Besides being ugly, it's... ...painting around them every time you paint ...vacuuming around them every time you vacuum ...cleaning them when they get dusty ...they still look dated even when clean ...bumping the furniture up to them every time you try to put it flush to the wall ...working around them in every room for every renovation you do ...wasting space in your breaker box (in my area I can't tandem so breaker space is precious) If your furnace were to go out, would you leave your furnace inop and just live off the wall heaters then? If not then dealing w these for the rest of your life for the 1 or 2 days you use them, when you could also just use a spaceheater instead, is pointless. Every time you renovate a room, working around the heater there will bug you. So why keep anything you don't like if you are renovating it to be like you want it just cuz your electrician says to? Once he's done w the job he'll never see these again - but they will haunt you for the rest of your life. Don't build this awesome vision you're thinking of but leave the outdated eyesores that annoy you. To some a classic old stove is a treasure... to others it's junk. If these are junk to you then out w them and in w what you like. :-) (of course follow the advice above, make sure the furnace is fully operational, sized to the house, etc) -mike

I'd go ahead and spring for the Honeywell system. If it makes you feel any better, the ipad business is actually an extra cost, so you are not paying for it with the basic unit. You will need a second interface module for the second baseboard but it will control both baseboards. We had a similar situation in our kid's room and this was prior to anything like the Honeywell. Our 240 volt baseboard had to be wired directly into the line, so the thermostat was mounted into the baseboard. The temperature there had nothing to do with the temperature in the rest of the room, particularly at the bed. Some mornings it was too hot, and with a minor adjustment, too cold in the room. I know it doesn't seem logical that the thermostat costs more than the baseboard heater itself, but it is definitely worth it.

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'."

If you want to sand and repaint, you should try Rust-O'leum Rust Reformer (Black), then the Rust-O'leum metal paint color you like. Personally, I'd probably choose the vinyl intended for that use rather than do all that sanding and painting. Probably would not put wood around a heating unit because even if it were not a fire hazard, the heat would dry the boards and, potentially, change their shape..