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Heating & Air Conditioning

Electric Heating

16 years ago

I live in Quebec near the Vermont border and am now heating my house with an air tight wood stove. Its a small house. 1200 sq ft. I thought of putting in electric base board heaters. However I have been reading on the internet that an electric boiler and hot water radiators would cost more to instal but cost less to operate. I would appreciate any comments. AK

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Comments (4)

aemeeich_
16 years ago
Whatever you've been reading is wrong. Electric heat is always the same efficiency - 100% at point of use. So cost of operation will be the same between electric baseboard, and an electric boiler. If anything, the electric boiler might cost slightly more because of the power draw of the circulator. (although this is really small)

There are other advantages to hot water radiators and and electric boiler though. For instance, you can change fuel source later on without having to change the distribution method - water based heat pumps, solar, gas/propane/oil boilers might at some point make good economic sense. You can also add additional features - towel warmers, heated floors, snow melt.

In all reality, for all the additional expense of going the hot water route, I don't know if it is beneficial for you. It might be best to just put in the electric baseboard.

Michael
fsq4cw
16 years ago
Re: ak-07

You live in Quebec with the some of the cheapest greenest electricity. Why not consider a geothermal heat pump system? You could receive a grant of $3500.00 minimum for such an installation and save possibly 70% on operating cost compared to an electric system. Geothermal would also provide air-conditioning and hot water as well.

SR

Here is a link that might be useful: NRCan
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Elmer J Fudd wrote: " 'a Hayward swimming pool heater does 4 at 50F, so the electric cost per watt/BTUh/whatever needs to be divided by 4 to compare to direct heating by gas,' "No, no, no. "The word "efficiency" when describing heat pumps or other electrical sources is NOT comparable to the word "efficiency" used for gas appliances. . . . From a search I just did, gas fired power plants are at best 60% efficient and often less." What I actually wrote, in part, was: "... a Hayward swimming pool heater does [COP =] 4 at 50F, so the electric cost per watt/BTUh/whatever needs to be divided by 4 to compare to direct heating by gas, assuming total extraction of the combustion heat." [referring to the gas] I didn't use the word efficiency. I was referring to a household heater with relatively cool exhaust gas, and not a power plant, when comparing costs per BTU generated or moved. The customer directly pays for electricity or propane or natural gas. If we want to compare environmental impact then a lot of diverse costs need to be considered and that would be beyond the intended scope of my comment.
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anectdotal point - i have a similar sized bath with a small hydronic baseboard heater on the exterior wall, and we added electric radiant mats under the tile. Have had this for 2 years now. The electric radiant does actually warm the room a tiny bit, but i am glad we did not remove the baseboard - it is absolutely needed, especially during our cold New England winters.
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ak-07
Original Author
16 years ago
Thanks for the info.
In considering the geothermal. The town I live in has a population of about 1200 and there are two houses heated with geothermal. I haven't got a clue as to what the total cost of this type of instalation would be? It seems to me one of the houses had to have two holes drilled as the first one failed. I'm 68 yrs old and the cost of instaltion I assume would be factored in depending on how long I would use it ?
fsq4cw
16 years ago
If new boreholes had to be drilled it was because either the system wasnÂt designed or installed right Â or both!

If you donÂt plan to remain in your home for another 10 years or so, it may be hard to justify the expense unless it were something you really wanted to do for environmental reasons and you could easily afford the extra capital outlay that a geothermal system entails. The most energy efficient system (geothermal) is (unfortunately) the most expensive.

Another choice you might consider is a mini split heat pump system and use your wood stove for back-up during extreme cold weather and power failures. The heat pump would also provide air-conditioning.

SR

Here is a link that might be useful: Mitsubishi Mr. Slim

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