DEVI Australia offers smart radiant building heating solutions to conquer winter’s chills.
DEVI Australia offers complete radiant home heating solutions for new and existing buildings. Backed by the world’s biggest specialist heating cable manufacturer, DEVI’s heating systems are based on electric radiant heating, which distributes heat by warming large surfaces such as floors or ceilings, which in turn warm solid objects in a room.
Radiant heating differs from convection heating, which directly heats air. DEVI’s heating system is based on electric heating elements (usually cables but also mats which can be installed in cement slabs or on top of existing floors, or devifoils which are installed in ceilings).
DEVI Australia is a 100 percent Australian-owned company operating independently of DEVI Denmark, with which it has been in a joint venture for 14 years. Managing Director, Kevin Weston, says DEVI Australia has over 30 years of expertise and technical back-up behind its products in Australia and over 50 years in Denmark, which has translated into the largest percentage of the national market share. He says all its products meet Australian Standards, even though there is no mandatory requirement for the industry to do so – a point of difference from other radiant heating product providers, most of which he says have entered the market in the last three to five years.
Another point of difference he says DEVI offers over competitors is that it manufactures a complete product range to suit all applications. “We have a range of systems to suit the lifestyles and needs of all people. We have a product that can go into any situation – whether it be a new or existing structure. Most of our competitors rely on one or two systems but we’re the only company that manufactures everything – suitable for multi-storey apartments, to homes, to roads, ski fields etcetera.
“Our in-slab cables are still very popular, especially with the growing demand for polished concrete floors, this system will generally run on extended off peak power,” says Kevin Weston. “Once fully warm this system requires a minimum amount of energy to provide 24 hours of warmth. This product application is mainly for larger areas or where a variety of floor coverings are going to be installed.
Another cable we have goes into tile beds, the sand cement that goes under a tile. These are more of a demand system – though you may be able to efficiently run them on stored heat in some situations. This is also the most commonly used system in bathrooms.
Then, we have another product that is designed to go into the glue bed of tiles, or in situations where the client doesn’t want to raise the floor. This is a demand heating system. It heats up straight away when turned on and cools down pretty much straight away when it’s turned off.
DEVI Australia also does commercial-scale work, such as keeping road and bridges ice- and snow-free, having laid over 140 kilometres of cable on a single snow field project. Kevin Weston says DEVI Australia’s split between commercial and domestic applications is “Probably 50/50 dollar-wise but number-wise, it’s probably 90 percent domestic. We often do one commercial job that can be worth five or 10 domestic jobs.
All DEVI products manufactured by DEVI Denmark are warranted by DEVI Denmark, now part of Danfoss, which is that country’s largest industrial group, and one of the world’s leading heating, cooling and air-conditioning companies.
All DEVI cables and mats hold a 10 year manufacturers’ warranty – thermostats and other products such as heated towel rails and mirror heaters have a two year warranty – backed up by DEVI Denmark. “With most other Australian importers of radiant heating products, the warranty stops with them,” says Kevin Weston, who adds that most problems with the product occur from damage during construction stages and are easily rectified by two fully trained in-house staff with purpose-built fault finding equipment.
DEVI recommends that all products be installed by qualified tradespeople and it ensures all its installation staff are licensed electricians, whereas some of its competitors use tilers or non-qualified installers.
DEVI has a wide range of electronic thermostats for controlling heating systems, including models that can be controlled by any existing home automation system that applies voltage to the thermostat. Kevin Weston says DEVI Australia is “Currently working with a major partner for networking thermostats with home control systems” and also has its own software, PC Pro, which allows remote access of its anticipatory thermostat systems via the Internet.
He says that intelligent thermostats assist efficient power usage but, surprisingly, concedes that the main variable factor in power usage is insulation efficiency, saying “Standards of insulation are as important as the size of the heating element. For example, in Europe they use about a third of the amount of power we use here because they have higher insulation standards. As Australia’s insulation standards improve, however, so does the efficiency of our systems and in turn consumer running costs are reduced.”
See www.devi.com.au
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