[Paulywog]

My son has a small 700 square foot home in Spokane, WA where we have better than average winters. We took out his old coal converted to gas heat source and are looking to replace it with ??? We purchased a lightly used forced air gas furnace on graigslist only to find it is quite a DIY project and it would be pretty expensive to have a installer hook it up. Where n/gas used to be quite a deal here in the Northwest, anymore it seems electric is just as expensive to heat with. To my question...my father-in-law jsut gave me seven 3 foot radiant glass baseboard heating units. They msut be 30 years old but have never been installed and are still in the boxes. They are rated @ 240 volts and 650 watts a unit. They have the radiant tube that glows red when turned on with a glass front covering. Are these things efficient or should we jsut spend the money to purchse some of the newer ceramic units and save these to put in my shop someday...

 

[kenmac]

Resistant type heat is expensive ..That's why a heat pump is used installed as primary heat & not the heat strips...These heaters being 30 yrs old will probably cost you more to operate than some newer style...Provided your house will be able to handle the xtra electrical load requirments

 

[beenthere]

Radiant heaters will heat the furniture, you, and other objects. But not the air.

So, when you are in the path of the radiant heat, you will feel very warm. Once out of the path. You will feel cool.

Electric resistance heat is 100% efficient.
But, your electric rates may be high enough to make it cost prohibitive.

Those 7-650 watt heaters, will only provide a total of 15,529 BTUs of heat.
May, or may not be enough for the house.