What’s that? My buyers and agent asked as they looked through my thermal imaging camera.
What are the odds you’ll come across two houses back-to-back with electric radiant heat in the ceiling? Ans: Slim, but true. In both cases my buyers and agents responded, what’s that? Electric radiant heat came out in the early 70s. It failed, because as we all know warm air rises. The only way to warm the room is to crank it up, resulting in high energy bills. One bedroom can draw as much as 60 amps on a single 240v circuit, fig 3. Now multiply that by the number of rooms and you can see how the energy price can soar.
Most common problems I’ve reported
* Expensive to run, every home I’ve found it there was a second heat source in use
* Often undetected, 3 homes this year alone, running 24/7 resulting in unexplained high electric bills, if you can’t see it you can’t report it
* Most units run on 240v 20amp ~ 60amps on one zone
* Dries out the insulation placed on top of it reducing your insulation values
* Causes ice dams during winter months, fig 1 & 2
* Heat released in attic space may cause mold
* Heat released in the attic can reduce the life expectancy of the roof shingles if the attic is not properly vented
* Heat can also delaminate the roof sheathing from heat
* If you crack, damage or loose heat from a panel(s) only one way to find it, thermal imaging
Two meters was a tip off these homes may have electric heat, fig 4 & 5. The meter missing was for electric heat, electric companies discount electric heat.
No surprise both homes had new heating systems installed reducing energy costs. Unfortunately in one case it was a bank owned home. One can only imagine the heating costs helped contribute to the owner losing the home.
Conclusion: If you come across a home that the disclosure mentions electric heat and you cannot see it, it’s most likely ceiling radiant heat. The only way to verify it’s removed is seeing empty breaker slots and scanning the home with thermal imaging.
