Electric baseboard heat

[Fixnfly]

I have a modular home built in 1985 and what appears to be the original baseboard heaters and thermostats. Everything still works well and we are happy with the heat. The bills are reasonable too.
Should I be worried about a possible fire risk with 31 year old heaters and thermostats? Also, are newer heaters any more efficient than older ones?

 

[rockwithjason]

In this case if it's not broken there is no reason to fix it. There is no savings to be had by replacing as there is very little efficency to be gained

 

[happy2rv]

In this case if it's not broken there is no reason to fix it. There is no savings to be had by replacing as there is very little efficency to be gained

You won't know if it's broken until it's too late. His main concern didn't appear to be efficiency as note by

...we are happy with the heat. The bills are reasonable too.

The concern was whether they are safe. Having said that, I'm not an expert on heater history and safety. The industry has come a long way in safety. For instance, space heaters from many decades ago didn't have tip over protection or Temperature Limiting Controls. Obviously baseboard heaters don't have the tip over concern, but they do have TLC concerns. I don't know the timeline for these. I would think that circa 1985 would be new enough to have many of the safety features, but wear and degradation from use can be a concern. Reference this report on "Fixed-position electric heaters". The sample size in the study was rather small, but most of the concerns are valid:

• "60% of baseboard heaters had an unknown cleaning history. 30% of baseboard heaters had never had the elements cleaned..."

• "Although consumers are sometimes warned not to place items within three feet of fixed heaters, due to the length of baseboard heaters, this is often inconvenient if not impractical advice for consumers to follow."

[/LIST]

Specifically related to age:

• "cases where a degraded electrical terminal broke and arced..."

• "lint build-up and subsequent ignition"

• "Calculations using observed TLC
  cycling data showed that the 100,000 cycle life of a TLC would be exceeded in a few years of operation; whereas, the life of a heater is usually 10 years or more. Once the design life is exceeded, the safe operation of a TLC during periods of overheating cannot be assumed."

Some of these concerns can be addressed and presumably have been by the OP through routine maintenance. Others like the life of TLC, thermostat, etc are more difficult to answer.

I've witnessed the damage an ancient heater with missing or non-functioning safety devices can do and it isn't pretty. Obviously only a qualified service technician with eyes on the devices in question can advise to the safety of these particular heaters, but hopefully others will provide more general advice regarding the safety precautions present in that vintage of heaters and what their "useful life" expectancy is.

 

[theoldwizard1]

Also, are newer heaters any more efficient than older ones?

No. Turn the power off. Take the covers off and vacuum them.

Electric resistance heat is usually expensive to operate.

 

[wyliesdiesels]

No. Turn the power off. Take the covers off and vacuum them.

Electric resistance heat is usually expensive to operate.

If youre concerned about safety, turn the power off and inspect them.

 

[Rookie2]

A cleaning couldn't hurt . check to see if they are wired with aluminum wire, if so then check wire connections or have an electrician check connections and breakers. I've seen apartment buildings from that era around here with nasty aluminum wire problems.

 

[finn]

You won't know if it's broken until it's too late. His main concern didn't appear to be efficiency as note by The concern was whether they are safe. Having said that, I'm not an expert on heater history and safety. The industry has come a long way in safety. For instance, space heaters from many decades ago didn't have tip over protection or Temperature Limiting Controls. Obviously baseboard heaters don't have the tip over concern, but they do have TLC concerns. I don't know the timeline for these. I would think that circa 1985 would be new enough to have many of the safety features, but wear and degradation from use can be a concern. Reference this report on "Fixed-position electric heaters". The sample size in the study was rather small, but most of the concerns are valid:

• "60% of baseboard heaters had an unknown cleaning history. 30% of baseboard heaters had never had the elements cleaned..."

• "Although consumers are sometimes warned not to place items within three feet of fixed heaters, due to the length of baseboard heaters, this is often inconvenient if not impractical advice for consumers to follow."

[/LIST]

Specifically related to age:

• "cases where a degraded electrical terminal broke and arced..."

• "lint build-up and subsequent ignition"

• "Calculations using observed TLC
  cycling data showed that the 100,000 cycle life of a TLC would be exceeded in a few years of operation; whereas, the life of a heater is usually 10 years or more. Once the design life is exceeded, the safe operation of a TLC during periods of overheating cannot be assumed."

Some of these concerns can be addressed and presumably have been by the OP through routine maintenance. Others like the life of TLC, thermostat, etc are more difficult to answer.

I've witnessed the damage an ancient heater with missing or non-functioning safety devices can do and it isn't pretty. Obviously only a qualified service technician with eyes on the devices in question can advise to the safety of these particular heaters, but hopefully others will provide more general advice regarding the safety precautions present in that vintage of heaters and what their "useful life" expectancy is.

You are confusing built in electric baseboard radiators with portable electric space heaters.

None the less, a good cleaning of the fins and inspection of the electrical connections is good advise.

I removed electric baseboard radiators from a repo that I am renovating. They were absolutely packed with pet hair. A real health and safety hazard.

 

[happy2rv]

Some of these concerns can be addressed and presumably have been by the OP through routine maintenance. Others like the life of TLC, thermostat, etc are more difficult to answer.

As I indicated, many concerns can easily be addressed by cleaning and inspection. Others aren't so easy. Some things like lint/dirt/debris build up is easy for even the least trained to see. Other things like burned, rotted, or splitting insulation are also fairly easy to detect. But testing and predicting the failure of temperature limiting safety devices aren't quite as straight forward.

I don't mean to sound like some kind of safety fanatic and I'm certainly not saying the OP's heaters aren't safe. I'm just saying that his concerns aren't without some merit.

 

[checkthisout]

They are cheap to replace.

Older units may not have a thermo cut switch to kill the heater if it overheats due to having something placed close to it. As long as you are careful, they should be fine but it takes about 10 seconds to pull the wiring access plate off and check.

And no, electrical resistance heat is always 100% efficient regardless if the heater was made 100 years ago or yesterday.

 

[happy2rv]

You are confusing built in electric baseboard radiators with portable electric space heaters.

None the less, a good cleaning of the fins and inspection of the electrical connections is good advise.

I removed electric baseboard radiators from a repo that I am renovating. They were absolutely packed with pet hair. A real health and safety hazard.

No, I did reference portable space heaters in part of my post where I mentioned tip over hazard but also indicated it didn't apply to the OP. I was addressing fixed electric baseboard heaters. The attached study of fires and failures in fixed electric heating devices addresses a number of different type of heaters.

Pretty much any source of heat should have a temperature limiting safety device.

 

[Richard Cranium]

I never like base board heater, I even found one in the under ground well house that was wired to the 220 pump, so every time the pump came on, it would also

 

[Fixnfly]

Thanks for all the replys !
I think I will replace them soon. They are a little corroded and are becoming an eyesore especially since I just layed down new laminate flooring.
Any good American made heaters out there? The big box stores carry Chinese made units that make me more concerned than the old ones I already have.

Also, what about the 30+ year old mechanical thermostats I have. Should I replace them also?