Question: Forced air or baseboards?

[Rosie Facer]

OK, so we are not too familiar with either of these heating systems as they are not too common in Europe. It was the last thing on my mind when I scouted out rentals and found the place we have been living in for the last four years (which has in-floor radiant heating). We are now looking to purchase our own place. Radiant heating systems are quite rare at our end of the market and unfortunately in our location of interest our main option is electric heating. Propane and oil are available, mains gas is not. Wood is out.

I have been searching for information about these heating systems and it seems to pretty much be a toss up. Forced air disadvantages seem to be dust circulation and noise (summer air conditions options are a non-issue in this part of the world). Baseboards can be a bit inefficient getting a room up to heat time-wise. Furniture location is an issue for both forced air and baseboards. Manintenance...

Do any ski divas have any wisdom to share? Have you had one type that you would never have again? Have I missed any obvious features? Any help out there?

 

[geargrrl]

Baseboard heat, which is 100% electrical, in my experience, is hugely expensive over forced air ( gas powered) heating. I live in a four season climate, and when we have had baseboard heat our electrical bill has easily been triple or more what it would be with forced air heating. I would NEVER choose base board over forced air if given options.

Dust with a good forced air system is a non-issue for me, and noise depends on the age and quality of the system. Furniture placement working around forced air registers is pretty minimal compared with wall heaters.

Radiant is also a good choice, but it's not very common around here.

 

[Jilly]

I have 4 properties - 2 with baseboards, 2 with forced air.

The forced air is gas, but we did have oil in our old house. I like the forced air as you get an even heat and if you have a 2 stage fan, it keeps the house warmer all the time. As for noise - shouldn't be there. The new fans are much quieter than something 20 years old.

Baseboards are in both our vacations homes. We supplement with fireplaces, one wood (Tremblant) the other propane (cottage). I find the baseboard leave you with "hot spots" and as you say - furniture placement. Also the expense of electricity over gas or even oil. At home and my office building we need air conditioning, so forced air is a must. At the Tremblant condo we have a portable air conditioner. Now that's noisy!

A relator should be able to help you with the expense of operating either system too.

 

[Christy]

When I've had baseboards I haven't like them at all. They are so slow to heat up, and I think furniture placement is a bigger issue than with forced air.

 

[Jenn]

Last fall we got rid of 4 looong baseboard heaters and replaced them with 2 fan-forced electric in-wall heaters (made by Dimplex). They're only 8"x16" and DH had no problem installing them (he IS uncommonly handy though) Our heating bill is down by almost a third from last year (!) This winter hasn't been as cold as last year, but I still see the savings as significant. They heat the rooms quickly and are very quiet. I wish we had them years ago. Maybe there are other things on the market, but these are a wonderful improvement to baseboard heaters.

 

[Rosie Facer]

Thanks all, input much appreciated

I shudder at the thought of the expense of electric heating, even here in "hydro" land. It's good to hear that more cost efficient electric options are available. It sounds like a modern electric furnace based forced air system could be better than baseboards. At least with a forced air system there are more options: easier to retrofit something like the Dimplex heaters, change out the electric furnace for oil (yeauggh)... way easier than trying to retrofit a new ducting system would be too a home with baseboards anyway.

 

[nopoleskier]

Think Electric is too $$$$ Check out Rinnai & Myson propane wall units .. Very energy efficient. I like Hot Water Baseboard heat or Radiant
I think hte Hot H20 is best because you get extra heat as water cools in pipes :-)

 

[MaineSkiLady]

I think hte Hot H20 is best because you get extra heat as water cools in pipes :-)

But...OMG...what can go wrong with these systems....never mind....They are complex and "miles" of copper pipes, and regulator pumps for each zone, and pressure tank, and welds --- all of which can and DO fail. And then there is...The Boiler...They are MEGA-expensive - more than a forced air system that would INCLUDE central air (I know, I've done back-to-back on different houses) and have a life span approximately half of what a forced air system would have. Forced air furnace has a heat exchanger and a fan. Period. Boilers? Infinitely more (that, again, can all malfunction). Worse: lower efficiency, such that many hot water boilers for hot water heat don't even make the minimum for (U.S.) Federal Energy Tax Credits, which meant we lost out on $1,500, by TWO efficiency points.

Factor this in: most homes with hot water baseboard heat will use the boiler to heat water, on demand. There are efficient storage tanks, but the furnace will STILL be kicking on at regular intervals, in its inefficient glory, to heat the water. In July, when it's 90 out. (We got rid of that issue a few years ago >gone - electric tank)

Overall, my heating costs for oil-fired (common here in northern New England and nowhere else in the U.S.) baseboard versus what I formerly had, natural gas-fired forced air, are at least FOUR TIMES MORE. And rising....oil prices....

