Most other electrical heating systems - including night storage heating - use heated convected air to warm a room. This is generally inefficient, unhealthy (especially for allergy sufferers) and expensive. Suka heaters copy the sun and use radiant heat which is healthy, very efficient and very economical. Remember in winter when the sun is shining and the air temperature is near freezing, your skin soon warms up when exposed to the radiant heat of the sun. In the alps skiers actually sunbathe without problems even though the air temperatures are low! Radiant heat warms up the walls and the furniture of your home as well as you and so only occasional top-up heat is required. A stone warmed by the sun will hold its heat far longer than a stone warmed by warm air!
The unique Chamotte fire-clay energy cells with the embedded heating elements inside all Suka heaters, work together with a finely tuned thermostat, to provide fast, healthy radiant heat to warm up the room to the desired comfort level. After that, only the top-up heat is generated and radiated out. So on average, you will only need about 15 minutes of electricity consumption for 60 minutes of warmth. Our free demonstration will convince you in no time just how efficient Suka heaters are.
If you require heating at night when the Economy 7 tariff is valid, then naturally Suka heaters only use Economy 7 electricity, provided of course that your electricity meter is correctly set. This is generally only a small job for your electrician.
No. With the Suka heating system, the thermostatic control allows you to turn the heat down to a comfortable level of background heat. The heating "top-up" process used by Suka means that very little if any electricity will be used at night. When you awake, the room is not cold and if you require more heat then by turning the control knob up a little, the room will soon be as warm and cosy as you require. By heating up from a temperature of say 15 ° C to 20 ° C requires much less energy than heating up from cold.
If you are changing over fully from night storage heating to Suka heaters, then it makes sense to use the existing cabling. Your electrician will need to provide sockets for the Suka heaters (although Suka heaters can also be hard wired) and also needs to make some minor corrections in the meter box.
Suka heaters come in many different sizes and power ratings to suit all heating requirements. Check "Suka heating system - The range" for more details.
The wider the heater the more surface area is available and an even better distribution of radiant heat is possible. This means that the wider heaters are even more economical in the running costs. Unfortunately some houses do not have the wall space to take the larger heaters and so a smaller one can be fitted without sacrificing on power output.
Each Suka radiator is fitted with a sensitive thermostatic control made up of a control knob at the top of the side panel and a finely tuned feeler or sensor which slightly protrudes from the base of the control panel. The sensor continually measures the air temperature at floor level (where it is always coldest) and sends signals to the thermostat to increase or decrease the heat, according to the setting of the control knob. This permits YOU to be in control of the level of warmth YOU feel is most comfortable for YOU!
It all depends on which heaters you require. Suka heaters cover a wide power spectrum from 0.4 Kw output to 2.5 Kw output. A small heater can cost less than €500 and a whole set for a house can cost between €2,500 - €3,500. The investment cost is comparable and usually cheaper than a normal central heating system using Gas or Oil. With Suka there are no maintenance and service contracts required, no repairs and no redecorating to worry about. So comparing "whole life costs" of: Capital Investment + Maintenance costs + Running Costs ,
Suka works out the least expensive and has the least amount of trauma with the installation. Remember, when comparing costs with other systems, make sure you always take into account all future costs. Running costs for gas and oil have increased a lot more than costs for electricity and are likely to continue to do so for years to come.
On average it takes about 45 - 60 minutes to completely install an Suka heater to the wall and install the cable and plug. A very fast and clean job, with the least amount of inconvenience to you. We hope soon to introduce ready cabled heaters which just need a cable with two plugs, so that anyone can install the heaters as no internal electrical work will be required. (see 13)
Of course! All Suka heaters are delivered with a 10 year manufacturer backed guarantee of quality. Provided you have not misused the Suka heater, then we will simply replace the defective heater within the guarantee period with a new one, without cost to you. The guarantee is also of course transferable to new owners should you sell your property within the guarantee period.
The Suka heaters have a simple but effective fixing system which can be used on most walls including even plasterboard! Only with cob walls or similar, do we recommend to use castors or feet. See "Suka heating system - The range"
Whilst most people can master fixing the Suka heaters to the wall without any problems, under new Building Regulations, one does require a qualified electrician to install any complex electrical system. Suka heaters come with the 3 metre long cable pre-installed but without a plug in case the user needs to hard wire them.
