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Old 16th Oct 2016, 12:19 pm   #1
Colourstar
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Default 1960s Sunhouse Electric Fire

Having been seeking a suitably period electric fire for my fireplace, I was more than delighted to come across this unusual model. I don't think I've seen one like it before and it's quite a style statement!

It's made by Sunhouse and includes a convector plus single bar radiant. So far, so ordinary. The real showstopper though is the light display: The front is of orange perspex, behind which is a reflective moulded metal backing. At the base of this are no less than four 60w bulbs, each with it's own thermal fan. As it warms up, the fans produce gentle flame-like patterns on the screen. The bulbs are standard pearl bayonet types- no need for fireglow due to the orange tinted perspex.

You can switch just the centre two lamps on, or have all four going. The radiant and convector are switched separately, so you may just have the lights on to add a cosy glow to the room.

It's in almost mint condition, having had one owner from new. A peek inside the plug reveals the old-style mains wiring colours, so it is definitely a 60s item. I reckon about 1967 would be right.

It's tempting to replace the 240 watts (eek!) worth of standard bulbs with LED filament types for economy, although of course the resulting lack of heat would mean the fans would no longer work and the display would remain static.

Steve
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Old 16th Oct 2016, 12:37 pm   #2
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Default Re: 1960s Sunhouse Electric Fire

A small PC type of fan could be used move the blades, fire it horizontally and with a bit of luck the LED bulbs will deflect enough upwards to move the decorative fans.
 
Old 16th Oct 2016, 1:20 pm   #3
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Default Re: 1960s Sunhouse Electric Fire

LEDs could be a bit of a tall order.
The filter will have been tinted to produce the correct effect with traditional lamp bulbs.
The screen looks like it may be tinted differently at the bottom compared with the top.
LEDs do not produce anything like the spectrum you would get from traditional bulbs.
Some LEDs might be filtered out completely by the screen tinting.
If you do try LEDs just shine them through the screen to see what you get. You might find that selecting LEDs is far too time consuming.
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Old 16th Oct 2016, 2:10 pm   #4
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Default Re: 1960s Sunhouse Electric Fire

I'd say leave it as it is because compared to the amount of power consumed by the heating elements, changing the bulbs will make little appreciable difference. But that's just my opinion.

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Old 16th Oct 2016, 2:21 pm   #5
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Default Re: 1960s Sunhouse Electric Fire

Remember that the bulbs are only inefficient because a lot of their energy is radiated as heat rather than light. Given that this is an electric fire, you presumably want it to produce heat when it's switched on.
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Old 16th Oct 2016, 2:26 pm   #6
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Default Re: 1960s Sunhouse Electric Fire

I have a similar arrangement and it depends on intended use. My electric fire runs on LED bulbs so as to keep costs low (250w is a considerable amount nowadays). As a result I have the fire on almost all the time as a "display item". Which looks cool because I can have it on in the summer evenings emitting no heat but looking very pretty. While the households heat comes from a far more efficient source.

A lovely looking piece
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Old 16th Oct 2016, 2:57 pm   #7
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Default Re: 1960s Sunhouse Electric Fire

Yes, incandescent bulbs make 97% or so efficient heaters and of course domestic electric heaters of this type are effectively 100% efficient. Pity about electricity prices !
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Old 16th Oct 2016, 3:18 pm   #8
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Default Re: 1960s Sunhouse Electric Fire

Hello,
It is a Sunhouse Vistarama from 1967 and quite expensive at £34 2s 5d
Yours Richard

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Old 16th Oct 2016, 5:23 pm   #9
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Default Re: 1960s Sunhouse Electric Fire

Thanks for all the replies- I'm delighted to know it's a Sunhouse Vistarama Marvellous!

The LED lamps I was considering are the ones that look like traditional bulbs and have clear glass and suspended 'filaments'. The light from them looks very close the warm look of a normal filament bulb and I use them all around the house. I can highly recommend them if you haven't seen them in action. They knock all previous energy-saving bulbs into a cocked hat, frankly.

I shall probably leave the fire running with the old lamps it has in it, but it's always interesting to consider other options. It doesn't need to kick out any heat as I have central heating, so it will be mostly for display purposes.

Steve

PS- Just found this quote from a 1967 Design journal:

In particular, H. Frost and Co (of Radiation Ltd) is showing considerable imaginative forethought with its Sunhouse models. The Vistaflame model is the 'flamiest' to date, with its patent protected flame-box assembly; while the Vistarama- "the electric fire that's proud to look electric" - is a lively attempt to investigate the idea of fire itself rather than just copying flames.

Last edited by Colourstar; 16th Oct 2016 at 5:40 pm.
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Old 16th Oct 2016, 5:36 pm   #10
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Default Re: 1960s Sunhouse Electric Fire

How easy is it to replace the lamps ?
If a quick and simple job, then I would use the 240 watts of filament lamps in the winter, for optimum effect. During the heating season when you want a fire to produce heat, it matters little.