Look at the numbers VERY carefully, including, if electric, cost per KWH and efficiency. In our case, electric would have just about been cheaper, and much lower maintenance cost.

 

[Jilly]

At the cottage we have one of electric heater with the fan. It's at the sliding glass door. So it keeps it warm. Rest are baseboards.

No to an electric furnace. Waaaay too expensive. Gas is less.

 

[abc]

In cold climate, there's no reason whatsoever to build a house with electric baseboard heat.

The very fact of no forced air means the heat is slow to circulate to the corner of the room away from the baseboard. That is the inherent inefficiency in a baseboard heat system.

Personally, I think electric heat is really just a product of builder who "cheap out". It's cheap to install but expensive to operate. When I hunt for houses, I basically look at electric heat as a "discount factor". And frankly, the market knows that too. Too similar house, one with electric heat should be less than one with forced air heating.

 

[Rosie Facer]

Thanks for all the comments.

The house we ended up buying and moving in to (what a whirlwind the last four weeks has been!) has forced air with an electric furnace. We will see how the furnace costs go as we have the option of changing it out for propane or oil but those are both a bit of a pain due to having to get them to our island location (deliveries once a week during the allocated dangerous cargo sailing window I suspect). Not to mention my dislike of oil-fired furnaces, based on previous experience.

Anyway, to round off, we have just discovered an unforeseen consequence of forced air. The "treasure" (mostly plastic cutlery and small toys) that one of the younger (presumably) previous occupants mislaid in one of the ducts. Ah well, it all needs cleaning before next winter anyway!

Cheers all

 

[bounceswoosh]

Everything I've seen in the Colorado Summit County area has electric baseboard. I am glad you didn't get it - not only is expensive, but it dries out the room awfully. Ptooie.

 

[Jilly]

Discovery is always interesting. Island location??

 

[WaterGirl]

Looking for insight into heating with ELECTRIC -- the baseboard vs. in wall electric fan heaters.
Wondering if any Diva's have switched out either and noticed a difference?
All condos I have rented have fireplace inserts so wood can be used and then supplemented with electric heat.
Some have electric baseboards. Some have in wall electric fan heaters (ie cadet).

Anyone use any of the newer type wall heaters? envi or econo heat wall panel?

thoughts on what is cheaper ?

 

[sibhusky]

We had electric baseboard for fifteen years in our mountain condo. Best that can be said was it came up fast when we arrived. Cost a fortune in electricity.

Our current house has total (three floors) radiant floor heating and I'd never change away from it. But... Takes a long time to get going if you lose electricity to run the thing for three days. It's propane, but all the switching requires electricity. The floors held the heat real well the first day or so, but we had to wait a while for it to come back. Far cheaper than electric heat. I can't do a strict comparison, because the condo was in Pennsylvania and had half the square footage of here, with less insulation, BUT a shared wall, whereas in Montana the winters are FAR COLDER, etc. But I know we couldn't afford to live in this house if we had electric baseboard.

 

[Jilly]

Fans are much better. I have both in my cottage. The newer baseboards are better than the stuff from the 70's too. Have you had a heat lost analysis done? In floor heating is great too!

 

[nopoleskier]

I just put in Rianni propane wall heat in my office. LOVE it.. low cost.. they come in several sizes. I've sold houses that are completely heated w/them (one in each room)
At My house I have radiant heat that is the best but $$$ I have an outdoor wood boiler.

 

[WaterGirl]

Thanks everyone,
@Jilly there are some drafts, will address those areas, unit is in middle of building, interior hallways so pretty warm b/c only one true exterior wall, which is a lot of windows/sliders.
No gas or propane available.
Open concept condo - bedrooms have baseboard which is fine - quieter than the fan and the bedrooms are not big
Living/ kit/ dinning -- question is to keep 2 electric wall fan heaters -- in which case need to replace the oldest.
Fireplace will provide most heat, but need a back up for night and something reliable to keep condo from freezing when not there.
wondering if anyone had experience with the envi or econo wall heaters which are flat and no fan vs basic cadet fan type wall heater? or the Cadet 72 which can be placed high on the wall but is only 1000 watts?

 

[va_deb]

Sorry I can't help but will be curious to hear if others have experience with those, @WaterGirl. We have gas forced air with one renovated bedroom over a former garage that has very poor HVAC circulation, so we use a portable floor unit in the winter in there and a fan or window AC unit in the summer.