Hey folks
A friend of mine is renovating a small (15×17′) free standing garage/barn into a plant potting workshop with an attached 8×10′ greenhouse. Interested in some supplemental heat for cold CT winter days when solar gain is not enough to heat both greenhouse and work space. New insulation/windows etc.
Owner interested in hydronic electric baseboard heat. Is this really more efficient than straight up electric? Is heat up time significant?
No gas plumbed to bldg. Use will be as much as a couple hours daily.
Thanks for your thoughts.
Chris
Replies
No they are not more efficient, they both use the same amount of electricity in a same size unit. The hydronic units will take longer to heat up the space, so this or even the regular baseboard heaters are not ideal for this situation.
For quick heat up of only a couple of hours a day, a fan forced wall unit will work better.
Absolutely no difference in efficiency vs standard resistance heating. (All electric resistance heating has EXACTLY the same efficiency, and EXACTLY the same cost per BTU of heat output.) It may be that folks will experience some improvement in comfort due to the slower rise/fall of heat output, but that depends on the situation (and the person).