Good Quality, Modest Heat Output

by Michael Cerkowski
(Mechanicville NY USA)

We had this panel installed by a contractor in the Fall of 2008. Two contractors, actually, as the first one got confused by the overly complicated and confusing installation instructions and botched the holes in the wall. Hopefully the installation manual has been revamped since we bought our panel. The second contractor was able to finish the installation, but noted that older homes like ours with less than perfectly flat walls needed lots of extra shimming and sealing to get a good flush fit. The panel did look good when finished and is made of very good quality materials. (The fan, however, is loud for its modest power, and made in China.) Total cost for installation was about $500, on top of the cost of the panel.

How well does it work? The first Winter it didn't run as much as we had hoped; the thermostat was set at the factory for turn-on at about 120 degrees, and it took about 15 minutes of full sun to get it running. After that it needed only about 70% sunlight to stay running, but we only got about 4-5 hours on a good day, in part because a tree shadowed half of the panel for an hour a day. On more typical Winter days it either didn't run at all or ran for maybe an hour or two, total. Actual heat output is pretty modest: about what you'd expect from an average fan-forced electric heater set to "Low" or "Medium." In frigid weather it extends the time between furnace cycles, but doesn't replace the furnace even though it's in the same room as the thermostat. Early Spring is when the panel does its best work, as the longer days and stronger sunlight, along with milder outside temps and no leaves on the trees, allow it to stop the furnace from running for a few hours on sunny days. Keep in mind, though, that this is only because it's in the same room as the thermostat in our home, and the rest of the house requires electric space heaters to stay warm.

The first thermostat failed after about 5 months of use, and a new one was sent to us by the manufacturer under warranty (the blower is covered for only one year, and I think the thermostat as well). The second thermostat was set to turn on at 100 degrees, and this works much better: the air coming out of the unit is sometimes just "warm" but it runs much more consistently and often. Today (March 8) it was 50 degrees Fahrenheit out with a chilly wind, and the furnace stayed off for about 5.5 hours. The panel was running for about 6.5 hours The room temp rose from the thermostat setting of 68F, to 70F. There is also one average sized South-facing window in the room.

Would I recommend this panel? Only if you have a VERY unobstructed, full southern exposure (ours has a few trees, mainly at the ends) that will let the panel run for 6 or more hours per day, and only if your expectations are modest. Two of them linked together should produce much more heat, but in that case the fan would not be adequate - it's noisy and fairly weak for its size. If you have a cottage-sized house with good insulation and a great Southern exposure, this panel could really help a lot. If you have a more typical home and exposure to sun, I'm not completely sure it's worth the money, although it does make us feel a little better...