As a homeowner living in a 1970's built home in Toronto, when we purchased it it had electric baseboard heat. Why were so many Scarborough homes built with electric heat?
In the 1970's electricity was cheaper than natural gas. If you are a certain age you will remember shortages and line-ups for gas. In the suburbs, developers were looking for alternatives and there are quite a few subdivisions that were built with electric heat. In fact (at least in Scarborough) there was one builder that built homes with radiant ceiling heat as the main heat source!
As both a homeowner that bought a house with electric baseboards, as someone who has friends with electric baseboard heating & as a realtor with a house currently for sale heated with electric baseboard heating, here's my experience and my clients experience, too. And in rural communities electric baseboard heating is very common!
- You can control the heat room by room. This makes them incredibly efficient. Generally theres a wall mount thermostat that controls them, but sometimes you'll run into a supplimental baseboard heater with a control dial mounted right on the baseboard. This gives you great control over your energy use.
- They are very mechanically efficient. Since the heat is radiant and not generally relying on any parts that will wear out, like a fan - they last for years. So a house built in 1978 would likely have had the furnace replaced 3 or 4 times in that period. In the house I have for sale all the baseboards are original & both the baseboards and thermostat switches are all working just fine. To replace a single baseboard is about $150 or so for the baseboard itself from Home Depot right now.
- They are quiet - because they have no fans
- They are clean - because they don't blow air around, there is very little dust. This is great for people with allergies.
- Houses with electric baseboard heat generally have 200A service. Planning a remodel? If you ever convert, you'll have lots of juice!
- You may not have an additional monthly natural gas bill - if you're are not using a gas fireplace, stove or heating a swimming pool.
- You can still have air conditioning in a home with electric baseboard heating
Air conditioning in a home with baseboard heating
If you have baseboards (this is the same for radiators) there are several ways to get air conditioning in the house. You can add a 'split' or 'ductless' unit which air conditions generally one floor. These units are mounted on an exterior wall with a blower mounted inside. While it does not have ducts leading into a specific room, they are powerful and generally cool down a top floor.
Ductless - or split Air Conditioner
You can install an air conditioner in your attic with ducts leading to the bedrooms. Cool air sinks, so will also cool a lower floor to some degree, here's a photo of an attic air conditioner:
Photo courtesy of Laird & Sons, Toronto
Or you can cool just one room with a portable AC unit:
Floor mount portable AC unit
Converting to a forced air system
Of course, if you're planning on a major renovation, many opt to convert to a conventional forced air heating and cooling system with ducts, whether it's a heat pump or furnace. If you're planning on doing that:
- first step is to call your natural gas provider to see if there is gas available to run into the house
- remember you need to plan where the furnace will be installed. In our case it displaced our laundry & we relocated the laundry to the main floor
- you will need to plan where to run the ductwork
- you will need a contractor to do the finish work (enclosing the new ducts)
How to tell if baseboards are electric or radiant heat:
In the city of Toronto there are many homes that don't have ducts that are heated with radiant baseboards. Although they are typically the 'accordian' style shown on the left, some homes also have baseboard style heating shown in the bottom two photos. The very bottom one looks very similar to the electric baseboards doesn't it? So how do you tell whether it's a radiator or electric baseboard?
Accordian Style Radiator
Cast Iron style baseboard radiator
Radiant baseboard heater
Radiant heat is mainly water heated.
The heating is from hot water running through pipes in the heaters. The hot water is generated from a boiler in the basement that looks somewhat like this:
See the pipes running in and out of it? That's a boiler. No boiler? 200A electric? then the baseboards are likely electric.
Is electric baseboard heat expensive in Ontario?
Depending on how warm you keep your home the winter months can be more expensive. The home I have for sale now is very efficient and the owners pay on average less than $300 per month. And that is for appliances, lights, heating, ac units - everything! And no natural gas bill on top of that.
And now you know!
