Infrared heat

ITD · 10-20-2022, 09:08 AM

Nothing, or maybe more accurately very few things escape the laws of thermodynamics, properly considered. Heat pump hvac units use electricity to heat a space. The amount of heat generated, or perhaps more accurately transferred by a heat pump is many times that which would produced if the same amount of electricity were used in a resistive heater to heat the same space. And it all obeys the laws of thermodynamics.

This is why using terms like "efficiency" can be confusing when considering how to heat a space. Resistive electric heat sources are 100% efficient when you consider that all the energy consumed is changed into heat.

But electric resistive electric heat sources are one of the most expensive ways to heat a space.

John Mercier · 10-20-2022, 11:30 AM

It is quite cost effective as compared to heating the building or a room that is not easy to heat by other means.

The reason that you see so many camps/cottages/condos in NH with electric space heating *usually not the small space heaters* is the cost to install was so much lower, and the maintenance nearly none existent.

When the structure was to be used late in the season or annually, the electric heaters would only be used as a backup to the primary (usually a wood stove).

I know several homes in the area that have that, and before being changed out... all three of our family cottages worked that way.

Each room could be turned on or off, and plumbing was highly centralized with interior ''wet walls''.

While temperature control was very precise... it was a lot of thermostats... and since once the cottages got used for more than the summer, the electric became a secondary.

I ripped some of the radiant out of the ceilings, but left it in the bathroom floor and walls.

10-20-2022, 09:08 AM	#1
ITD Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Moultonboro, NH Posts: 2,942 Thanks: 483 Thanked 700 Times in 391 Posts	Nothing, or maybe more accurately very few things escape the laws of thermodynamics, properly considered. Heat pump hvac units use electricity to heat a space. The amount of heat generated, or perhaps more accurately transferred by a heat pump is many times that which would produced if the same amount of electricity were used in a resistive heater to heat the same space. And it all obeys the laws of thermodynamics. This is why using terms like "efficiency" can be confusing when considering how to heat a space. Resistive electric heat sources are 100% efficient when you consider that all the energy consumed is changed into heat. But electric resistive electric heat sources are one of the most expensive ways to heat a space.

10-20-2022, 11:30 AM	#2
John Mercier Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2021 Posts: 3,568 Thanks: 3 Thanked 637 Times in 524 Posts	It is quite cost effective as compared to heating the building or a room that is not easy to heat by other means. The reason that you see so many camps/cottages/condos in NH with electric space heating usually not the small space heaters is the cost to install was so much lower, and the maintenance nearly none existent. When the structure was to be used late in the season or annually, the electric heaters would only be used as a backup to the primary (usually a wood stove). I know several homes in the area that have that, and before being changed out... all three of our family cottages worked that way. Each room could be turned on or off, and plumbing was highly centralized with interior ''wet walls''. While temperature control was very precise... it was a lot of thermostats... and since once the cottages got used for more than the summer, the electric became a secondary. I ripped some of the radiant out of the ceilings, but left it in the bathroom floor and walls.