Something I haven’t seen before

Charlie_ · May 25, 2019

Any ideas what this is?
And how it works?

[ElectriciansForums.net] Something I haven’t seen before

Octopus · May 25, 2019

Ceiling heating ........... beware where you drill holes putting up lights or adding downlights

Charlie_ · May 25, 2019

It has long been decommissioned..
All controls have been removed.
What voltage did it run at?
It is made from some kind of black cloth with those copper strips along the edges.. Did the black cloth heat up?

Octopus · May 25, 2019

voltage would have been 230v .........

How old is the property?

Dustydazzler · May 25, 2019

Ceiling heating mats , 240v

still see Load of flats still have and use this in my area

think it was a fad thing back in the 1980s

PEG · May 25, 2019

Dustydazzler said:
Ceiling heating mats , 240v

still see Load of flats still have and use this in my area

think it was a fad thing back in the 1980s

....Like giant mobiles,and ecstasy....just not a good idea

Charlie_ · May 25, 2019

Yes I think the property was built in the 80s
So all those exposed terminals are 240v?
Possibly fed through an isolating transformer?

Deleted member 9648 · May 25, 2019

They were straight 230v, the black material heats up and is sandwiched between plastic sheet. Back in the day there used to be about 1" of insulation over the top. Not surprisingly the 'fad' didn't last long. Probably one of the worst ideas of all time. Similar mats are still used for vivarium heaters etc.

rapparee · May 25, 2019

Well we all know that hot air sinks and cold air rises.

So a great idea.

Charlie_ · May 25, 2019

Probably a good money spinning gimmick back in the day..
Similar to say those voltage optimisers a few years ago.

freddo · May 25, 2019

There are quite a few around this area, never seen any still in use. Certainly seems like a terrible design.

Charlie_ · May 25, 2019

freddo said:
There are quite a few around this area, never seen any still in use. Certainly seems like a terrible design.

And possibly also very inefficient..
Any ideas of their power ratings?

freddo · May 25, 2019

No idea on power ratings, 2 systems had 15A thermostats to control them, one in each room.

I would expect plasterboard to be quite thermally insulating?

Charlie_ · May 25, 2019

Yes I also thought that about the plasterboard goving a poor heat transfer..
One of my theories was that it was some sort of mesh system created by a techno geek haha