The issue of alternative heating is relevant for residents of apartments, private houses and cottages. Heaters save in the cool off-season or become the main source of heating. Among the wide variety of models, customers are increasingly choosing quartz products.
What are their advantages, what are the features of their device and application? We will answer these questions, as well as give practical advice on how to choose a quartz heater for domestic use.
Thinking about buying, you need to determine the type of unit, compare its parameters with the upcoming operating conditions and evaluate the proposals of leading manufacturers.
Classification of aggregates from quartz
A quartz heater is a practical modern device for arranging alternative heating, which in its composition has elements of quartz sand. It can serve as both the main and auxiliary heating equipment.
For proper functioning, it is connected to the electric network and creates comfortable heat by passing current through an element with high resistance. Demonstrates an impressive level of efficiency and does not burn oxygen.
Progressive models of quartz heaters have a convenient thermostat. It allows you to control the heating and allows the owners to set the most acceptable temperature for themselves.
It works on a resistive principle and is considered the safest for users, since it does not generate a magnetic field and does not heat metal accessories that are on the clothes of a person who has come too close to the unit.
Reasonably consumes electrics and makes it possible to save on utility bills without sacrificing personal comfort.
Manufacturers of heating equipment today offer two types of quartz aggregates: infrared and monolithic (MKTEN). Both devices perfectly cope with the tasks and have their own positive qualities.
The choice is left to customers and depends on financial capabilities and future intended use of equipment.
Features of infrared modules
A quartz infrared heater for the home operates by transferring heat to the environment through infrared radiation. In the process of absorption of radiant energy, the surfaces in the room are heated, and then transfer heat to the air.
This principle of operation is much more efficient and economical than convection, since the resource is spent on heating the useful area and is not spent on heating an unused ceiling space.
With intense heating, the spiral in infrared quartz devices glows in red-orange light. The bulk of people don’t even notice this, but some complain of pain in the eyes and discomfort
Using an infrared unit, you can heat the building you need locally, that is, turn on the equipment only in those rooms that currently require heat, without resorting to heating the entire residential complex.
The effect is observed almost immediately and remains for a long time after disconnecting from the outlet. Thanks to these features, the appliance is ideal for heating a summer house, where the owners do not live year-round, and only sometimes come to relax for a few days.
Varieties of IR devices
The heating element in quartz infrared heaters is a nichrome, tungsten or carbon spiral. In open devices, it is wound on a ceramic base, behind which a reflector is placed.
Units of this type intensively burn oxygen and are characterized by a high level of fire hazard. Using them is strictly not recommended.
In closed-type modules, the working element is the same spiral, only enclosed in a sealed tube made of durable quartz glass. The air from there is completely evacuated and oxygen is not burned. The device shows high efficiency and easily copes with heating small rooms.
To heat evenly distributed throughout the room, and not concentrated in one place, an infrared quartz heater is recommended to be suspended from the ceiling or mounted on a tripod with the possibility of rotation
If the heater is located in a place accessible to people, children or pets, the radiator must be equipped with additional protection: a transparent partition or a metal mesh. This avoids accidents and protects residents from burns.
Quartz infrared heaters are stationary and portable. Stationary are fixed to a specific place in the room and there they work in a constant mode. Portable ones provide the opportunity to heat a specific room at a specific time convenient for owners, for example, at the time of arrival at an unheated cottage
The main drawback of the model is the excessively strong heating of the tube during operation - up to + 700 ° C. The dust settled on it immediately begins to burn, and an unpleasant pungent smell spreads in the room.
If the device is rarely used, for example, only for heating a summer house, where the owners visit only on weekends, you need to carefully consider how to protect the pipe from dust. Otherwise, immediately after switching on, you will have to actively ventilate the room and “drive out” burnt aromas, and with them useful heat.
When planning to purchase an infrared quartz heater, you must definitely ask the seller to present a hygiene certificate for the equipment. If this document is not available, and the warranty period does not exceed one and a half years, the issue of purchase should be considered again and more carefully.
Another disadvantage of the device is the instability of the quartz tube to moisture and sharp temperature drops. Constantly working in difficult conditions, she quickly loses her physical characteristics and fails. Experts say that repairing a damaged unit is not practical. Buying a new module is much cheaper.