During the warmer seasons then use LED lamps in the interests of economy, and accept a less authentic appearance.
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Old 16th Oct 2016, 5:42 pm   #11
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Default Re: 1960s Sunhouse Electric Fire

That's a nice heater, and it certainly does look as though it was top-of-the-range in its time.

One thing I'd wonder about with using LEDs: How hot do the bulbs get from the main heater being on? This might well shorten the lives of LED lamps.

Of course, if the LEDs are just for show while not being used for heating, you could switch back to tungsten filament bulbs for the winter .....
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Old 16th Oct 2016, 6:15 pm   #12
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Default Re: 1960s Sunhouse Electric Fire

I've never seen anything like it, I'd love to see a moving image of the effect!
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Old 17th Oct 2016, 9:02 pm   #13
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Default Re: 1960s Sunhouse Electric Fire

That's a gorgeous bit of kit!

Reckon the idea of a couple of small PC fans should work well - run them off 6V or so and they will be near silent but should produce more than enough of a breeze to keep things moving.

Never seen anything like this one to be honest, but we definitely need to see a video of it in action I think!
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Old 19th Nov 2016, 12:39 am   #14
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Default Re: 1960s Sunhouse Electric Fire

The newer halogen energy savers still emit plenty of heat, so the effect should work with them and use about 1/3rd less energy. I suppose the discs would spin a bit slower. Alternatively, spotlight bulbs tend to direct the heat and light out from their face well, so swapping to those might, depending on how the light needs to be directed, allow for lower wattage with comparable light and effects? I don't know numbers, but I do know I could feel the heat from my 60w R63 bulbs from a meter or two away - something I never notice with GLS bulbs. They definitely concentrate the heat in to a beam. Those bulbs have now been swapped with LEDs and I'm making good savings, but for this situation some 40w spotlight bulbs might be a good compromise between reducing energy use and directing the available heat to where you need it.
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Old 19th Nov 2016, 11:44 am   #15
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Default Re: 1960s Sunhouse Electric Fire

Hi Steve,

in case you are unaware, servicing the Thermal Fans, is by 'lubricating' with a soft lead pencil, in the central Cup where it spins on the Fan's support Post / Pin.

Regards - Mike
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Old 19th Nov 2016, 2:27 pm   #16
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Default Re: 1960s Sunhouse Electric Fire

I doubt that reflector type incandescent lamps would help.
The reflector concentrates the light and the radiant heat in the desired direction, but the flame effect in this type of heater relies on the rising current of warmed air and not upon radiant heat.

It could be worth trying CFLs rather than incandescent lamps in the interests of reducing energy used.

Although a CFL uses only about 25% of the electricity consumed by an incandescent lamp of similar light output, they seem to produce about the same amount of warm air.
I have used a 15 watt spiral type CFL to replace a 60 watt incandescent in an electric heater, the rotating spinner for the flame effect worked fine.

This may sound counter intuitive, but is based on sound science. An incandescent lamp wastes a great deal of the input power on producing infrared radiation, rather than hot air.
A CFL wastes less energy, but that energy that IS wasted, largely goes into heating the glass tube which has a considerable surface area and thereby produces a lot of warmed air.
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Old 19th Nov 2016, 7:35 pm   #17
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Default Re: 1960s Sunhouse Electric Fire

If you change to more efficient lamps, their heat output reduces, so you run the heat part of the appliance for longerThe bulbs are very, very, close to 100% efficient as heaters because their light heats whatever absorbs it. Only light lost outside the house is wasted.

David
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Old 20th Nov 2016, 2:00 am   #18
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Default Re: 1960s Sunhouse Electric Fire

Quote:
Originally Posted by broadgage View Post
I doubt that reflector type incandescent lamps would help.
The reflector concentrates the light and the radiant heat in the desired direction, but the flame effect in this type of heater relies on the rising current of warmed air and not upon radiant heat.
However, if you're sending more of the radiant heat upwards, you'll also be heating the items - and from them the air around them - above the bulb more efficiently, and this could create better air flow in the area where the disc is. It would have to be tested, but there's reasons to think it may work, and reasons to think it may not. I'm not sure how much of the air flow is caused by the air being indirectly heated by the nearby objects that are absorbing the radiant heat, or simply air being heated by the bulb directly and rising up. I assume a bit of both, but the amounts, I don't really know.
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Old 20th Nov 2016, 11:30 am   #19
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Default Re: 1960s Sunhouse Electric Fire

It's lovely and I suspect quite rare now, I'd leave it as it is and enjoy it as it was intended.
The cost of electricity it uses surly is worth the pleasure it brings.
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