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Which brands perform the best? Will an electric stove or fireplace really heat a 400 sq. foot room if it is the only heat source? The reviews I'm reading are mixed. Are BTU's the most important measure of heat thrown?
Background: A portion of my remodel did not run out as I has planned and windows were installed too low for me to use electric baseboard heat as originally planned. This is an enclosed porch that now has 3 walls of windows and no heat source. It is not possible to run ventwork to the room as the remainder of the house is ground source heat pump.
So, in an area where winter temps can reach -15 and windchills of -35 degrees farenheit, is an electric stove or fireplace an option for heating this "3 season" porch to useable temps (mid 60's F)?
Last edited by lifelongMOgal; 11-07-2010 at 07:37 PM..
Reason: typo
Which brands perform the best? Will and electric stove or fireplace really heat a 400 sq. foot room if it is the only heat source? The reviews I'm reading are mixed.
An electric heater is going to give you same amount of BTU's for the same amount of electric no matter what the brand is.
Where the difference lies is how they distribute the heat, for example you'll have a more comfortable environment with an oil filled system. Typically a regular element heater just heats the air so you get a lot of swings in the temperature of the room. With the oil you have a buffer, the oil is slowly heated up and it will slowly dissipate that heat long after the heating element has shut off. Long term they will both cost you same to maintain the same average temperature. You might realize some savings with oil filled becsue you're less likely to overshoot the desired temperature but you're not talking about a lot of money.
Quote:
Are BTU's the most important measure of heat thrown?
It's the only one, do a search for heat loss calculator and you can determine how many you need for that particular room
Last edited by thecoalman; 11-07-2010 at 06:52 PM..
If you have one wall, you can also look into putting in a heat/cool through the wall AC unit. You can get one in the correct BTU size to make the room a 4 season room for both heat and cool when the temp needs AC. They have a thermostat and are usually high efficent and may be cheaper to operate for heat than a electric fireplace or heater. It would also distribute the air better.
Worse case scenario is to put it into one of the windows and just use it for winter or leave it in all year for both heat and cool.
If you have one wall, you can also look into putting in a heat/cool through the wall AC unit. You can get one in the correct BTU size to make the room a 4 season room for both heat and cool when the temp needs AC. They have a thermostat and are usually high efficent and may be cheaper to operate for heat than a electric fireplace or heater. It would also distribute the air better.
Worse case scenario is to put it into one of the windows and just use it for winter or leave it in all year for both heat and cool.
The windows are not of the style to accept a window unit and they are brand new, not able to change now.
Sorry, I thought that if I described the 3 season porch as having 3 walls of windows that it would be evident the remaining wall was the old exterior structural wall, thus now an interior wall. This is a structural wall of 6-8" concrete covered with insulation and siding on the porch side and plaster on the other backing to the master bedroom. I should have been more clear. Thanks for taking the trouble to make your suggestion anyway.
Offhand I would think a wood or corn burning stove would be the most practical, this porch is probably not all that well insulated, heating it with electric resistance heat will get expensive I think.Repeating what coalman says: you get *exactly* the same 3413 BTU per KWh from *all* electric heaters that are not heat pumps. Some may look better than others, but the performance is equal.Look in Northern Tool's catalog at some of the corn-burning stoves, look like a pellet stove. You can buy feed corn that has gone "off" (fungus I think) and is not suitable for feed but still makes good fuel very cheap. Of course storing the corn where rodents won't get into it can be a problem. But being there in the Heartland corn may be a good option.If you have wood available cheaply, like we do, it's always a good option. IIRC you don't have natural gas available - if you did it might be worth considering.
I did a similar conversion of a covered back porch, insulated the floor and attic, installed insulated glass windows on 3 sides. Photos here Bird House - Sunroom Photo Gallery by cptinrn at pbase.com We keep a parrot and macaw in the sunroom/birdhouse we call it.
The interior space is about 11' x 16' = 176 SF. We have been able to keep it comfortably warm in winter with a Pelonis Convection Oil Filled Radiator, Model HO-0218, 1500 watts, 5200 btus. Purchased from Home Depot for $48. Winters are milder here in Austin, TX but it was adequate (65-70 degrees) even when the night time temperatures dropped into the 30's. When it is really cold outside I leave the door open to the room so some of the house heat can warm it. I like the fact that it is silent, no fan, it works better then I expected it to.
For the larger room you could plug two of these in on opposite sides of the room, but I'd try to use two separate electrical circuits so you don't overload a circuit. I think 1500 watts is the largest you can buy to plug into a 120volt circuit.
There are larger split system heat pumps available that require only a small 3" or so diameter hole thru the wall to connect the outdoor heat pump with the indoor heat exchanger, but they are fairly expensive. If there is anyway you can extend a heat duct from your house to the room that would be the most cost effective solution.
Well how about a split system? It would supply heat/air to the room and a vent pipe could be run across the floor/ceiling to the outside wall of the house.
I use it on a 625 sqft kennel and it holds in the 70's during my coldest nights w/o ever having to close the kennel run doors.
Offhand I would think a wood or corn burning stove would be the most practical, this porch is probably not all that well insulated, heating it with electric resistance heat will get expensive I think.Repeating what coalman says: you get *exactly* the same 3413 BTU per KWh from *all* electric heaters that are not heat pumps. Some may look better than others, but the performance is equal.Look in Northern Tool's catalog at some of the corn-burning stoves, look like a pellet stove. You can buy feed corn that has gone "off" (fungus I think) and is not suitable for feed but still makes good fuel very cheap. Of course storing the corn where rodents won't get into it can be a problem. But being there in the Heartland corn may be a good option.If you have wood available cheaply, like we do, it's always a good option. IIRC you don't have natural gas available - if you did it might be worth considering.
Nope, not an option. This is a 2nd story porch with a wood floor. Very well insulated as I had the underside sprayed with insulation foam and added insulation to the attic to R-40. I really don't want to cut through the attic and metal roof and have an ugly "stovepipe" visible right at the front of the house if I can avoid it. If I must go that route I'll see if the plumber can run a line for propane for a soapstone propane stove.
Quote:
Originally Posted by NeilVA
Well how about a split system? It would supply heat/air to the room and a vent pipe could be run across the floor/ceiling to the outside wall of the house.
I use it on a 625 sqft kennel and it holds in the 70's during my coldest nights w/o ever having to close the kennel run doors.
Do you have a link for the system you describe? I don't want to jump to assumptions that I understand exactly what you are describing.
Something to consider I guess. I never intended to have an entire seperate zone for the porch. Bad planning on my part. The area is approx 400 sq. ft. with 30 windows and a Western exposure with pretty decent shade in the summer from a 80+ yr old deciduous tree.
Last edited by lifelongMOgal; 11-09-2010 at 12:00 PM..
There is no outside wall....it is 3 walls of windows.
I think by "outside wall" he means the 4th wall, the one that is not windows. Point being to tap into the central heating of the house if the house has that, assuming some sort of forced air system.
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