We usually aim to deliver and install your Suka heaters within 2 - 3 weeks of confirmation of your order. We are looking at ways to shorten this, by delivering from stock, without incurring extra expenses for warehousing. Should you require delivery much later, then that is no problem, as once you have paid a holding deposit, you automatically receive price protection on your order for up to 12 months! Due to the increasing demands for steel in China and India, the price of steel is continually rising (80% in the past year alone), so get your price protection as soon as possible.
All Suka heaters conform to rigid safety regulations in the manner of manufacture as well as usage as prescribed by the German authorities. All Suka heaters have VDE (Association of German Electrical & Electronic Engineers), GS (Proven Safety) and CE (Certificate of Electrical Suitability) certification.
Each internal energy cell is linked with wiring containing sensors, which automatically switch the heater (or that section) off should the heater suddenly start to overheat, if for example some clothing has covered a section of the heater.
The German manufacturer of the Suka heaters first introduced this type of heating to the German market in 1973. Since then many hundreds of thousands of these heaters have been successfully installed all over Europe.
Simple, just contact us for a local consultant to visit you with a demonstration heater. This is completely FREE and without obligation. FEEL and EXPERIENCE for yourself how effective the system works and then ask the consultant to carry out the FREE survey. After that he/she can calculate YOUR heating requirements, work out the best package of heaters for you, calculate the running costs and give you the best price. Only when you have ALL of the valid information, can you make a valid decision as to whether Suka is for you!
NO COST - NO OBLIGATION - NO PRESSURE - NO HASSLE
Whilst windows are usually areas where the coldest temperature comes into a room it does not make sense to locate a Suka heater there if you have curtains which then block the heat from being radiated into the room. Our trained consultants will advise the best positioning for your chosen heater for each room. Remember, cold air sinks to the floor and will eventually be sucked into the ribbed front and back of the Suka heater to get warmed up. The thermostat feeler/sensor is located at floor level and measures the air temperature there, so the heater automatically will adjust to the situation. Just the same if in winter the sun shines into the room, the thermostat shuts the Suka heater off until more heat is required. Compare this to night storage heaters, which are not able to be switched off and you can only open the windows to let the excess heat out or close the curtains to keep the sun out!
Certain Councils did approve grants for the Suka heating system. Other councils provide loans. Some councils have recognised the heaters under the Decent Home Scheme. Please contact us for advice on approaching Irish local authorities.
Whilst this is physically possible, we do not recommend it on a regular basis as the heaters have been chosen to supply a particular heating requirement for a particular room. A different room has a different requirement. Also, by taking the heating from a room, you allow that room to cool down and it will require extra energy (extra costs!) to heat back up to the basic level it had before. Suka will shortly be introducing a very innovative range of Infra-Red foil heaters for such situations. So contact us for more details.
Whilst Suka heaters are easy to take off the wall and you can take them with you, remember that they have been chosen for that particular property. It is much better to use Suka heating as an added value bonus when selling your property and increase the sales price you set.
Yes, once the Suka heater has created sufficient basic heat in the room, it will only produce top up heat to keep the room warm. This means that surface temperatures are lower than most other types of radiator heating. However, in extreme cases, we can also supply special radiator guards.
No, we deliver directly from the factory to you. It is also IMPERATIVE, that your heating requirement be correctly calculated and that you are given the correct information as to how the system works. This can only be done by carrying out a survey of your property and taking into account YOUR particular situation. Whilst we can give you a rough idea of costs if you send us the "customers own survey form", we can only guarantee, that the heating quoted for is suitable if we are able to reconfirm your figures on site. We stress that this is without obligation or cost.
This happens all the time as Suka customers are so satisfied. We put a high priority on receiving recommendations from existing customers and have an attractive "Recommendation Bonus Scheme" to say "thank you".
There are different ways of helping you with this. Once we receive the "customer's own survey form" for your property abroad, we can quote a price with delivery to your home in Ireland, so that you can take the heaters with you when you next travel to your property abroad. Alternatively, if you (and maybe friends and neighbours) are ordering sufficient for at least a pallet load (8 - 10 heaters), then we can quote for delivery directly to your property. You will either have to install the heaters yourself or find a local electrician...or if you help us sell sufficient in an area, then no doubt one of our installers would be happy to take a working holiday and help you install the heaters.
To misquote Henry Ford: "You can have any colour you like, as long as it is ivory white!" Experience has shown that this colour is most neutral and fits most room decors. Offering different colours becomes very expensive.
