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If you are referring to electric heat comparing the standard element to hydronics they provide a more comfortable heat. With the standard electric heat the element heats up quickly and once it's off cools down quickly so you get a lot of up and down fluctuation in the temperature of the room.
The hydronics will heat up more slowly and once it goes off they will continue to provide heat over a longer period of time.
As far as efficiencies go there is no difference, any electric heat is 100% efficient and will provide the same BTU's per watt. You might see a slight drop because of the more even distribution but that's really irrelevant.
So glad YOU asked this question! I asked last year and while I understand what thecoalman says, I'd like to know the experiences of someone who had regular baseboard heaters and then upgraded to hydronic.
The cost difference is extraordinary as you've probably seen at the stores. So for someone to make that kind of investment...considering they cost the same to run (kw per hour).....got to know what the difference is!
I am putting in baseboard heaters in October...should have done it last year but have been hesitant.
One thing I read about the heaters is they don't ping and crackle like regular baseboard heaters do. Yet, my sister has baseboards and they DON'T make that noise anyway.
Please come back to this thread and update it with what you discover in your research....and if you buy them....what made you by them.
Your post has me thinking again so I did some online searching and came up with:
not as noisy as regular baseboard heaters and
hydronic heating does not dry out the air, or spread dust or allergens
if you adjust the thermostat alot like when going out/coming home- hydronic may not be best as they take longer to heat up
Last edited by VegasGrace; 07-24-2010 at 06:18 AM..
2k worth and there are no more left. When I called R J Walkers they were alot more expensive and noone seemed to know anything about them. In Ireland we have similar except they are almost flat and up to about 3 feet in height and flush against the wall. Going to install these this wekeend. Should we anticipate any problems, I am thinking we take the old ones off and wire them up the same.
It will be expensive to go with hydronics if you aren't already using hot water heat because you'll have to install plumbing and a boiler.
I personally would never even buy a house with electric baseboard heat. I love hot water heat. Hot water doesn't dry the air in the winter. Less chapped skin.
For us, hot water heat is cheaper to heat a house because it uses gas not electric. Well, my hot water is heated with gas.
the ones we bought are filled with oil and yes I would never buy a house with heating like this again, sadly at the time we moving we had already picked out a house with different heating system but when we asked to have a minor leak fixed on the roof, the roofer bought it for cash from under our nose. So we got stuck with the house from hell. However, we have rebuilt this place now and are in it for a while.
trying to do the best we can to get thru the winter.
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well we bought evryone one of them at Lowe's
