[Downstate Doug]

Mom has a gas baseboard heater in an addition we put on the house 40 years ago. Its 60”x 12 x 5, vented through the wall to the outside. It was a Sears model that is probably 30 years old. It stopped working and I doubt I can find replacement parts. Probably the thermocouple. I did some looking on the web yesterday and cannot find anything similar. All I could find were electric.

Does anyone know if the electric ones are a better alternative to the gas energy wise? Almost makes me think they are since I cannot find a gas one anymore. Any help on this subject is appreciated since the holidays are rolling in and need to get some heat in that room.


DD

 

[jpollman]

If it is a thermocouple you should be able to get one locally. It will probably be the same as they use on a water heater. But I'd check to be sure first. Do you have a model number on the unit? If it's a Sears, you should be able to find parts for it through their web site if they are available. Sears has always been pretty good about replacement parts. I've found parts available for some pretty old equipment. Go to Sears.com and then to "Parts Direct". If you can find a model number, enter it in the search and see what you can find out.

John

 

[Downstate Doug]

John... I will check the operators manual. Did not do that. It is not a standard thermocouple. Its pretty thin from what I can see. If I went electric how many BTUs would I need to heat a 11 x 12 x 8 room?

DD

 

[jpollman]

Hi Doug,
I'm not a heating/cooling guy so I'm not sure about how many btu's that you'd need for a room that size. But about a year ago I did some work for a friend of ours. They had just bought a house in Royal Oak and it has an addition on the back and it's just about the size you're talking about. It is on an unheated crawlspace and it was carpeted with an under carpet electric radiant heat system installed. It worked pretty well but they wanted to go with hardwood. So I pulled up the carpet and installed hardwood. I ended up using the circuit that the under carpet heating was connected to and installed a six foot electric baseboard heater. They used it all last winter and it apparently worked fine for them.

I'm pretty sure they still have that under carpet system. They were going to list it on craigslist but I'm pretty sure they never did. It was a very good unit that worked fine but just wasn't compatible with hardwood so it's probably still just sitting in their basement or garage. The previous owners had bought it and installed it when they had a baby and wanted him to be able to crawl around on a nice warm floor. I don't think it was more than a couple years old when I removed it. If you think you might want to give that a try drop me a line and I could see if they still have it. I'm sure I could get it for you at a very good price. I know it wasn't cheap when it was purchased but they'd be happy to get a couple bucks for it.

John

 

[jpollman]

Doug,

I did some searching and I did find you a gas fired baseboard heater but they ain't cheap. Electric baseboard is fairly cheap to buy and install, but the operating costs are going to be much higher I'm sure. So I guess it's pay now or pay later. Here's a link...

http://www.shopfnc.com/gasheater/cozy1.htm

John

 

[Downstate Doug]

Thats the one. I figured it would be a bit costly. Now I have to get it right sized for the room. Wonder if there is any place around here that sells em? Thanks for the help John.

DD

 

[Scott K]

Electric heat bad

 

[jpollman]

Thats the one. I figured it would be a bit costly. Now I have to get it right sized for the room. Wonder if there is any place around here that sells em? Thanks for the help John.

DD

Doug,
I did some checking and found that they carry them at Grainger. But it shows that it ships in 1-3 days. I don't think that they stock them so they're probably drop shipped dirct from the manufacturer. The price they show at Grainger is $755 for the smaller one. The site I linked to shows them at $721 and only $10 shipping so it would be a little cheaper buying direct from them. They're located in Toledo so it shouldn't take more than 2-3 days if they ship it direct to you. Heck, maybe you could just take a ride. Toledo is only an hour away and gas is hovering at about a buck seventy now.

Take care

John

 

[bigcountrysg]

Located in Toledo huh. I wonder if someone would be able to buy and then pick up directly from them.

Got quite a few members that don't live far from Toledo, and St. Clair Shores is not that far of a jump from where they live.

 

[Downstate Doug]

Thanks guys! May just be the time to call and get the details and take a road trip in the new car.

DD

 

[Michihunter]

Truth be told, the cost of electricity is very comparable in cost to NG nowadays so it boils down to application and efficiency. But with that said, I'd be curious to know why you can't tap into the main house heating. There are a ton of options available to you nowadays and I'd be reluctant to say just replace with what you already have without doing some research. If you feel the sytem you have now is nothing more than a thermocouple I can pretty much guarantee there is a replacement for it. Of course the one you have could just need cleaning up. They rarely go "bad" unless the cap tubing itself is kinked or broken. I'll PM you my number if you'd like to discuss your options. I'd personally look into a through wall Packaged Terminal heat pump(PTAC).