Frequently Asked Questions & Support

There are a few important things to understand about efficiency and running costs, and there's a lot of bad information posted on the internet. So read this carefully to make sure you fully understand!

All electric resistive heating is essentially 100% efficient at converting electricity to heat.

If a 1000W heater runs non-stop for an hour, it will use 1 kWh (kilowatt hour). Depending on your provider, that would cost about $0.24 cents.

Sounds high, right? But this isn't the full story...

The first thing to consider is that a heater rarely needs to run non-stop to keep a room warm. A heater equipped with an accurate thermostat (like Purmo electric radiators) will cycle on and off to maintain a consistent room temperature.

This means that the exact energy usage will be equal to the rate heat loss of your room. A poorly insulated room on a cold day will lose heat much faster than a well insulated room on warmer day. North-facing rooms that get lots of sunlight will consume less power than dark south-facing rooms.

Radiant heat means Purmo radiators are usually cheaper to run compared to other kinds of resistive electric heating (like convection-only panels).

This is because radiant heat feels more comfortable to people even if the air temperature is lower. It heats objects directly, and is lost less easily to draughts and air flow.

Many of our customers find they can set the thermostat a degree or two lower and still feel warm and cozy because of this effect.

Put simply, in a well-insulated home, or a home equipped with solar panels, Purmo panels are very cost efficient to run.

To get a rough idea of running costs, you can use the following rule of thumb.

On average across a winter season, Purmo panels will need to run 50% of the time when sized correctly for the room.

This means the average cost of running the 1000W radiator we talked about earlier comes to about $0.12 cents per hour that it's turned on.

Remember that this is a rough average that factors in usage on the coldest days of the year. Many of our customers find their actual running cost ends up much lower than this! 

Read more about how efficient are electric radiators in this blog.

Our agent partners are heating specialists who take care of the entire sales, estimating and installation process.

Agents generate their own business, and typically have showroom space to our products.

They purchase products from LVI Thermosoft at a wholesale rate. Trade payment terms are possible with completion of a credit check.

We are highly selective of who we accept as new agency partners, and will typically start potential agents as Trade Partners until such time that we’re happy to proceed to the full agent model.

• Specialist understanding of how to calculate heat loss, experience with hydronic systems preferred.
• Clear track record of delivering excellent customer service.
• Demonstrate clear understanding of technical details of our products, and be able to provide support to customers.
• All relevant insurance and certification needed to undertake installation of the product
• Showroom space preferred
• Completion of credit check if trade payment terms required
• ABN and online presence (website, social media etc)

Our radiators are very child and pet safe, and there are additional features
that can be enabled for extra peace of mind.

When operating at maximum temperature in the normal mode, the panels can be quite hot to touch, but not hot enough to cause burns without sustained contact. Kids quickly learn not to touch the radiators, but there’s no risk of a trip to the hospital.

If you have very small children and want to be extra-safe, there is a child safety mode that can limit surface temperature. Be aware that this also limits maximum panel heat output, so if you intend to use this feature you may wish to choose a slightly larger panel. You can also lock the controls so little hands can’t mess with them!

While we recommend that you don’t hanging anything on the radiators and leave them free of obstruction, the fully-enclosed element means there is no risk of fire if clothes or toys are thrown onto or behind the radiator.

The radiators are built from solid steel and will stand up to a lot of abuse, so you don't have to worry about them getting damaged during play time!

This also makes them far more asthma and allergy-friendly, as the element will not burn dust or pet hair like many regular panel heaters do.

The electric radiators are completely silent, there's no clicking, ticking, humming, whirring of fans.

While leaving items like clothing on the heater isn’t a fire danger, we don’t recommend you do this. The top vent of the radiator should be free of obstructions at all time for ideal operation and radiator lifespan.

If you want to dry items with your radiator, we recommend purchasing one of our Radiator Drying Bars, available in three sizes to suit your radiator.

Collection from our warehouse is by appointment only.

We do not accept payments at the warehouse. Please make sure you check-out using our online store or pay via invoice before collecting your heaters.

