Green Building Library
Space Heating and Cooling
Portable Electric Space Heaters
Benefits
- Inexpensive to purchase (prices range from $15.00 to $150.00)
- Saves Energy (can heat one room without heating entire house)
- 100% efficient (no loss of heat through ducts)
Types of Portable Heaters
- Radiant: Warms solid objects, including walls, ceilings, floors and people
- Convective: Warms the air in the room. Some systems use a fan to move the air.
Chart: Delivery Systems for Electric Resistance Heaters
Radiant Passive Convective Fan-Forced Convective Common forms of This Type coil heaters, ribbon heaters baseboard heaters and portable units (radiator shapes) wall-mount toe-kick, and portable units (ceramic disc heaters) How It Works a radiant heating system uses a hot surface to heat nearby objects and people a passive convective system heats air and air circulates around the room without a fan a fan-forced convective system also heats air, but uses a fan to push the heated air around the room. Advantages provides heat to objects without heating the air provides slow, constant, even heating of a room provides faster heating of an entire room.
Understanding how zonal heating works Electric resistance space heat allows room-by-room variation in temperature and heat systems. Unused areas of a home can be kept at a lower temperature. Zonal heating also has additional benefits: no distribution losses, low maintenance costs, flexibility in remodeling and additions, and compatibility with passive solar and well-insulated homes. Sizing Permanently Installed Units Permanently installed heaters must be sized correctly. The Energy Outlet™ has a handout that will help to size electric heaters according to room size and the insulation levels in a house.
Copyright Alan Van Zuuk
