Sunny Windows, Shady Trees and Other Non-Electrical Supports to HVAC

Electric heat makes an economical choice for a home because electricity tends to be much more affordable than natural gas. One of the most common options for electric heating is to install baseboard heaters. Not much has changed with baseboard heaters in decades, but if you are looking for new, more efficient options, you should look into cove heating. 

Direct Heat Versus Radiated Heat

A baseboard heater will have an element that heats air as it moves through it. The idea is that hot air will rise away from the heat, which then displaces cold air, which cycles back to the heater. Thus, a baseboard heater only heats the air in your home. A cove heater uses a front panel coated with vitreous enamel to radiate heat around a room. Thus, the heater does not heat air; it heats objects. Radiated heat tends to help you feel more comfortable because as you sit in front of a cove heaters, it will warm you in the same way that sunlight streaming through a window would. 

Furniture Concerns

Another problem with baseboard heaters is that they sit at the base of a wall against the floor. This means that if you set a piece of furniture in front of the heater, the hot air emanating from the heating element can burn the furniture. Also, the furniture can block the heat from the heater and interfere with airflow. Thus, baseboard heaters restrict your options for placing furniture. A cove heater hangs near the top of a wall and thus raises none of the same concerns. 

Efficiency

Heating air is not as efficient as radiating heat. Thus, even if you have to pay more money to install a cove heater, you will save money in the long run because you will heat a room quicker with a cove heater than you would with a baseboard heater. While you could use solar panels and/or a wind turbine to power baseboard heaters, you can also use them to power a cove heater. If you create your own electricity, cove heaters will allow you to heat your home without operating costs. 

When you are choosing heaters for your home, you want to make sure you are getting the best value over the life of your equipment. Cove heaters may be an unconventional way to heat a home, but this is definitely a case when you will find a reward by going off the beaten path. Contact a company like Biggerstaff Plumbing Heating & Air for more information.