After you've placed your order, our fulfillment team will be in touch to schedule a pick-up time at the warehouse.

Yes! Our radiators are IP44 splash proof when installed correctly, so they’re safe for use in bathrooms. You can also mount our radiators underneath a regular towel rail, which will allow you to heat both your towels and the bathroom.

The 500W / H300 x L800 / Single and 750W / H300 x L800 Double models are great options, as they’re the same length as a standard 800mm towel rail and can usually fit neatly underneath the towels.

All of our radiators can be plugged into a wall or directly wired into your existing home circuits.

With our installation service we can mount the heaters to the wall and plug them into the wall for you. Please note our installation service does not cover any electrical work - you’ll need to speak to an electrician if you need any additional power points.

We recommend speaking to an electrician to check if your circuits and switchboard have enough capacity for the radiators. Our estimates show the amp draw for each radiator or towel rail we recommend, so your electrician can use this to determine if you need any further electrical work to support the proposed set-up.

At this time, the radiators are only available in Traffic White.

The radiator body can be painted, however the plastic components like the display and power box would be difficult to paint cleanly.

All our radiators are relatively simple to repair and we carry spare parts for all current and past models. In the unlikely event of a failure, we can carry out repairs, or guide a local electrician on the process if this is more convenient.

We occasionally carry out repairs on radiators that have been running for 15 years or more, and with a simple fix they’re good as new and working flawlessly.

We cannot change our design to be curved to match your wall, and the brackets are designed to be mounted on flat walls.

However, in some cases with clever bracket mounting it is possible to mount electric radiators to curved walls.

Our Muria and Aborescence towel tails models have only one anchor point in the wall, which means they are much easier to install onto curved surfaces.

Generally, you'll need a Unisenza+ Gateway to remotely control radiator settings like set temperature. The radiators cannot directly connect to your smartphone or home WiFi.

However, some Zigbee-enabled home automation systems are capable of directly connecting to and controlling Plus Series radiators without the need for a Unisenza+ Gateway. We can't provide specific support for these devices, but we've had customers who have been able to successfully use them in this way.

We can install towel rails in an existing bathroom in the Greater Melbourne area. Installing towel rails is a bit more invasive and time consuming than a radiator (especially when installing into existing tiles) for larger models like Tahiti Surf and Arborescence.

We charge a fee to install these larger towel rails in any given bathroom. The Nila and Muria Towel rails are installed for a smaller fee. Please enquire for current installation pricing.

Contact Person: Chelzea

Phone Number: +61 483 906 865

In most cases it’s necessary to screw the radiator brackets into a stud or noggin. Our largest radiators can weigh up to 37kg, so installing these into plaster only is a bad idea!

The brackets can clip onto the radiator at any point along its length (though we recommend leaving some space from the edge for best aesthetics), so this means the radiator placement isn’t strictly limited by the location of the studs.

For our smaller radiators (under 750W), you can install using heavy duty plaster anchors if necessary, but this is not recommended if you have children or are installing in a space where the radiator might accidentally take a heavy knock.

Please make sure to carefully choose plaster anchors capable of supporting the radiator weight if using this option.

Our Tahiti Surf, Aborescence and Smart Aborescence towel rails are able to heat both your towels and bathroom.

Our Nila and Muria towel rails are only designed to heat towels, not the bathroom. However they can take the edge off the chill in a room.

You can also mount one of our Yali or Parada radiators underneath a regular towel rail, which will allow you to heat both your towels and the bathroom. The 500W / H300 x L800 / Single and 750W / H300 x L800 / Double models are great options, as they’re the same length as a standard 800mm towel rail and can usually fit neatly underneath the towels.

Our Plus Series electric radiators are extremely popular with asthmatics and allergy sufferers.

They don’t have a fan, so they don’t blow dust or allergens around your room.

Regular, convection-only panel heaters have an exposed electric element, which can burn dust and pet hair, creating unpleasant smells and risks for allergy and asthma sufferers.

Plus Series radiators have an electric element that is completely enclosed in oil. This means there's no chance of them burning dust or allergens in the same way.

