debraanne

I am planning to enclose a portion of my concrete-block garage as a studio, and I need to be able to keep the temperature inside the room around 45-50 degrees during the winter (central Illinois). Assuming I insulate it really well, does anyone have any idea of the best way to heat this space (the room is 10 x 17, so 170 sf)? It has to be electric. I am trying to make plans now and need to know what my options are so I can get started. Would baseboard heaters work? A wall unit? I've tried to research it, but just get more confused with all the info...lol
Thanks!

paul52446m

They make electric unit heaters that hang from ceiling or wall mount. They have a fan to blow the heat down, and they will heat a lot faster then baseboard electric. Paul

debraanne

I need something that I can keep on all the time to maintain a constant temperature; would the ceiling/wall-mount units work best for that?

paul52446m

If you are going to be turning the heat up and down a lot then the unit will
heat up faster. But ether the baseboard or unit heater will do the job.
if you want your floor a little warmer then you might want a small ceiling fan to hold the heat down, and keep the floor warmer.
A lot less to go wrong with baseboard. Paul

debraanne

Thanks for the help Paul. I'm mostly concerned with keeping the room above freezing during the cold winter months. Mostly 45-50 degrees, with maybe once or twice a week turning the heat up to 65 when I was spending time in it. I know absolutely nothing about baseboard heaters. Are they safe? What are some safety concerns/clearance issues, etc?

paul52446m

As far as i know they are safe, they use them in a lot of homes.
I am into gas heating and boilers, so i don't sell or install electric
heat very much. paul

nealtw

baseboards are cheep and relieble. run them on 12/3 wire on 240 20amp breaker and you can run about sixteen feet of baseboard run the wire to a large box for a double pole thermistat and stick the wire out of the drywall where you want the baseboard, goodluck

Daryl in Nanoose

I would go with Forced air electric, they heat the room faster, take less wall space. I have them in a few rooms of my house and I thnk there great.

__________________
[url]http://edhome.shawwebspace.ca/[/url]

debraanne

Daryl, any particular brand/make/model you would recommend?
I looked at a few on-line, and they said to mount them 8-9 feet high???
My ceilings in that room are only 7 feet, but I think I would prefer a wall unit as opposed to baseboard heating. How much clearance would I need around it?
Thanks for all your help!

Daryl in Nanoose

Are you sure that wasn't 8-9 Inches, the ones I have and see everywhere are Dimplex and are intalled at a 8" min off the floor. I will see if I can find the specs and I will get back to you but you don't need a lot of clearence. I just checked and its 8 inch clearence top bottom and sides

__________________
[url]http://edhome.shawwebspace.ca/[/url]