Baseboard Heaters

Baseboard heaters are characterized by their long, short and wide shape. They are designed to lay on the floor against the baseboards in a room. They lay along the wall and only protrude into the room by a couple of inches, making them ideal for smaller rooms without much walking space to spare. They can also be used in bigger rooms where a larger heater would spoil the decor. Their small size and shape allows them to appear hidden and barely noticeable, although they actually remain in plain sight.

These heaters are usually run by means of a baseboard heater thermostat which is either installed on the wall in the same room as the heater or attached directly to the heater. Wall thermostats are more accurate and more convenient, but they are troublesome to install, especially if the walls in your home have already been finished. If you are currently building a home and the walls are not up yet, then that is a great time to install a wall thermostat. Otherwise you’ll end up having to cut into the walls themselves to hide the wiring.

A lot of people often want to know if they can install one thermostat to control all of the baseboard heaters in their house. The answer is that, yes, you could, but that would defeat the purpose of having zonal heating. Zonal heating allows you to only heat the rooms and areas of the house that you are currently using, and having one central thermostat for all of your baseboard heaters would mean that they all operate together, even when some of them are not needed.

Types of Baseboard Heaters

In terms of different types of baseboard heaters, electric baseboard heaters are by far the most popular. They’re the easiest to install, are very efficient, and have the convenience of running off of electricity. Another option is a gas baseboard heater, which runs off of natural gas or propane, but these are not as popular these days. However, if you are concerned with being able to keep your home warm when the power goes out due to a storm or inclement weather, then a gas powered baseboard heater would be a good option to look into.

Another type of baseboard heaters are called hot water baseboard heaters, or hydronic baseboard heaters. These heaters have pipes that run hot water through the heater, which has aluminum fins that surround the pipe, as you can see in the picture. The fins help diffuse the heat from the water which is then forced out into the room by means of a fan. This specific type of heater is not as efficient as electric baseboard heaters, and is not often found in newer homes. If you buy or renovate a classic home you might run into them, but otherwise you’ll probably never have to deal with a hydronic baseboard heater.

How Baseboard Heaters Work

Baseboard heaters are simply a unique type of convection heaters. Convection heaters use the thermal properties of the air to deliver heat to all the corners of a room, and baseboard heaters work in just the same manner. An electric current is passed through a heating element, generally a metal bar or plate of some sort, which begins to heat up in response to the electricity. The heat that is given off is absorbed by the air which then begins to circulate around the room as it warms up. As the warm air leaves the vicinity of the heater, cooler air is pulled closer to the heater. The cool air is then warmed, and circulates around the room on its own. This cycle repeats for as long as the heater is turned on.

The advantages of using convection heaters or baseboard heaters as opposed to another type of heater are that convection heaters thoroughly warm the entire room and the heat they give off lingers for some time even after the heater is turned off. This allows the heater to cycle on and off to maintain a constant temperature in the room, thereby increasing the efficiency as the heater does not have to run constantly.

The main disadvantage to using a convection heater is that they can take a long time to make a noticeable difference in the temperature of a room. Since they heat the air, and hot air rises, the heat given off by convection heaters goes to the highest parts of the room first. Only after that does the heat begin to trickle down to the lower parts of the room. This is really only noticeable though when the heater has been turned off for a good length of time. Using a thermostat to control the heater means the temperature will stay constant.

Buying and Installing a Baseboard Heater

The first and most important thing to investigate when you’re going to buy a baseboard heater is to make sure that you’re buying a heater with the right voltage for your house. The heater is going to have one of three voltage options: 120 volt, 208 volt and 240 volt. Getting a heater with the wrong voltage setting for your house can mean that your heater will not deliver the proper amount of heat, or it can mean that the heater will draw too much power through the power line, and potentially cause a short or start an electrical fire.

The next things to decide is how many watts you need your heater to produce in order to heat your room effectively, and exactly where you want them installed. If you have questions about voltage or wattage and are unsure how to proceed, it’s recommended that you talk to a professional. You don’t want to mess around with that sort of thing unless you know what you’re doing.

Installing a baseboard heater is not that difficult if you have a bit of experience with heating. The steps are 1) prepare the baseboard for the heater, 2) mount the heater on the baseboard, and 3) complete the wiring to the heater. However, if you are uncomfortable handling the electrical work, or want to install a wall thermostat on an existing wall, you probably want to get a professional handle it for you.