Electronic baseboard heating is one alternative to traditional, forced air furnace-style heaters. By directing either hot water or steam underneath the floors of each room, electronic baseboard heaters actually heat a room from the ground up, as opposed to forced air furnaces that simply heat a room by directing warmed air into the room via a duct. But as is usually the case with home heating appliances, you will only get to enjoy the energy savings offered by baseboard heaters should you choose the most energy efficient ones and use them in the most energy efficient way possible.
Electronic Baseboard Heating
There are several different types of baseboard heaters that use electricity to heat steam or water. Air heated radiant floors are sometimes used in business but are usually cost inefficient in residential installations. More common in homes are electric radiant floors that use electricity to generate heat underneath your baseboards and hydronic radiant baseboards that heat water in a boiler and direct either steam or heated water underneath the floor. For most home applications, hydronic baseboard heating tends to be the most cost efficient.
Installation Costs
An important factor to consider in the long-term cost efficiency of electronic baseboard heating is the cost of installing such a system, which can be substantial in a home that was not built with heated baseboards to begin with. The most common types of installations for a baseboard heating systems are "wet" installations, whereby cables or tubing are suspended in a thin layer of concrete, gypsum or other material just above the subfloor, and "dry" installations in which cables or tubing are suspended in air space just below the floor. The cost effectiveness of each of these types of installation varies tremendously according to many unique factors such as the type of flooring you use and the number of rooms in your home.
Efficiency
In general, electric baseboard heating is considered more energy efficient than forced air furnace heating. Furnace heaters tend to lose the most thermal energy while transporting the heat through duct work, and no matter how well-maintained your ductwork is, you can expect to lose at least some amount of thermal energy through it. Baseboard heaters circumvent this problem by precluding the need for any ductwork at all. Among baseboard heaters, hydronic baseboard systems tend to use far less electricity than standard electric baseboard heaters.
Improving Efficiency
Of course, as is always the case with home heating and cooling systems, energy efficiency can be difficult to estimate since it relies on so many unique factors. The type of flooring you use in the home--in particular, its thickness and thermal resistance--affects a baseboard system's efficiency, as does the baseboard heater's distance from the floor. But in general, you can improve a baseboard heating system's efficiency using the same tactics as you would with any other heating system. Using blankets, fireplaces, space heaters and other heat sources, for instance, can minimize your reliance on the baseboard system to keep the home at a comfortable temperature. Seal your home well using weather-stripping, caulk and double-pane windows to prevent heat escaping from the inside of the home out.
Related posts
Baseboard heaters offer a convenient heating alternative to traditional forced-air furnace systems. Whereas forced-air heaters warm air and push it through a duct system to different rooms in the...
Electrical radiant heating is more economical for smaller areas.Electric and hydronic heating are the two most popular radiant systems used to warm residential floors. A hydronic system uses a gas...
Radiant heating systems are becoming increasingly popular. There are pros and consider to investigate when considering such a system. The BasicsIn most common electric radiant heatin...
HUD has specific rules for water heaters in mobile homes.Also known as manufactured homes, mobile homes are required to comply with the rules laid down by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban...
Underfloor Heating AdviceUnderfloor heat provides warmth to a room or an entire home through thermal radiation. Thermal radiation disperses heat into the room without fans or blowers moving the he...
