Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: electric ceiling radiant heat in common house?

[Bob Morrison (morrison]

On Thu, 29 Sep 94, Ian Higginbottom <Ian.Higginbottom [at] ml.csiro.au> wrote:

>Subject: Re: Common house heating

>decided to install a more expensive dual system that includes electric heating
>as the primary source and a wood fire for those who could not live without it.

>Our prefered option for electric heating is to install low temperature
>radiant heating in the ceiling.  Does anybody have experience with these 
>heaters?

  I have no direct experience with this kind of heating, but I have had base-
board electric heat in three different places (all one-bedroom condos).
  There are really two questions here: Is radiant electric heat prohibitivly
expensive to run (compared to electric baseboard heating and non-electric
heat), and are there other problems such as imbalance or poor regulation?
  I like electric heat in condos because it's much easier to regulate than 
central heating and in my experience is not prohibitively expensive. (A lot 
depends on your electric company. Some offer a big discount on ALL elec-
tricity usage if you have electric heat, and some offer little or no dis-
count.)
  For a large space such as a common house, I personally would not choose
electric resistance heating, nor (I think) would most cohousing groups in the
U.S. However, if you get most of your heat from the wood stove or fireplace,
electric probably makes sense as a backup.
  My impression, based on watching "This Old House" (a public TV program on
home building and remodeling) is that ceiling or floor radiant heat is rarely 
called for unless there is not enough wall space for baseboard heating due to
most of the wall space being taken up with sliding doors, floor-to-ceiling
windows, etc. Is this the case with your common house?
  I will be interested to hear what others say about ceiling radiant heat. I
have not had an opportunity to experience it myself, and I'm curious. In ex-
treme cold, does the room tend to be much colder near the floor than higher 
up?