Anyone have thermaskirt or similar (skirting heaters/radiators)?

[PlateOfBiscuits]

We're in the midst of having a kitchen fitted and to maximise space want to remove the radiator.

BUT I don't want to be left with a chilly kitchen so am looking into different heating options:

1. underfloor heating would be difficult as the floors are the original wooden ones.
2. plinth heaters are an option but l really don't love the aesthetic and it would still leave the dining area unheated.

Which leads to...
3) Heated skirtings. (Currently looking at Thermaskirt.)

Has anyone got any experience/advice/opinions?

we have heated skirtings upstairs - new end of last winter so havent really be tested to the max yet - what do you want to know?

Thank cloughie. Are you happy with them so far? What kind of system did you use?

be aware that some of the claims on their website are untrue.

Thanks PigletJohn I appreciate your words of warning.

I’ve been doing my calculations this afternoon and I can’t quite see that the output will be able to heat the room anyway. (AND it would cost about about grand.)

I’m really struggling to fit a radiator in though!!

I looked a that too and would struggle to get the output needed, but the clincher for me was the cost, when I looked up the cost of a 300 high by 1800 wide radiator, I decided to buy 3 of those to go on the outside walls of the room instead.
If we blocky them with furniture then it doesn't matter as the are three of them anyway.

Yes - the cost is huge compared to a radiator!

I just can’t figure out where to put one when the walls will either be table/chairs or kitchen units.

If you have units then just go for a plinth heater.
Cost is about 150 for the unit, and it has a fan that kicks out loads of heat and connects to your boiler via the normal twin pipes. We are having one in the kitchen, one in the hallway, and one in the bathroom.
They do make a little noise but only similar to a fridge, not as much as a dishwasher or fan oven.

I ruled out plinth heaters because I don’t love the way they look (the grills look like dust traps.) Have you found some nice looking ones?

I also ruled them out because there’s an island separating the dining table and I can’t imagine the heat making its way over there? I don’t want to be cold while I’m eating!

But happy to be wrong.

Oh I'm putting ours in the island anyway under the sink unit. Although it'll be facing the kitchen side as the dining side will have a normal radiator.
There shouldn't be too much dust, if it ever gets clogged you could get it cleaned out but it'll be ok for a good while.
If you really want a good look then ufh is the only way to go. The skirting heating is more bulky than standard skirting so check the dimensions first.

Not sure if this is still active, I had Thermaskirt in my daughters bedroom last year and also in my kitchen. I have their skirting fitted to the plinth in the kitchen rather than a dusty plinth heater. It has been great all around. John, Thermaskirt is only 20mm in width so not sure if you're thinking of old skirting heating but this is very different.

It is expensive but it works differently than radiators, I can't explain it but it's almost like a different type of heat. I am just about to get back in touch with them to do my lounge and dining room, overall I am impressed and have always had great service.

If anyone is still reading this thread, we have some experience with Thermaskirt. We have had it installed for 8 years now and it has never been up to the job of actually heating the room sufficiently well. The installation is in a room approximately 6m x 4m, around the entire perimeter with only a couple of gaps (totalling about 2m). The room has 3 outside walls, but has cavity wall and underfloor insulation. Additionally the recommended foil is installed behind the skirting. On a typical winter day, when heating is necessary, we can't get the temperature above 18°C. It is so poor we long ago gave up on it and rely on the log burner to heat the room. The people at Thermaskirt always ask the same questions when approached and never actually do anything when they don't get the answers they want to hear, i.e. there is something wrong with other aspects of the house or heating system! Our Thermaskirt is a very expensive white elephant - you have been warned!!

We had this fitted in a garage conversion, over 9 years ago for our daughter who needs a ground floor bedroom. We love it and will soon be taking the plunge to remove radiators and retro fit our living room.
I love the heat distribution which is even throughout and is more than adequate to heat up her room that's north facing. And I love the extra wall space we get back!

I thinkt this product makes sense if your house is insulated well and you only need limited heating performance. Looking at the ratings of the diffrent boards I can see that the ratings W/m for 45°C and 50°C low but still unrealistically high based on the design. At higher temperatures they may be more realistic. But if you use a heat pump even 45°C is high and bad for the COP.

So in my opinion it is a

• no for old buildings with bad insulation
• no for the combination with a heat pump
• yes for the combination with a oil / gas / wood heating system and relativly good insulation and when you are willing to pay for a nice design and a evenly distrubuted heating covering all your outer walls.

Overall I like the product and design - I covers a certain niche in the market and the company behind it did a nice job in my opinion. Wish them luck.

Hi did you fit the thermaheat radiator yourself ?

I’m looking into this product as an alternative to underfloor heating. Anyone recent experience of this skirting board heating? Or any updates?

This has to be the WORST heating solution ever and equally bad customer service. I have recently installed thermaskirt heating and its does not do its basic function of radiating heat, the old traditional radiators used to keep room warmer but this solution is absolutely useless. ... such a waste of money, time and effort. I STRONGLY recommend to stay away from any false promises from this company.

thermaskirt is a complete waste of money!

Having seen that this thread is still active I thought I would repeat my previous post (from 2018!) here.

We have some experience with Thermaskirt. We have had it installed for 8 years now and it has never been up to the job of actually heating the room sufficiently well. The installation is in a room approximately 6m x 4m, around the entire perimeter with only a couple of gaps (totalling about 2m). The room has 3 outside walls, but has cavity wall and underfloor insulation. Additionally the recommended foil is installed behind the skirting. On a typical winter day, when heating is necessary, we can't get the temperature above 18°C. It is so poor we long ago gave up on it and rely on the log burner to heat the room. The people at Thermaskirt always ask the same questions when approached and never actually do anything when they don't get the answers they want to hear, i.e. there is something wrong with other aspects of the house or heating system! Our Thermaskirt is a very expensive white elephant - you have been warned!!

Additionally, it is worth noting that the chap who runs the company is a bit of a bully and likes to make threats if you criticise his product.

We have thermaskirt throughout our house which is a bungalow, we have to use oil filled radiators in the bedrooms because it is so cold during autumn and winter even when the heating has been on all day till midnight set at 22 degrees. Unless you are 2 feet away from the boiler the heat coming out of the product is lukewarm with the thermostats at max output. We recently had our bathroom renovated and i chose to take the thermaskirt out of that room and put a normal vertical radiator in place -the difference in that room is unreal! We also have underfloor heating in the extension which is nothing like thermaskirt. We have had plumbers out multiple times to try and help with the issue but nothing seems to change, if i could afford to remove it all and have standard radiators i absolutely would.