There is a programmable timer and scheduling function built into each radiator that can be set with controls on the display.

For easier control of timers and schedules, especially across multiple radiators, our Unisenza+ Smart Home Gateway combined with the Unisenza+ App is the best option.

Solar is extremely beneficial for offsetting running costs. For the same price as a typical hydronic system, our radiators combined with a solar installation generally provides lower running costs and year round energy savings.

Contact Person: Bayley or Mark

Phone Number: +61 485 867 047

Our Plus Series options are available in single or double panel configurations.

Double panel radiators are slightly thicker (111mm depth from wall), but allow you to fit more heating capacity in less wall space.

Single panel radiators are thinner (95mm depth from wall), ideal for narrow hallways, bathrooms and under desks.

Our Tahiti Surf towel rail is 80mm depth at the edge to 110mm in the middle where the tubes are bowed.

Our Arborescence is 125mm depth from the wall.

Our Smart Arborescence is 125mm, but the hinged smart arms can extend further.

There's a lot of factors that go into our heat loss calculation, including insulation rating, length of the external walls, window size and glazing.

We measure the area of each external surface (walls, floor, ceiling, and windows) in each room of your home, and estimate how much heat is being lost through that surface. We do this based on the coldest daytime mid-winter conditions for your location, to make sure the heaters we recommend can keep you warm right through the depths of winter.

The more accurate the measurements and energy efficiency details you've provided are, the more accurate our estimate will be.

Purmo radiators are similar to hydronic panels in many ways. They look extremely similar, because they’re built in the same factory, on the same production line as hydronic radiators.

They produce exactly the same gentle, radiant heat that people love about hydronic.

Hydronic systems are generally gas-based systems, with water filled pipes and a central boiler. Installation is difficult, expensive and invasive. They require maintenance every few years to prevent corrosion and the build up of metallic sludge.

The difference is that Purmo radiators are standalone electric units. They’re filled with vegetable oil, and require no central boiler or plumbing, so you don’t have to run a whole system to heat one room. But they can still be controlled centrally by the optional wireless controller.

Installation of the wall brackets and panel is easy and takes less than 30 minutes per unit. The radiators can simply plug-in to a powerpoint, or can be hardwired by an electrician.

An installation of Purmo electric radiators is typically substantially cheaper than an equivalent hydronic system. They require zero-maintenance, and repairs are simple and low-cost.

Split-systems work by heating air, this is convection heat.

While they’re very efficient at creating this kind of heat, there are some drawbacks.

For a start, they’re often quite blowy and noisy. As hot air rises, the vertical distribution of heat in the room is uneven - your feet are much colder than your head.

They also struggle to regulate the temperature precisely, which can lead to uncomfortable temperature swings and the feeling of having to “battle the thermostat”.

Purmo radiators create a balance of radiant and convection heat.

They heat the room more evenly, and they’re much better at keeping the room at the precise temperature you set.

They’re also completely silent, there’s no fans or blown dust.

If you’ve got a split-system already, it’s still a great idea to use it to efficiently and quickly get a cold room up to temperature.

Then you can let the radiators take over and maintain a really comfortable room temperature.

Heater deliveries are a flat rate plus handling which is based on your postcode.

For installation of heaters already onsite, a shipping or travel charge will be added to cover the technician and vehicle costs to get to your address.

Small items such as hardwire kits and gateways not purchased as part of a bigger order is charged at a per item basis.

Installation of Purmo electric radiators is extremely simple.

Two brackets are screwed to your wall, and the panel simply clips on. It typically takes around 20 minutes per panel.

Provided there's a powerpoint nearby, this makes DIY installation a breeze!

If you want the clean appearance of a hardwired installation, you'll need to arrange an electrician to wire up the included wall boxes directly before installing the panels.

It's also a good idea to engage an electrician if you have an older switchboard. This ensures you won't overload any of your circuits by the amperage draw of the panels.

For Victorian customers, we can offer our installation service directly. This includes mounting of the brackets and panels, but it does not include hardwiring or anything that requires a licensed electrician.

For interstate customers, we're happy to exist your electrician to make sure the panels are installed directly.

