome thread with increased resistance, enclosed in a non-combustible insulating sheath. It is embedded inside a slab made of a solution of sand and white kaolin clay. The mixture, placed in a special form, undergoes an operation of pressing and heat treatment (sintering), as a result of which a whole ceramic plate is obtained - a quartz heater with a textured pattern on the front side.
For reference. Manufacturers add various aggregates to the solution at their discretion, for example, dolomite or marble chips. The surface of the panel is painted in the desired color or remains in the basic version - white.
Along the perimeter, the plate is finished with a metal frame with rounded corners, where the disconnect key and the connecting cable with the plug are attached. Room thermostat is supplied separately from the stove (and paid as an option). The main technical characteristics of ceramic quartz heaters from different manufacturers practically do not differ and look like this:
- power consumption - from 400 to 500 W;
- Efficiency - 99% (almost all consumed electricity is converted into heat);
- weight - from 10 to 15 kg;
- maximum surface temperature - up to 98 ° С;
- overall dimensions (length / height / depth) - 60/35 / 2.5 cm;
- heating rate - 20 minutes (from +10 to +95 ° С);
- cooling rate - 1 ° C for every 2 minutes.
Note. In advertising, manufacturers amicably indicate daily electricity consumption of 2.5–3.6 kW. But in life this figure is not true, the actual energy consumption is higher.
The principle of operation of a monolithic quartz heater is simple: a nichrome thread warms up the entire panel to a maximum temperature, which is why heat is distributed throughout the room in two ways - convection (air heating) and using infrared radiation (heating all surfaces in front of the front panel of the device).
Monolithic electric panels are evolving, product quality is gradually improving. A vivid example is the new quartz-olivine heater of the Belarusian company Tepleya, which is distinguished by an attractive design. For production, the natural mineral olivine is used. At the international exhibition BUDEXPO - 2018, the heating device of this manufacturer received the diploma “Best Innovative Product of 2018”.
If a thermostat is connected to the device, then when the set air temperature in the room is reached, it will turn off the heating. The stove will go into cooling mode, during which intense heat transfer continues. When the temperature drops to the lower limit, the thermostat switches the appliance back on for heating.
In fact, a monolithic plate made of quartz sand with clay is a convective infrared heater that operates with an efficiency of 99% (like any other electric heater) and needs external control from a thermostat.
The principle of operation of the infrared heater
These household appliances have long been familiar to us by the name of the Swedish brand UFO, which has become a household name. The device is as follows: one or more glass tubes are installed horizontally (or vertically) in a metal elongated body, and nichrome heating filaments pass through them.
The semicircular surface behind the tubes is mirrored to reflect all the heat in one direction. Similar quartz heaters for home are equipped with built-in thermostats and work according to this algorithm:
- After turning on the device, the nichrome filament glows and generates heat in the form of infrared radiation traveling in one direction.
- First of all, surfaces and objects located in the zone of operation of a quartz heater are warmed up. Air receives heat from these surfaces, which is why its temperature is gradually increasing.
- When the temperature in the room reaches a threshold set by the user, the built-in thermostat turns off the heating element.
- When the air in the room begins to cool, the thermostat starts the heating process again.
For reference. Tubular heaters like UFO have nothing to do with quartz bactericidal lamps used in medicine, and therefore do not bring any benefit to human health, as well as harm. Hospital lamps during quartzization create a powerful stream of ultraviolet radiation that destroys any microorganisms.
The heating coil of the device emitting infrared radiation is placed inside the glass tube for safety reasons and to increase its service life. In the open air, a red-hot thread will burn out much faster than inside an inert gas bulb.
So, a tubular quartz heater is a representative of infrared heating devices, not designed for convective heating of air in a room. It is quite difficult to imagine the general technical characteristics of such devices, since they are produced in too wide an assortment.
About the disadvantages and advantages
Since our task is to determine the real pros and cons of quartz heaters, we will not repeat the manufacturers' advertisements, but highlight the negative and positive sides based on user feedback. Let's start with monolithic batteries, whose advantages are as follows:
- reasonable price of products (from 40 cu);
- the device does not create noise during operation;
- the simplest design, where the parts are monolithic deep into the slab, allows to reduce product maintenance to dust removal;
- the product is environmentally friendly, as it is made from natural materials;
- heaters, correctly selected in terms of power and quantity, quickly warm the room thanks to two ways of heat transfer - infrared radiation and convection.
Note. We deliberately do not indicate among the advantages of heating plates high efficiency, because it is inherent in all types of electric heaters. The fact that the heater does not burn oxygen when heating the air has long ceased to be an advantage, since similar disadvantages have been eliminated in other varieties of heaters.
Unfortunately, a solid list of advantages of monolithic heating appliances is leveled out by a list of disadvantages:
- Decent weight, like a small cast-iron radiator. When wall mounting, you need a reliable mount.
- The fragility of plates, often cracking and breaking into pieces at the stage of transportation. Cracks also occur after the first inclusion and heating of the plate.
- Unattractive design and plain appearance immediately make it clear that this is a budget product.
- The heater cannot simply be plugged into an outlet, otherwise it will constantly and uncontrolledly “plow” at full power. You need to buy a thermostat for a fee and connect it to the electric battery.
- Too high surface temperature (95 ° C) is fraught with burns, which is especially dangerous for young children. Again, you have to spend money on a protective screen.
A separate issue is the quality of manufacturing quartz heaters for a house or apartment, which is clearly visible on the back of the stove (shown in the photo). According to reviews, users often receive goods with peeling paint, cracks or without sockets in the kit, which does not add to its popularity. But worst of all, when an electric heater connected to the network breaks current with an accidental touch (there are also such ones). This makes it dangerous for all residents and even for pets.