One of the options for infrared heating equipment is a device with a heating element mounted in an anodized profile. Outwardly resembles a conventional daylight lamp and easily fits into the interior of any complexity.
The main element during operation does not heat up to red and creates soft scattered radiation. It is environmentally friendly, does not burn oxygen and, due to a completely closed working part, never provokes fire hazard situations.
Infrared heaters with heating elements are used to heat houses, dachas, greenhouses. Moreover, the equipment provides not only high-quality heating, but also pleasant, diffuse lighting, to which both ornamental plants, and vegetable crops or berries respond perfectly
The unit has practically no drawbacks and the only thing that reproaches it is easy crackle during intensive use. The “sound” effect has nothing to do with structural flaws or some kind of malfunction.
It arises because the stainless steel from which the heater is made, and the aluminum used in the manufacture of the plate, have different expansion coefficients when heated.
A detailed classification of infrared heaters and tips for choosing the right model are given in this article.
The reason for the popularity of technology
Quartz infrared heaters are very popular in the market for the following reasons:
- Products are not too heavy and practically do not take up space in the room.
- Installation does not require special knowledge, experience and expensive tools. One person can easily cope with the installation, and it will not take a lot of time.
- Devices demonstrate one of the highest levels of efficiency (up to 95%) and provide instant heating of the room immediately after switching on.
- The absolute fire safety of closed modules allows installation even in children's rooms.
- Products have a thermostat and a remote control function. The owner through the Internet or smartphone can independently set the device a specific program, and then monitor its implementation.
- The ability to organize a comfort zone in a certain part of the room without resorting to heating the entire room.
Compared to other versions of portable heating equipment, an infrared quartz unit works several times faster than a heat fan or an oil heater.
Monolithic model: device and parameters
The second type of quartz heaters is monolithic products. We will examine in detail their device, the principle of operation and the nuances of use.
Design and operation features
The quartz monolithic heater has a simple design and consists of such elements as:
- main heating element - a nichrome spiral (an alloy of nickel and chromium enriched with silicon, iron, aluminum and manganese), which has an impressive resistivity, an increased level of heat resistance, good ductility, durability and reliability;
- monolithic plate - heavy (about 12 kg) rectangular fragment made of quartz sand.
When assembling the unit, the nichrome spiral is equipped with the corresponding connecting parts and fasteners, and then they are laid in a zigzag shape and filled with a liquid solution of quartz sand.
Then the workpiece is placed under the press, give the desired shape, thoroughly dried and subjected to intensive high-temperature processing in the furnace. The finished product has clear parameters for length and width (60 * 35 cm), and the thickness of the plate is 2.5-3 cm.
A monolithic quartz heater belongs to stationary devices and does not provide for constant transfer to different rooms. Manufacturers complete their models with special durable brackets for convenient mounting the unit on the wall
The equipment is absolutely fireproof, since the heating element is located inside the quartz slab and does not come into contact with the external environment. The mounting area of the power cable is also completely closed.
This design feature eliminates the breakage of the heating coil and reduces to zero the risk of a short circuit in the system.
The durable nickel-chromium alloy of which the heating element is made allows the device to warm up to 100 degrees and minimizes the chance of spiral burnout. This extends the life of the device and makes it more reliable.
Almost all modern models of monolithic heaters have a special coating that provides the device with a high level of moisture resistance. This quality allows you to mount the equipment not only in living rooms, but also in the bathroom or in the kitchen.
Quartz sand quickly accumulates thermal energy, and then for a long time gives it to the space of the room in the form of infrared radiation. Even after disconnecting from the power supply, the device continues to radiate useful heat for about an hour and warm the room
With all its bright advantages, monoliths also have disadvantages.
Drawback number 1. The weight of individual models reaches 13 kg, and this significantly limits the range of places where you can install the unit.
Thin interior partitions or false walls made of drywall simply can not withstand the load and go cracks, forcing the owners to additional expenses for redecorating.
Drawback number 2. The surface of a monolithic plate during operation is heated up to + 80 ... + 120 ° С. Touching it by negligence, you can harm yourself and get very burned.
In places where families with small children or pets live, the installation of such equipment is unacceptable without a special protective screen that will make the fire stove inaccessible, without affecting the level of efficiency of the device itself.