You can watch our detailed installation video below:

The drying bars extend 55mm out from the front of the panel.

The number of heaters you need for your home depends on the size of your space and it’s insulation properties.

We are happy to work this out for you, all you need to do is upload your house plans or room measurements in the linked questionnaire below, there's also a few questions we'll need you to fill out regarding your home's energy efficiency.

Start your online quote

Please let us know if you have any issues with this step, as it's a vital part of our quoting process.

The exact cost can vary greatly depending on your home size, layout and efficiency.

However, a reasonable ballpark is around $1300 per room.

Small bedrooms or very efficient rooms typically require panels that cost $1000 - $1200.

Larger open plan living areas may need multiple large panels, and this brings the average price per room up.

Remember that our radiators are robust, high-quality units designed to keep you wonderfully warm and comfortable for years to come.

The price may be higher than low-cost space heaters found in department stores, but they can't compete on comfort, longevity, design and build-quality.

Our Installation Partners are qualified electricians who have a good understanding of our product, and are able to conduct electrical inspections, perform any additional electrical work needed and take care of installation of the panels.

We frequently have customers who need electrical inspections and upgrades or panel installation in an area we don’t cover, and we need trusted people who understand our products who can assist.

We quote a standard rate to customers for electrical inspections, and a per panel rate for installation. Any other work necessary (switchboard or circuit upgrades, new power points or hardwiring wall boxes) is quoted by the installation partner directly with the customer.

Installation Partners can also be Referral Partners, allowing them to refer their existing customers to our products and get paid a commission.

Requirements

• Must be a qualified electrician with all relevant insurance and certification.
• Have a track record of excellent customer service.
• Price any custom quoted work fairly and not seek to exploit our customers.
• Be prepared to undertake some training and develop a clear understanding of our products
• ABN and online presence (website, social media etc)

In most cases we don't require or recommend a site visit to provide a quote.

We provide detailed, accurate and personalised quotes to hundreds of homeowners every month without visiting site.

From small, simple quotes to large, highly complex projects and unusual homes - we can handle it. Our customers love how easy the process is!

Our process has been designed so our estimating team can accurately calculate your heating needs from floorplans or measurements you provide upfront.

You can then schedule a video call or showroom consultation with one of our heating consultants. During the consultation, they'll help you decide on the exact radiator sizes and placements for each room to create a finalised quote.

By getting all the technical details, dimensions and then initial estimating done upfront, our heating consultants can spend 100% of their 1-on-1 time with you.

You can start an online estimate here.

If you're still unsure at the end of this, we can organise for one of our agent or electrician partners to visit site and double check the quote we've provided will work.

There’s no mechanical maintenance needed for our heaters or towel rails. We recommend giving them a regular wipe down with a moistened cloth like any other surface in your home, and avoiding the use of harsh cleaners and corrosive agents.

In the rare case of any faults with the radiator or electronics, we have spare parts available. Repairs are relatively simple and can be performed by us or a trained electrician with our guidance.

It’s okay to have furniture in front of a radiator if necessary, though we recommend leaving them unobstructed where possible. It depends on what it is.

For any piece of substantial furniture like a sofa couch or daybed you should leave a gap of at least 300mm - 500mm or more at a minimum from the front of a radiator, though it can take longer to warm the space effectively if placed here as the direct radiant heat will be blocked by the couch.

Smaller pieces like side tables, chairs or bar stools are fine to have closer.

Contact Person: Ian or Fred

Phone Number: +61 482 096 843 & +61 483 967 559

Contact Person: Matt

Phone Number: +61 485 866 528

Need an initial estimate or finalised quote for a project? Our heating consultants are here to help.

Click here to get started.

Note: Our Trade Partners can access estimating assistance on every project.

Agent Partners are expected to quote most jobs themselves, however we're here to provide assistance and advice for more unusual projects.

You can find a copy of our price lists with recommended retail pricing below.

2024 Price List

Our trade partners are typically architects, designers, builders or related businesses that frequently come across customers in need of our products.