For reference. In addition to quartz, pure ceramic heaters with a back reflective layer, convective screen and beautiful design appeared on the market. But their price is 50% or more higher, and they warm no better. That is, due to the rise in price, the design problem has been eliminated, but the efficiency has not improved.
Infrared tubular devices also do not make noise during operation (happens to crack slightly), but their design is more perfect than that of heating stoves. This is expressed by such advantages:
- instant heating of surfaces, bypassing the air;
- safety in operation;
- light weight and mobility;
- the presence of a built-in thermostat;
- attractive design;
- acceptable sizes;
- A wide selection of models and brands.
For reference. Due to the ability to quickly raise the surface temperature, infrared quartz heaters can be installed directly on the street in order to locally heat people.
At the price of such household appliances will cost more than panel ones, but they will not have to be understaffed. A significant drawback of the IR heater is that the space in the room is too slow; at first, a person is comfortable only in the area of the apparatus.
Which heater is better - recommendations for choice
If you find it difficult to choose between a monolithic and infrared heating device, then read our recommendations on this subject:
- When installing permanent electric heating in a private house or in the country, it is better to buy stationary quartz heaters in the form of stoves. One condition: products must be in harmony with the interior, otherwise you should think about another way of heating.
- For local and temporary heating of people in any room and on the street, a quartz heater of the UFO type is perfect.
- The best way to use monolithic panels is in combination with other heating. For example, during the day the house is heated with a stove or boiler, and at night with quartz heaters, and even at a cheap rate.
- Do not rely on infrared heating as the main way of heating a country or country house, where you are on short visits. While infrared devices warm up the building well, you will have time to finish your business and move back.
- Regardless of the type of quartz heater, choose the right devices for power. Do not believe in advertising and do not think that one 400 W stove will provide heat in a room of 10 m² in frosts of -5 ° C and below. She barely has enough "strength" to slightly raise the temperature and prevent you from freezing.
Tip. Choosing the power and number of quartz stove heaters for the middle strip of the Russian Federation, expect that for every cubic meter of the room in a warm house you need to allocate 40 watts of heat. A more accurate calculation of heating power is described in a separate manual.
One of the main recommendations is not to believe the numerous advertising statements of such a plan:
- our panel heats up in 20 minutes, and cools down for an hour, continuously giving off heat;
- our heater is 30-50% more economical than the rest;
- a device with a power of 500 W is enough to heat a room 10-12 m² (in reality - no more than 7 m²);
- our heater “winds up” no more than 2.5 kW of electricity per day, and the heat is in the apartment!
Counting example. For a room of 10 m² with a ceiling height of 2.7 m on the coldest days, you will need 10 x 2.7 x 40 = 1100 W of heat (that is, the same amount of electricity). In this situation, 2 monolithic heaters of 400 W each will work without interruption, wound 0.8 x 24 = 19 kW per day, and a comfortable temperature will not be reached. But even if you take not the maximum, but the average heat consumption per season and divide 1100 W in half, then you will have to spend 550 x 24 = 13200 W = 13.2 kW of heat per day for heating, whatever one may say.
Reviews from real users
The largest number of negative reviews was collected by monolithic quartz heaters, although among them there are also positive ones. If we discard fake responses, the average user rating is 3.5 on a five-point scale. Here are a few different examples:
Galina, Moscow.
I bought this “excellent” apparatus for heating a small covered terrace in the country, the area is only 6.5 m2. At a temperature of +10 ° C on the street, the room warmed up for so long that I was tired of waiting, the heat was felt only 10 cm from the heater surface. In addition, when unpacking the product, I discovered that paint had peeled off from it. Conclusion: the household appliance does not meet the declared characteristics.
Valery, Krasnodar.
We were looking for a suitable heater in the children's room, sorted through a lot of options and stumbled upon a quartz one. We decided to buy, since the price is affordable. Essentially: the device heats well and holds heat for quite some time, but at the same time it is shocking and very hot, not touching. How to put it in the nursery? They called the company, we were advised a protective screen, again the costs. Given the unpresentable appearance of the heater, the overall score is a four with a stretch.
Vera, the city of Mezhdurechensk.
We bought a quartz heater for testing in one of the rooms in a private house. It is distant, so the heat from the stove goes weak there. Installed, connected, checked and were satisfied. Now in this room you can sleep and not freeze. Although it is not known how the heater would have managed alone, without a stove. To check, you need to cool the house, but you don’t want to. I think to put another one in the corridor.
For reference. You can read more reviews and true ratings about quartz heaters on the pages of the well-known forum.
Often, negative feedback is caused by excessive trust in advertising and increased requests for a product of a budget price category. The second point is the unsuccessful selection of power in the calculation of the savings, which again promises advertising. It is advisable to find out the maximum reliable information about the product before buying. The most famous manufacturers of quartz heaters:
- TeplEko, St. Petersburg (RF);
- TeploPlit, St. Petersburg (RF);
- Texture, Nizhny Novgorod (RF);
- Teplopit (Republic of Belarus);
- Heat Center (Ukraine).
Conclusion
The choice of equipment in the field of electric heating of houses and apartments is extremely wide. Hence, competition arises between firms manufacturing various heaters — quartz, infrared, convectors, fan heaters, and so on. The struggle between them for the market is reflected in the end user, who hears beautiful, but untrue advertising and promises of sellers in stores. The conclusion is simple: when choosing, take your time, collect information, pay attention to the price of products and compare them with others. Then the purchase will not disappoint you.