Hi folks,
We’re remodeling a small (less than 800 sq ft) vacation home in the northeast (Cape Cod). We want to replace the circa 1972 electric baseboar radiators. My wife came across an ad for Hydro-Sil electric baseboard. It says that inside there’s a copper pipe filled with a silicone liquid inside with the heating element inside the pipe. The heating element heats the silicone. The silicone retains the heat and continues to heat after the electric element turns off. So I have a few questions:
* Is anyone familiar with the product and do you recommend it?
* Naturally they claim increased efficiency and lower operating cost. Can anyone explain why it would be mode efficient than an ordinary electric baseboard? Seems to me that an element generates a certain amount of heat whether it is transfered directly to the house or more gradually thru the silicone.
The option we’re considering is relacing the electric with oil hot water. But that would take a greater initial investment and we plan to sell the house in a year or two. Plus, as strictly a vacation home there will hardly ever be anyone there in the winter to push the reset button on an oil furnace. Plus we’d only have to heat the rooms wthat have plumbing when no one was there. Opinions on electric vs oil for this situation will also be welcomed.
Thanks in advance!
If ignorance is bliss, then apathy is sheer heaven!
Replies
By an egineering definition of efficency; useful energy out/energy input they are EXACTLY the same as the common resistive heater.
Now with the thermomass that allows it to give less BTU/hr, but over a longer time MIGHT just allow for some PERCIEVED comfort level that allow s you to keep the room temp a degree or two lower. It also might cause the person that is used to the faster response of the common baseboard units to keep pushing the thermostat up and them overheating the room.