Electric Heating System Problem Diagnosis, Inspection, Repair, Maintenance InspectAPedia® -
How to identify types of electric heaters
How to buy, install, inspect and diagnose each type of electric heat in buildings
Electric heat choices, electric heat wiring and installation tips and safety suggestions
How to estimate the amount of electric heating baseboard needed
How to test a staged electric furnace
Questions & answers about types of electric heating systems and electric heat problem diagnosis & repair
Electric heat: This article describes the types of residential electric heating systems and their inspection, diagnosis & repair.
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This website answers most questions about all types of heating systems and gives important inspection, safety, and repair advice.
The heating system articles provided at this website explain how to inspect and detect defects and hazards on heating systems, boilers, furnaces, and other equipment. Methods for saving on heating cost and on improving heating safety are included.
Heating safety hazards such as carbon monoxide gas leaks, unsafe furnaces, furnace and boiler recalls are addressed. If you don't know what kind of heat your building uses, we explain how to figure out the answer at HEATING SYSTEM TYPES. Sketch at page top courtesy of Carson Dunlop
Electric Heating System Inspection Methods, Diagnosis, Safety, Repairs
Electric heat is about the easiest heating method to install, the least costly type of heating equipment to purchase, and in many locales, the most costly way to heat a conventional home.
Super-insulating a building, and paying special attention to drafts and air leaks can change that picture however, as can special electrical rates available from utility companies in some areas.
This article describes different types of electric heat in buildings and give some inspection and no-heat diagnosis tips for each.
Our photograph (left) shows Fahrenheat electric wall heater observed in a remodeled bathroom in a Poughkeepsie NY home and sold by Marley Engineered Products.
Types of Electric Heat in Homes
Electric baseboard heat (see our photo above left, and the page top sketch) is installed on (usually exterior) walls in occupied rooms. The number of linear feet of electric heating baseboard (and some other parameters) determine how many watts of electric heat is provided.
Electric heating boilers are commonly used as a backup heat source for heat pump systems or for small radiant floor heating systems (such as our Minnesota fiasco radiant floor heat project).
Carson Dunlop Associates' sketch (left) illustrates an electric heating boiler used for residential heating systems.
Electric furnaces can provide warm air heat; this Carson Dunlop sketch shows how we figure the equivalent heat between an electric furnace (in watts) and a gas or oil fired heating furnace (in BTUs).
Electric convectors with fans such as the ceiling mounted garage heater shown at above right are used most often for irregular use in larger cold spaces such as a garage or workshop. But also see wall-mounted electric heaters, below. Similar units that use hot water or hydronic systems - hot water heated fan convector heating units - are discussed at FAN CONVECTOR HEATERS - HYDRONIC COILS.
Electric floor-mounted heaters: as this Carson Dunlop sketch shows, an individual electric heater can be mounted right into the floor surface (instead of along a wall). Watch out for kids dropping crayons or things that can catch fire into the grates of heating equipment like this. As the drawing points out, flush-floor mounted electric heaters are used where heat is needed in front of a sliding door (and where no wall is available to mount a heating baseboard.)
Electric toe-kick heaters (kick-space heaters) are mounted in bathrooms and kitchens as this Carson Dunlop sketch shows. We use a kick space heater (which are also available for hot water heating and warm air heating systems) where a room lacks wall area to mount a conventional heat source.
Wall-mounted electric heaters (usually recessed or flush mounted such as the Cadet™ electric heater at left; also see Carson Dunlop's sketch) are often used in hallways, entrance foyers, and other locations where spot heat is needed. See Cadet & Encore Heater Recall for a safety recall on this heater type.
Electric radiant heat panels have been installed in homes for over 50 years. Here's a sketch of a typical radiant heat ceiling layout. Electric radiant heat in ceilings was produced as both wires imbedded in gypsum board (drywall) and as wire panels taped to the upper surface of the ceiling drywall. Electric radiant heating panels are also available that fit perfectly into a suspended ceiling grid.
Electric plenum heaters are used as supplemental heat on combination fuel warm air systems such as wood fired furnaces and possibly on warm air systems heated by a heat pump.
Wesix™ type Wall & Floor Mounted Electric Heaters: general information
We do not have research data on this nor other specific brands of small point-of-use electric heaters (see US CPSC, Consumer Reports, and similar sources). We have read sporadic field reports of Wesix heaters. These electric heaters were made by the Wesix Electric Heater Company [WEH], a California company, chartered originally in 1938 and again in 1942, and headed by Thomas J. Mellon.
Wesix™ electric heaters were often installed in bathrooms, in floors as a small fan convector unit, and as electric baseboards, including both 120V and 240V models that included a brass data tag on the bottom of some units. The company also made the Wesix Mark IV ion collector used in researching the effect of ions on microorganisms and other biological materials.
Possible Wesix electric heater (and similar product) concerns to be noted by owners or home inspectors:
overheating covers
age and reliability, including loose or corroded connections leading to loss of heat (easily repaired) and burned-out heater element (replace the unit) - neither of these defects are peculiar to this brand nor to a particular model (as reported
Inoperative thermostat or controls
Questions & Answers regarding this article
Questions & answers about types of electric heating systems and electric heat problem diagnosis & repair
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Fahrenheat produces a range of wall heaters including s 1500 heater often used in breezeways and baths, 2000 watt 240V wall units (Model#FFH1615) and commercial 4000 Watt 240V units such as the Model #VFK404. Farenheat products are sold by Marley Engineered products. Quoting from Marley:
Marley Engineered Products markets heating products under these well known name brands: Berko®, QMark®, Leading Edge®, Fahrenheat® and Marley Industrial Products®. Depending on brand, products are available for residential, commercial and industrial applications.
