Perspectives of Electric Radiant Heating

The energy crisis, caused by the over-regulation of the energy sector combined with ideological blindness, has paralysed the still functioning energy market, which began to manifest in Europe in the last year and then escalated at the end of 2021. The war in Ukraine and its aftermath were only a confirmation of a series of bad energy-related decisions made by the EU in the past!

Today, it is quite certain that this crisis, unprecedented since WWII, with energy price increases in the hundreds of percent, will lead to a hitherto unrecognised decline in living standards, at two levels. The first level will be the shock of the energy price increase after the end of the fixations (about 3.3 and 4.5 times for electricity and gas, respectively), but the second and much more serious shock will be the subsequent spillover of the new energy prices into the prices of virtually all products and services in the Czech Republic!

So what are the prospects for electric radiant heating in this bleak situation?

Surprisingly, not entirely bad, for the following reasons:

1. The more affluent part of the population can increase their energy independence by installing PV systems and smart battery storage (HES/DES/SAS) enabling so-called day trading on the energy market. This way, the price of electricity can currently be reduced to the pre-crisis level for most of the year, with a slight increase during the heating season, which is still tens of percent cheaper than buying it directly.
2. However, the situation is not hopeless for economically weaker citizens either. One of the reasons why the electricity consumption in buildings heated by radiant systems is about 40% lower than in hot water systems with heat pumps (according to ERU) is the fact that in buildings, radiant systems are very often combined with wood stoves or fireplaces, for example. Unlike hot water systems, radiant systems react automatically to any other heat source in the room, whether it is a fireplace, iron, hob or a person. Because of this advantage, this combination is very often used, and the proportion of individual energies can be fully adapted to the user’s possibilities and needs. Although the price of wood has been increasing by hundreds of percent, it will still be the most affordable energy source, even at the cost of devastating public greenery, as during wartime conflicts.
3. Another important advantage of electric radiant systems is the possibility of their full adaptation to the current economic possibilities of the user. Again, unlike hot water systems, it is possible to limit the heating in individual rooms without any additional losses caused by hot water circulation and to operate only some rooms in comfort mode to the extent economically viable for the user.
4. There is even more scope for the use of electric heating systems in industry, agriculture and services, where these can replace natural gas and at the same time be used as a tool to optimise energy consumption during the day.

As we can see, even the current unprecedented crisis provides a very wide scope for the application of electric radiant heating systems!

In Jeseník 26 May 2022
Ing. Cyril Svozil