We take care of the estimating and any sales assistance needed for the end customer, and apply a trade discount to any orders placed directly by the partner.

Requirements

• Have previously bought from Thermosoft Australia, or referred a customer to us.
• Have an existing customer base, where there’s a natural alignment or need for our products.
• Motivated and excited about our products, able to refer customers on an ongoing basis who are a good fit for us.
• ABN and online presence (website, social media etc)

Our bulk order form makes it easy for partners to view stock levels and place orders.

You can open the bulk order form by clicking here.

Thanks for joining as a partner!

This portal is still under partial development, so expect to see further changes across the next few months.

The below video explains how to use the basic functions in the Partner Portal.

Our panels can be delivered Australia wide.

In Victoria we can deliver the panels directly to you. Free pick-up is also available from our Keysborough warehouse on an appointment only basis.

For interstate orders, we can offer door to door delivery using various bulky freight couriers. Larger interstate orders are shipped on a pallet.

We offer a 10 year warranty on the panels, and a 2 year warranty on the electronic components.

Even outside the warranty period, repairs are low-cost and simple.

You can be confident we'll be around long into the future to help in the unlikely event you encounter an issue.

We've been operating in Australia for over 20 years, and our radiators are manufactured by Purmo Group, one of the largest hydronic heating manufacturers in the world.

Purmo electric radiators are filled with completely non-toxic, biodegradable vegetable oil.

1. There's an overtemperature cutout system that kicks in if the radiator is covered and excessive heat builds up. This will automatically reset the heater when the problem is removed.

2. If for some reason the temperature exceeds a preset limit, the element has an over temperature fuse that will open. A new element is required in this instance, but this is designed to prevent fires.

The only difference is appearance. Parada Plus has a minimalist, flat front panel while Yali Plus has the classic, corrugated front panel.

Otherwise they have exactly the same functionality, performance and size options.

Parada Plus models are slightly more expensive and heavier due to the extra steel used in manufacturing

Most panel heaters available on the market are convection-only heaters. That means they warm up a room by heating the air. Typically they have an element that's exposed to the air, which can create that burning dust smell.

Even low-cost oil-filled column heaters produce mostly convection heat because of the shape of the fins.

Convection heat circulates using air currents. Hot air rises to the ceiling, cools and eventually circulates back to the heater. It's easily lost to draughts and open doors, and in general people find it less comfortable.

Purmo panels are true radiators. They produce much more radiant heat. Think of the feeling of the sun on your face, this is an example of radiant heat.

Radiant heat is unaffected by air currents, because it's infrared energy. It behaves in exactly the same way as light, beaming out the front of the radiator and warming objects and people directly.

While convection heat is better at getting around corners and spreading out, radiant heat feels much more comfortable and doesn't escape the room as quickly. You generally need less radiant heat energy to make a room feel comfortable. This can translate to energy savings if you set your thermostat a degree or two lower.

Purmo electric radiators produce a mix of radiant and convection heat, so you get the best both worlds. They're also fully enclosed, so there's no potential for burning dust, and they operate completely silently.

Oil-fin or column heaters operate on the same basic principle as Purmo electric radiators - an enclosed elements heats up oil which helps to distribute the heat.

However, these are typically designed as a space heater for occasional use, rather than permanent system that’s sized to the room and designed to run day-in, day-out for years.

The design of the fins means they generate mostly generate convection heat, instead of radiant heat, because air is drawn up and heated in the space between the fins. Purmo electric radiators generate significantly more radiant heat because of the panel design.

They also have a lot less thermal mass - most large column heaters are half the weight of an equivalent Purmo radiator. This means the heater surface heats up unevenly, affecting the distribution of heat in the room.

Many column heaters have a much less accurate thermostat, so these can create large temperature swings and waste energy.

In Victoria, you can visit the Home Innovations Centre in Frankston, open 7 days a week with no appointment necessary.

Alternatively our Frankston warehouse is open Monday to Friday by appointment only. Please give us a call if you would like to schedule a time within business hours.

Some of our agents have showrooms in other parts of Victoria or Interstate. Click here to find the showroom closest to you.