Drawback number 3. Lack of remote control also creates certain problems. But in most of the devices there is not even an on / off button, and they are directly connected to the outlet using a conventional power cable with a plug at the end.
Some manufacturers nevertheless display a toggle switch on the external panel to activate the equipment, and in addition, they offer customers to purchase a thermostat with a regulator, which allows controlling the level of heating and spending energy more economically.
Alternatively, you can connect the heater through an outlet with a thermostat.
Technical Parameters of Monoliths
The standard monolithic heating device has a size of 61 * 34 * 2.5 cm and weighs about 10 kg. Heating starts immediately after plugging the cable into a power outlet. After 20 minutes, the stove reaches its maximum operating temperature (about + 90 ° C) and fills the room with comfortable heat. The rated power of the unit is 0.5 kW.
A high-quality monolithic type heater keeps its shape perfectly and does not crack during operation. If the slab has peeled off and has lost its integrity, then this is a fake and in its manufacture not gypsum quartz sand was used, but gypsum, whitewash, marble chips or cement
To heat a 16-meter room with a normal ceiling height, one monolithic module is enough. Complete with equipment are three brackets (two lower and one upper). With their help, you can quickly and reliably mount the device on the wall and immediately begin to operate it in full mode.
Do not freeze in the winter, but at the same time, the thermostat allows economical use of electrics. Sometimes it comes bundled with the equipment initially, or you can buy it in a specialized store and install it yourself at home.
If a large room or a whole house / apartment needs high-quality heating, an integral heating system is created from several monoliths with a parallel connection of each device to a common complex.
Management of such equipment is carried out automatically by means of thermoregulating devices.
Who makes quartz equipment
Quartz aggregates are offered in the widest assortment on the heating equipment market, however, many of them were brought from China and do not have any documents confirming the quality of the product and its suitability for use at home.
Buying such models is not too reasonable, since no one knows how safe the radiation emitted by them is.
Quartz heaters from China attract with their appearance and low price. However, it is almost impossible to obtain a guarantee on them, because the service centers of these firms do not work in Russia
In order to protect yourself and your family from additional problems, it is better to take the equipment in company stores where products from official Russian, Belarusian and foreign manufacturers are offered.
TeplEco plant module
TeplEko - the only Russian company manufacturing cost-effective heating equipment from natural quartz sand with a high degree of purification.
Products that have rolled off the brand’s assembly line are fully compliant with the requirements of TU 3468-001-89101774-2009 and GOST RMEK 60335-2-30-99, GOST R 51318.14.1-99, GOST R 51317.3.2-99, GOST R 51317.3.3 2008. The devices are absolutely safe (class 1 for electrical protection and fire safety) and are suitable for operation in residential premises.
TeplEko quartz aggregates are in great demand. Even such a well-known person, as a member of the club of experts and the owner of the Crystal Owl, Alexander Druz, heats his house with the help of TeplEco products
The company’s website contains all permits for the right to produce heating equipment, as well as certification certificates, patents and hygienic conclusions confirming the environmental friendliness of the product and its complete safety for human health.
The TeploEko quartz heater is a practical heating device that provides high-quality heating of the room with loyal consumption of electrics.
The distinctive features include the following parameters:
- base power - 400 W
- actual energy consumption per day - 2.5-3.5 kW / h
- weight - 12 kg
- textured front
- a frame on the edge of the product treated with white powder paint to ensure reliable electrical protection
- on / off button, located so as not to catch the eye
- Power cable that can withstand intense operating loads (up to 380 V) and the highest possible (about 120 ° C) operating temperature
The temperature control device is not included in the basic set, but if desired, it can be purchased for an additional fee and, having installed, make the use of equipment even more convenient and comfortable.
TeplopitBel Belorussian manufacturer
Goncharenko Roman Mikhailovich, a Belarusian manufacturer and supplier of heating equipment, a private entrepreneur, offers clients who are unable to organize a gas heating system in their homes or cottages quartz appliances for comfortable heating of premises.
The company creates modern competitive appliances. Their main “trick" is a large area of the radiating surface, increased due to the application of natural quartz chips.
