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andrelaplume2

radiator question

andrelaplume2
10 years ago

My basement walls have 1.5"xps against the foundation then studded out with fg insulation and drywall. My front wall however ONLY has the 1.5" xps (slot type) fastened with fur strips in the slots and drywall attached to that..ie no studding. It�s a little lower r-value but this wall faces the stairway bottom where space was a little tight. Also I have 10+ feet of closet there hiding clean outs, pipes and my water meter. I saw no need to stud the area out for a closet.

There is however an 8� span of wall to the right of the closet that lies in a living area. I want to add baseboard heat to this area. You cannot put baseboard under outlets which are already in place on the walls surrounding this area. Can you put the baseboard along the wall that has the drywall over the xps. They can drop the wire through the studded side wall and come out the side into the baseboard that appears as though it will just fit this space. A stat could even be on the side wall. Is this code compliant and more important would it be safe. If not I am looking into an in wall heater if anyone cares to comment on the positive or negatives to those.

Comments (4)

  • worthy
    10 years ago

    Why do you think it might not be compliant?

    I'm only surprised that you need additional heat as I recall you've carefully insulated the basement walls and rim joists.

    I used to put in baseboards--and later wiring for baseboards-- in new construction basements, only to find no one used them.

  • andrelaplume2
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    Well worthy, I started off unfinished with a low of 56 degrees or so. I have not seen it below 63 this past winter. The insulation works! But its still a tad chilly unless you leave a sweater down there. Its an open area and I did try a fin type plug-in oil radiator but it did little.

    I have ONE heat duct from my hvac system. I had the HVAC guy out and he said adding more likely would not make much differnce, even with a return. He suggested an electric radiator with a stat.

    I am now looking for the simplest place to put it and that location has no outlets and the electrician could easily run a wire over and down the side wall without needing to rip apart anything.

    I just was not sure if it were up to code and safe..I think the code issue is ok...sounds like it should be safe too.

    I am not a big fan of the radiators but...

    I saw forced air fans that mount in the wall but I tend to get little feed back on them...guessing there are some downsides..perhaps noise...

  • bus_driver
    10 years ago

    Baseboard electric has many positive attributes. But economy of operation is not one of them. In most cases, it will be the most expensive automatic heat source, in terms of operating cost.
    However, I once had a customer with 8000 square feet with forced air oil-fired which was on setback to 50 degrees most of the time. One room of about 420 square feet was used on an irregular schedule by different people for meetings. Heating the entire 8000 square feet to 70 degrees was necessary to make the 420 square feet room comfortable. So I added baseboard electric to that room with a 12 hour timer in series with the 24 volt thermostat controlling a silent relay that actually switched the 240 volts for the heaters. The thermostat was under a security cover. Anyone who wanted to heat the room could actuate the timer, but they could not adjust the temperature nor could they "forget" to turn off the baseboard heat.
    Electric heat to raise the 420 square feet from 50 deg to 70 deg was the more economical solution.

  • andrelaplume2
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    Well I need to go from 63 to 70 so hopefully it wont cost much. You raise a good point,,,if they crank it up and forget to turn it off...Arrrrhh! Something to think about.