Replacing 1970's Electric Baseboard Heaters
edeevee
10 years ago
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ionized_gw
10 years agoRelated Discussions
Recommend electric baseboard heater?
Comments (0)Can anyone suggest a quality baseboard heater we could install along one wall of the bathroom? It would only be used occasionally on cold winter mornings or nights. We have a baseboard heating unit in the bathroom that's connected to our furnace, but we heat our home primarily with wood, not the furnace, and would like to be able to pump up the heat specifically in the bathroom sometimes. I tried looking at electric baseboard heaters, but what I found looked like temporary units, and I'm looking for something that can be hardwired. Ability to wire it to a timer/switch would be great. Don't know if this matters, but we would install this on a different wall than where the current baseboard heater is located. We're looking to supplement--not replace--what we already have. The vanity is too far from the shower and throne for an under-vanity heater to be of much use, but there's an empty section of wall opposite the shower and next to the toilet where a baseboard unit would work quite nicely....See MoreReplacing electric hot water heater - should I go hybrid?
Comments (37)Saltidog, Dude, chill. I was respectfully saying you had a different opinion - not what your opinion was or that it had anything to do with the heating elements. You can disagree without being disagreeable. I do understand thermodynamics very well, thank you. There is no "trend" and no misrepresentation. Yes, the units have resistive elements as backup, for high demand situations, and when the ambient temperature gets low enough that enough heat can't be extracted using the heat pump (for geospring unit that's 45 degrees F) Saltidog, I don't know what you are getting your panties in a bunch about... yes, I understand your heater works well for you. I would expect that. It's installed in a basement that's at least 700 cubic feet of space. Because it's underground it will maintain a temperature of around 50 - 55 degrees or more if there are other heat sources in the basement. That's enough to allow the heat pump to work just fine. The water heater will work in almost all situations / applications where one would normally install a tank heater. It will even run on the heat pump in most situations. The question is when you have the water heater in a fully conditioned space (not basement) and that space is being heated. At that time, one is shifting the heating load of the water heater to the furnace - which may or may not be more cost effective. I think the water heaters are great - esp if they can work out the reliability problems (which I think are teething pains, not inherent problems). I stick by my assertion that there are three applications whereby they produce the most system efficiency / cost effectiveness....See MoreIs there any reason to get new electric baseboard heaters?
Comments (38)I was in a similar situation. Old home from the 60's. Installed a new woodstove, fixed chimney etc to keep my baseboard heating costs low. Whats the most efficient depends on the times. Natural gas if available, Propane, and oil prices fluctuate. It's a roll of the dice. Wood is always the cheapest but labor intensive. Coal if its easily available. Pellet is an option too, but you need to store enough, wood, coal, or pellets somewhere easily accessible. You need to either hire, or clean your chimney and stove yourself. Here's a tip. You ain't getting' any younger. Choose your battles wisely. What if you throw your back out? Then what... Mini splits. Here's what I found. Efficient? To a degree. -20? Nonsense. More like 36. Real world numbers here. You have to run an electric heating element to the coils so when they freeze, you can melt the ice. $$ Then if you're smart, you make sure you build or have built, a shield of sorts to keep the elements off it. If there's a snow drift, you better get out there and clear it by hand. Some will bolt it to the walls to keep it off the floor, but you can't go that high and awnings only do so much. Think about it. The machines need to be serviced. Lets talk a 10 year ROI here. Warranties, such as offered by Mitsubishi, require a licensed professional to come out and service it once a year. $$. If you don't pay, you lose the warranty. How nice. You could gamble and risk it all...There goes my savings over a 10 year period. You either need to buy, or clean the filters. Anywhere form 1 to 3 of em annually depending on model. Replaced eventually if you clean them yourself. Cost of installation? Ridiculous. Run electric, upgrade your panel, run ugly line sets and condensate pipes all over the place? Bah. THE ONLY WAY you could save money is if you knew someone in the biz to cut you an install deal. Other than that you'll pay 10K on average. I got quoted $5k for a single 18K unit. $10K on a split system running off a 36K unit. Run the numbers and you'll see its just not worth it. How much money can you save over a 10 year period will yield an ROI that just about equals out. Clearly a waste of time and effort. That's whats its about. Peace of mind. Baseboards = zero maintenance other than a vacuum cleaner or a coat of paint. Heck. My wife can do that. Companies/Businesses/People can and will say ANYTHING to convince you to empty your pockets. Its unethical yes, against the law, no. Leave the baseboard and have some peace of mind. You'll pay inflated costs over time or drop thousands at once and HOPE that you found a contractor worth his spit. Mini Splits. BAH. You can't escape paying. No one can. One way or the other they're gonna get you. The smartest guys in the world have run the numbers. The system has been set up. Its the working class that pays. Not the poor, Not the rich. Remember that. Choose the path of least resistance and don't' let these jerks fool you. Everybody hates math. You just have to do it. When was the last time you heard someone say they love math...That's how they get you. "Coil size, amperage, etc will fall on sadly deaf ears - with math involved I won't follow it. If possible, please, descriptions are better such as 'the coils are now bigger' or 'they use a different metal so it does x'."...See MoreToe kick to replace Baseboard heater
Comments (17)Looking at the picture with short convectors next to the sliding door, I am betting the sliding door was put in in a renovation where some windows used to be and baseboard was removed there already. Keep in mind that toe kick heaters can be noisy compared to the convectors. They need relatively high temperature water to keep them from the need to be big, but aluminum fin convectors usually use pretty hot water anyway compared to radiant floor or cast iron radiators. If there is an efficient, condensing boiler in your future, low water temperature and lots of radiation is your friend now. How about some radiant floor heat? Do you have open joists under that area? My parents faced the same issue in their kitchen. After a few years with the added toe kick heater it failed. Sadly, they found that the contractors installed it in such a way that they would have to cut through the cabinet bottom or through the floor from the bottom to repair or replace it. Happily, they found, that due to improved windows and insulation they really did not need it...See Morejimisham
10 years agoedeevee
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