Electric Heating System Inspection & Diagnosis Detailed Articles
Air Duct Systems for Heating & Cooling - duct defects, inspections, repairs, duct cleaning, flooded ducts, leaky air ducts, moldy duct systems, indoor air quality
Heating Cost Reduction Advice: How to Save on Home Heating Costs - Book Review & Actual Heating Savings and Energy Savings Tips for homeowners and service technicians
Heating Loss Diagnosis: How to diagnose loss of heat, when the oil burner, boiler, or furnace won't run, or when the system runs but heat is not delivered to the living area
Odors From Heating Systems - a list of articles addressing the sources of odors produced by various types of heating systems - how to find, diagnose, and correct these possibly dangerous conditions.
Thermal Tracking & Stains & Signs of Heat Loss how to recognize thermal tracking or thermal bridging & how to diagnose Stains on Ceilings & Walls, Building Air Leaks & Insulation Defects, as well as other indoor air quality or building concerns
Books & Articles on Building & Environmental Inspection, Testing, Diagnosis, & Repair
Our recommended books about building & mechanical systems design, inspection, problem diagnosis, and repair, and about indoor environment and IAQ testing, diagnosis, and cleanup are at the InspectAPedia Bookstore. Also see our Book Reviews - InspectAPedia.
The Home Reference Book - the Encyclopedia of Homes, Carson Dunlop & Associates, Toronto, Ontario, 2010, $69.00 U.S., is available from Carson Dunlop. The Home Reference Book is a bound volume of more than 450 illustrated pages that assist home inspectors and home owners in the inspection and detection of problems on buildings. The text is intended as a reference guide to help building owners operate and maintain their home effectively. InspectAPedia.com ® author/editor Daniel Friedman is a contributing author. Field inspection worksheets are included at the back of the volume.
Domestic and Commercial Oil Burners, Charles H. Burkhardt, McGraw Hill Book Company, New York 3rd Ed 1969.
National Fuel Gas Code (Z223.1) $16.00 and National Fuel Gas Code Handbook (Z223.2) $47.00 American Gas Association (A.G.A.), 1515 Wilson Boulevard, Arlington, VA 22209 also available from National Fire Protection Association, Batterymarch Park, Quincy, MA 02269. Fundamentals of Gas Appliance Venting and Ventilation, 1985, American Gas Association Laboratories, Engineering Services Department. American Gas Association, 1515 Wilson Boulevard, Arlington, VA 22209. Catalog #XHO585. Reprinted 1989.
The Steam Book, 1984, Training and Education Department, Fluid Handling Division, ITT [probably out of print, possibly available from several home inspection supply companies] Fuel Oil and Oil Heat Magazine, October 1990, offers an update,
Principles of Steam Heating, $13.25 includes postage. Fuel oil & Oil Heat Magazine, 389 Passaic Ave., Fairfield, NJ 07004.
The Lost Art of Steam Heating, Dan Holohan, 516-579-3046 FAX
Principles of Steam Heating, Dan Holohan, technical editor of Fuel Oil and Oil Heat magazine, 389 Passaic Ave., Fairfield, NJ 07004 ($12.+1.25 postage/handling).
"Residential Hydronic (circulating hot water) Heating Systems", Instructional Technologies Institute, Inc., 145 "D" Grassy Plain St., Bethel, CT 06801 800/227-1663 [home inspection training material] 1987
"Warm Air Heating Systems". Instructional Technologies Institute, Inc., 145 "D" Grassy Plain St., Bethel, CT 06801 800/227-1663 [home inspection training material] 1987
Heating, Ventilating, and Air Conditioning Volume I, Heating Fundamentals,
Boilers, Boiler Conversions, James E. Brumbaugh, ISBN 0-672-23389-4 (v. 1) Volume II, Oil, Gas, and Coal Burners, Controls, Ducts, Piping, Valves, James E. Brumbaugh, ISBN 0-672-23390-7 (v. 2) Volume III, Radiant Heating, Water Heaters, Ventilation, Air Conditioning, Heat Pumps, Air Cleaners, James E. Brumbaugh, ISBN 0-672-23383-5 (v. 3) or ISBN 0-672-23380-0 (set) Special Sales Director, Macmillan Publishing Co., 866 Third Ave., New York, NY 10022. Macmillan Publishing Co., NY
Installation Guide for Residential Hydronic Heating Systems
Installation Guide #200, The Hydronics Institute, 35 Russo Place, Berkeley Heights, NJ 07922
The ABC's of Retention Head Oil Burners, National Association of Oil Heat Service Managers, TM 115, National Old Timers' Association of the Energy Industry, PO Box 168, Mineola, NY 11501. (Excellent tips on spotting problems on oil-fired heating equipment. Booklet.)
Links to our list of additional information on heating system inspection, repair, maintenance
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