Electric heating uses coils mounted inside metal boxes along baseboards to radiate heat into a room. It feels different than forced-air systems and can be placed under floors or garage floors. It has few moving parts and requires minimal maintenance.
Electric heating in most cases is radiant heating. An electric heating system uses electrical coils mounted inside metal boxes that run along the baseboards of a building’s walls. This often leads to the common name of “baseboard heaters” for all electric heating systems. Just like the coils in a toaster oven or a hot plate, the coils heat up when the thermostat deems it necessary to heat the room, and the electric heating panel radiates the heat into the room.
Radiant heating feels very different than the heat from a forced-air system. In an electric radiant heating system, the heat or warmth remains constant while the heater is on and is not subject to heat stroke followed by periods of no heat. Many users of electric heating compare it to that of wood burning, where the heat is constant and constant. In many electrical systems, a cold room can be brought up to temperature much faster than a comparable room using forced-air heat. In a forced-air heating system, the furnace turns on and must reach a specific temperature before the fan kicks in and sends warm air into a room.
Many homes that use a ceramic tile or stone type of floor covering choose to place electric heating elements under the floor. This creates a radiant heating system that heats coils under the floor and allows the heat to rise through the floor into the room. Getting rid of the cold floor with bare feet is a good option in colder climates. Many users of this type of heating system claim that by keeping the floor warm and eliminating cold feet, they actually reduce their heating costs by keeping the system off.
In extremely cold weather, electric heating coils are often placed under the concrete garage floor. By using a low-temperature setting, the radiant heat flowing up and out of the garage floor actually helps cars with those cold morning starts. Preventing the accumulation of ice and snow on the concrete floor is also an added bonus. By taking full advantage of the natural upward motion of heat, the heat radiating from the garage floor also keeps the vehicle’s interior warmer and speeds up the vehicle heater’s warm-up time.
Electric heating is often less prone to breakdowns due to broken parts, as it has virtually no moving parts to fail. Maintenance on these systems is also usually minimal. In baseboard applications only an occasional dusting of the unit is required and virtually no maintenance is required on underfloor heating systems.
Protect your devices with Threat Protection by NordVPN
