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cove electric radiant heating

Last Post 19 Jan 2010 05:17 PM by poor richard. 7 Replies.

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poor richard User is Offline

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Posts:14

19 Jan 2010 11:26 AM
I am considering using Comfort Cove radiant heaters as the sole source of heat for the new home I'm building. The house will 1600 sf, SIPS walls, raised heel truss roof. The climate is very mild, (Pacific NW), 5657 heating degree days, no cooling required. Electricity is 6.3 cents per Kwh, natural gas is unavailable. The things are dead cheap, should be reliable (nothing there but a resistance element), and should be markedly more efficient than baseboard heaters. My wife and I are in our sixties, without heirs, so any investment in something more efficient is hard to justify without a damn short payback time. One thing that caught my eye about these things is if you google them, what mostly comes up is a ton of rural electric cooperatives selling them to their members along with the CFL bulbs. Anyone care to try to talk me out of this? www.radiantsystemsinc.com/

NRT.Rob

Veteran Member

Posts:1741

19 Jan 2010 11:32 AM
electric heating is electric heating. it's not likely to be "markedly" more efficient than any other form of electric heat unless you're in a cathedral space. it might be more comfortable than baseboard. but so would an electric mat floor product. that would cost more, but it would likely be significantly more comfortable as well. so really it's a question of cost vs comfort. efficiency won't really play into it.

Rockport Mechanical<br>RockportMechanical.com

poor richard User is Offline

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Posts:14

19 Jan 2010 11:44 AM
Thanks! No cathedral ceilings, but they will be 10 ft high, so that probably counts for something. Speaking of comfort, is there any reason to think such a system would be less comfortable than a forced air system?

NRT.Rob

Veteran Member

Posts:1741

19 Jan 2010 11:47 AM
I have very little experience with these heaters so don't take this as gospel, but I can't think of any reason. however for a heater that small to radiate that much, it has to be fairly hot, and comfort will probably vary with distance from the unit.

Rockport Mechanical<br>RockportMechanical.com

poor richard User is Offline

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Posts:14

19 Jan 2010 12:03 PM
"electric heating is electric heating. it's not likely to be "markedly" more efficient than any other form of electric heat" Manufacturers of all forms of radiant heat say that their systems are comfortable at a lower air temperature than forced air or convective systems. Is this jive talk?

NRT.Rob

Veteran Member

Posts:1741

19 Jan 2010 12:29 PM
yes and no. technically it's correct, but studies don't show that people, in practice, actually turn down their thermostats very often. but that's using radiant floor customers as a sample pool; those are people who spent significantly more to be comfortable, so it's not unreasonable to assume that they want higher room temperatures to begin with. Perhaps with a product like this the claims might bear out more often in reality. of course, it won't be as good at achieving that "whole room" warmth as a radiant floor either... unless it's very hot indeed. so the answer is... as it almost always is... "it depends". but again: I'm talking generalities, I haven't used this particular product or even type of product myself. so take that for what it's worth.

Rockport Mechanical<br>RockportMechanical.com

jmagill

Basic Member

Posts:374

19 Jan 2010 01:38 PM
I work in an office with those heaters. I HATE THEM! My head is too hot , my feet are cold. It gives me a headache. Add t that the dirt streaks that collect on the ceiling above them and your wife will hate them too.