I’m putting a proposal together to finish a room above a garage, the room will be used occasionally but not occupied 100% of the time.
I’m going to include a small heat pump unit that we have used in the past for similar applications although in this case I would like add electric baseboard heat as both a back up & supplement to the heat pump.
What are your thoughts and preferences? We are trying to avoid the expense of a complete additional HVAC system because of the limited use.
The space of the room is approximatly 23′ x 23′ and completly open.
Edited 12/10/2006 4:56 pm ET by CAGIV
Replies
I can't help you out with your question because I'm considering the same solution for my family room. But I would like to know you experience with the heat pump.
Around here (central New Jersey), the average winter temperature is around 30°. It's probably similar where you are. My family room is attached to the house (duh!), but it's heated separately. Right now, I have a direct vent 30,000 BTU wall mount "furnace". It works well, but it's noisy. With the heat turned off, it never gets below 55° regardless of the temps outside because of the heat it picks up from the rest of the house.
I'm thinking of switching over to a heat pump and supplemental electric (like you). I would use a split system. Do you think a heat pump would handle most of my heating requirements?
-Don
Don,
I'm not even close to knowledgeable about heating and cooling. What I found recently was a FischersAir split system heat pump. It's quite as can be and worked great in the summer months. On our most recent project that we needed independent heating and cooling we used a FischersAir model and I ordered it with an additional heat strip inside the unit.
However the first time the h/o fired it up this winter the heating element was not working properly. I found this out Wed. of last week and have been in contact with the company. Unfortunately they do not have any ability to provide local service or even recommend a local HVAC contractor that can service them, they are supposedly setting up a network now. These are questions I should have asked prior to spec-ing it in this project.
So service was great on the front end and I even spoke with their rep's at the Remodeling Show in October. Up until the other day I was impressed and happy with them, I guess we'll see how this week goes for service before I comment further.
What I do know or Heat pumps is that below about 35 degrees they can not heat with out the addition of a heat strip installed. The unit I ordered is supposed to have this but it is not working as of now.
There are many other brands of similar systems. A google on mini-split ductless will find them. Mitsibusti (sp?) is one major brand. As to your question electric baseboard heater are electric baseboard heaters. Very generic..
.
Hey every group has to have one. And I have been elected to be the one. I should make that my tagline.
Bill,
I know very little about the subject and a search on electric baseboard units brought up several units by several different manufacturers priced from $35.00 - $200.00.
I want to find something that is of high quality and serve the purpose. One stat I was able to find was that for the amount of space required I would need between 2500-4000 watts. I was able to find several units in the 1500 watt range that could be run on a 120V 20 amp circuit.
Have you used electric baseboard heat in the past, if so what was your experience and what brands?
I just do not what I need to be looking for. I plan on calling our HVAC guy in the morning but would rather not go into the discussion blind.
Thanks Neil
I installed them in my old office (now storage). What ever I got was probably from Builders Square. But it might have been from Sutherlands or Payless.As I said the baseboard units are all about the same. But a problem with then is that they use up wall space and you can have anything in front of them or cords hanging over them.Specially for a bathroom the inwall or toekick heaters would work.Now there you do have more variables because of the fan and some would be noiser than others.I know that Cadet is a brand name in that area.Qmark is another.http://www.qmarkmep.com/And they make a whole series of heaters. Including radiant electric heater. IIRC Mike Smith has use Cove Heaters (don't know what brand) for suppliment heat, but I don't remember the context..
.
Hey every group has to have one. And I have been elected to be the one. I should make that my tagline.
all around okay...
Chromalox Precision Heat and Controls - Electric heat and control ...
components, temperature controls, power controls, sensors, and complete turnkey ...
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming
WOW!!! What a Ride!
Forget the primal scream, just ROAR!!!
why the heat pump? electric baseboard on its own t-stat would heat the room and the h/o can turn the heat up or down as needed.
The heat pump will operate as both the A/C and the main heating. I mainly would like to install the baseboard heat as a supplement to the heat pump because the local climate goes below what a heat pump is able to really take care of and I do not want to solely rely on the heat strip inside the heat pump for heat.
I had a recent problem with one of the units we installed and if we had not had additional heating available it would have made the space un-usable. This particular project will have a bathroom so I would like a back up plan to keep pipes from freezing in the even the heat pump goes down.
I think the back up to guard against freezing pipes and the added comfort level they will add would not be a bad idea for relatively short money.
You might check out "Cadet" heaters. Electric units that fit into a stud cavity , use a fan to move the air. They are very common here in my area and have replaced baseboard as the unit of choice for individual room heat. Various wattages are available, one big advantage is they don't take up a lot of long wall space so it is easier to fit funiture into small rooms. http://www.cadetco.com/
I would suggest you to buy some refurbished HVAC Systems, this will cost you less and also a great product.
Yagi electricals is one of the websites that you can consider before buying, they have a vast collection of used electrical supplies at the website.
https://yagionline.com