By Mark Clement
Reiker Room Conditioners are a unique solution to many heating challenges contractors face. As combination ceiling fan and ceramic heaters the units can comfortably—and safely—heat a 20' x 20' x 10' room.
Here's how it works: computer monitored ceramic heating elements beneath the fan motor create heat, while the fan blades generate circulation, providing warm, even heat for all kinds of spaces.
While new homes and total remodels will likely have (or get) zone heating, most older homes have a single thermostat on the wall in the living room. And while these homes may be undergoing a heavy remodel, a new heating system may not be in the budget. When winter comes, heat churns out of vents all over the house, but only turns on or off when the living room reaches a certain temperature. Rooms at the end of the run—or that are un-insulate—get the meat-locker treatment, while others that straight-line back to the furnace are saunas. Reiker Room Conditioners can eliminate these extremes and provide a lot more.
You should heat only the room(s) you use most often, according to Reiker, so if you never use certain rooms you can keep the thermostat low while heating the rooms you do use with a Reiker Conditioner. Or, and I think this is their most realistic use, you can augment uneven heat by installing one in an under-heated room like a bedroom or mudroom. Reiker says their room conditioners are also popular in three-season rooms, extending their useful period in spring and fall. However, the units are not designed for open porches.
The ceiling fan portion of the unit, while great at circulating heat, is also appropriate for air circulation in the summer months and in warmer climates. For a ceiling fan to cool anything where I live, it'd have to be a helicopter rotor; it might be a stretch to offer it to your customers for cooling benefits only, but the fan is there nevertheless.
www.FanHeatLight.com
Mark Clement is a remodeler and author of The Carpenter's Notebook and The Kid's Carpenter's Workbook, Fun Family Projects! Find out more at
www.TheCarpentersNotebook.com.
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