This technology has no analogues and is the property of the manufacturer (patent No. 11053, registered in the state register of useful inventions of the Republic of Belarus).
Quartz heaters manufactured by the Belarusian manufacturer are made in a variety of colors and, in addition to heating the room, can serve as a spectacular and catchy element of interior decor
The heating element is made of pure quartz sand of high quality (confirmed by a certificate of quality) having high thermal conductivity. Marble chips present in models of other manufacturers and significantly lowering the thermal conductivity are not used in the Belarusian device.
Unit TeplopitBel quickly accumulates electrical energy and converts it into heat. Due to the combination of low consumption and high efficiency, it belongs to energy-saving heating systems. Marked with a diploma of the construction exhibition "Eurorepair-2016" as a unique heating apparatus.
The heating quartz module TeplopitBel is a cost-effective purchase for both home and cottage.
Among its main advantages, such positions as:
- rated power - 0.25 kW
- electric consumption in 1 hour - from 0.25 to 0.4 kW / h depending on the model
- large size of the surface radiating heat - 312 mm
- unit temperature indicators (COP) - 75-98%
- the ability to heat an area of 10-12 m
- complete cooling after shutdown - 40-60 m
- fire safety
- environmental friendliness
- heat-resistant lacquer coating to enhance strength
- the ability to mount equipment on the wall
- attractive appearance (can be purchased in any color scheme at the request of the client)
- weight - 11 kg
Economical energy consumption and a high level of efficiency allow you to efficiently heat the room without spending a lot of money on utility bills.
Quartz UFO Equipment
Turkish company NNR makes heaters for many years. Since 2004, the manufacturer has been operating in the Russian market and has been offering customers a wide range of quartz infrared units of various sizes and configurations.
Models are available for installation on the floor, for wall or ceiling mounting, designed to create comfortable conditions in homes, summer cottages or in production halls.
New heater UFO CITY suitable for heating any type of premises up to 23 sq.m. The minimum life of a heating lamp is 6,000 hours, and the power does not exceed 1700 watts.
Installation is available in three ways:
- floor - is placed on a vertical bar having a four-blade base;
- wall - on brackets fastens to a bearing wall;
- vertical or horizontal - can be placed in both versions, depending on the wishes of the owners; there is no loss of efficiency.
The device has a convenient thermostat that allows you to adjust the level of heating and save energy. Moisture protection IP 24 allows the use of the device in the bathroom without the risk of a short circuit and other unpleasant situations.
For safety reasons, the front of the panel is protected by a durable grill and is not accessible for accidental touches.
The UFO infrared quartz apparatus does not emit any harmful substances during operation, quietly withstands intense loads and provides comfortable warmth around the clock
The unit is easy to disassemble / assemble and does not require specific maintenance. You can pack it in the trunk of a car and take it with you to the cottage, where there is no central heating. In just 15 minutes, he will warm up the room and will maintain the temperature until the owners are about to leave for home.
On our site there is a series of articles devoted to the selection and description of the characteristics of various household heaters. If you have not decided on the model of the device, we recommend that you familiarize yourself with:
- Which heater is better to choose for home and apartment: a comparative overview of units
- How to choose a mycothermal heater: overview of types and selection tips
- How to choose a convector heater: a comparative review and recommendations before buying
How to choose a quality quartz heater and not run into a Chinese fake? Useful recommendations and tips from a representative of TeplEco, which has been selling heating equipment on the Russian market for many years.
Details of the installation and operation of an infrared quartz heater in the bathroom. Feedback and honest opinion of the real person who installed the equipment at home.
A detailed description of quartz heaters and ways to save electricity on home heating systems.
The choice of a quartz heater for a summer house or home is not complicated, but requires attention. When buying, you need to know what specific area the module is designed for and not to purchase equipment based solely on price.
Too weak a device will not cope with heating a large room, and a large one will create a hot and stuffy atmosphere in a small room.
It is better to focus on the numbers indicated by the manufacturer in the accompanying documents, and purchase a heating device clearly for the parameters of your home. This is the only way to create truly comfortable, cozy conditions in a house, apartment or cottage.
Looking for a quality and efficient quartz heater? Or have experience using such devices? Please leave comments on the article, ask questions and participate in discussions. The contact form is located below.