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Electric Baseboard HELP/ADVICE PLEASE royroy 02-09-2005
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Posted by royroy on February 9, 2005, 3:31 pm


I have an add-on family room which due construction/location was/is
heated by electric baseboard strip heaters. Both are 10' long on
opposite sides of the room. The one that is under a big window wall
has failed. In attempting to locate replacements, I am finding out
that (apparently) 10' heaters are no longer made; the longest I can
locate are 8'. (One heater is FASCO Comsumer Services, which was
bought out by Patton {the other heater} and both unitied under "The
Rival Company.)
Query 1. Anyone know if 10' heaters are available and where?

If I have to go with an 8' heater, I have always been intrigued by
Hydrosil, the fluid filled heater. The 8' Hydrosil, with thermostat,
delivered to my door is about 4X the cost of an 8' heater available
locally.
Query 2. Anyone with experience believe the Hysdrosil is worth it.
They offer a lifetime warranty. The electric strip heaters seem to
last about 6-8 years. Any savings that way would be very slow in
coming, as would be any savings achieved thru cheaper operating
costs of the Hydrosil---if they truly are cheaper to operate.
Thanks in advance---it would be wonderful if the answer to Query 1 was
in the affirmative
Roy


Posted by Eric Tonks on February 9, 2005, 3:50 pm


You buy two 5 footers and join them end to end. That would give you
The biggest ones I see are 102".


> I have an add-on family room which due construction/location was/is
> heated by electric baseboard strip heaters. Both are 10' long on
> opposite sides of the room. The one that is under a big window wall
> has failed. In attempting to locate replacements, I am finding out
> that (apparently) 10' heaters are no longer made; the longest I can
> locate are 8'. (One heater is FASCO Comsumer Services, which was
> bought out by Patton {the other heater} and both unitied under "The
> Rival Company.)
> Query 1. Anyone know if 10' heaters are available and where?
>
> If I have to go with an 8' heater, I have always been intrigued by
> Hydrosil, the fluid filled heater. The 8' Hydrosil, with thermostat,
> delivered to my door is about 4X the cost of an 8' heater available
> locally.
> Query 2. Anyone with experience believe the Hysdrosil is worth it.
> They offer a lifetime warranty. The electric strip heaters seem to
> last about 6-8 years. Any savings that way would be very slow in
> coming, as would be any savings achieved thru cheaper operating
> costs of the Hydrosil---if they truly are cheaper to operate.
> Thanks in advance---it would be wonderful if the answer to Query 1 was
> in the affirmative
> Roy




Posted by Terry on February 9, 2005, 8:18 pm


>> They offer a lifetime warranty. The electric strip heaters seem to
>> last about 6-8 years. Any savings that way would be very slow in
>> coming, as would be any savings achieved thru cheaper operating
>> costs of the Hydrosil---if they truly are cheaper to operate.
>> Thanks in advance---it would be wonderful if the answer to Query 1 was
>> in the affirmative
>> Roy
>
Our understanding when it comes to electric heaters is that with exception
of whether they are buried in a floor, ceiling etc. which takes time to heat
up and more slowly provide the heat to a living area, all heaters are 100
per cent efficient.
In other words for every kilowatt of electricity that you put in you get a
kilowatt of heat. In an electric heater it's got nowhere else to go; not
like if you are burning fuel such as oil, gas, wood etc. where there is some
inefficiency and some of the combustion heat goes up the chimney/vent!
Very surprised; since none of our approximately 12 (230 volt) baseboard
heaters which are all 35 years old has ever failed.
Does the electricity supply in your area have a varying voltage?
Over the last 15 years or so I have dismantled, resprayed, reassembled and
reinstalled a couple of the metal baseboards. Am about to refinish the one
in our front hall/vestibule, because it has become a bit tatty. Also got a
couple of original heaters which we either didn't install or which we
removed as unnecessary (for example we removed one on the basement stair
landing and a small one in the hallway outside two bedrooms)! These are
virtually brand new and are now unused spares.
The total repairs for electric baseboard heat in this four bedroom full
basement house have been one circuit breaker, and three AC line wall
thermostats. Although one thermostat was changed due to redecorating not
electrical failure.
Very safe, very reliable and cost of repairs, in comparison to almost any
other heating system virtually nil! With the advantage of individual
room/area thermostats.
BTW although I could have obtained baseboard heaters from my employer at a
subsidized price we chose to go with GE type which has individual venting
slots not much larger than the diameter of a pencil. We deemed these much
safer than the open strip type electric baseboards which can allow
bedclothes, other materials or childish fingers to contact the heating
element. The choice seems to have been a good one. An associate has had a
scorched bedcover from that other more open type baseboard, which
fortunately did not cause a fire! Those wax-type crayons which melt can make
quite a mess, so we are told, if/when they get into any type of electric
heater!
In a workshop and also in the garage we have a couple of old (commercial
type) ceiling hung 3.5 kW 230 volt fan heaters, used occasionally.
Good luck.





Posted by Speedy Jim on February 9, 2005, 6:16 pm


royroy wrote:
<SNIP>
> Query 2. Anyone with experience believe the Hysdrosil is worth it.
> They offer a lifetime warranty. The electric strip heaters seem to
> last about 6-8 years. Any savings that way would be very slow in
> coming, as would be any savings achieved thru cheaper operating
> costs of the Hydrosil---if they truly are cheaper to operate.
> Thanks in advance---it would be wonderful if the answer to Query 1 was
> in the affirmative
> Roy

The savings promoted by Hydrosil are phantom. The watts
sent to strip heaters create the same amount of room heating
as watts sent to a Hydrosil.

There may be some difference in comfort level due to the
smaller band of temperature swings, but economy and efficiency
will be the same.

Jim


Posted by rnr_construction on February 10, 2005, 10:47 am



> royroy wrote:
> <SNIP>
>> Query 2. Anyone with experience believe the Hysdrosil is worth it.
>> They offer a lifetime warranty. The electric strip heaters seem to
>> last about 6-8 years. Any savings that way would be very slow in
>> coming, as would be any savings achieved thru cheaper operating
>> costs of the Hydrosil---if they truly are cheaper to operate. Thanks in
>> advance---it would be wonderful if the answer to Query 1 was
>> in the affirmative
>> Roy
>
> The savings promoted by Hydrosil are phantom. The watts
> sent to strip heaters create the same amount of room heating
> as watts sent to a Hydrosil.
>
> There may be some difference in comfort level due to the
> smaller band of temperature swings, but economy and efficiency
> will be the same.
>
> Jim

If I replaced a Baseboard heater. I would replace it with a cadet style
heater. the fan warms the room up a lot faster




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