Modified (ECORAD) radiators

pmchale

Saw this in a post from 2015: https://www.ecoradusa.com/electric-upgrade-of-steam-and-hot-water-radiators/ Anyone know about these? Thoughts on the electrific conversion to a free standing radiator? I presently have a one-pipe steam system, which I love. We are building a new house next year, and would like to consider converted radiators, if they are a good, reliable, low maintenance option. The new house will be super insulated/tight, but still curious as to how much electricity these things would use...I know, depends on how many, heat load, how often they are actually heating, etc. Just wondering what folks think about these for a new build - 1400 ft2. Thanks!

mattmia2

You can buy new or used cast iron hot water radiators or baseboard radiators and run them with hot water. Unless your electricity is cost competitive with gas, oil, or geothermal that is probably a better way to go.

pmchale

@mattmai2 - I am considering these units because I will not have natural gas available, do not want to deal with future LP pricing, nor deal with oil, and geothermal is a HUGE upfront cost, not including the cost of the loops.
We'll see, depends on estimates for running these things.

acwagner

You could do a rough calculation by taking the assumed heat loss of the home (in BTU/HR) and converting to kWh. The type of electric heating element is likely irrelevant.

ethicalpaul

I wouldn't build a house that relied on resistive electric heating. Period.

We don't talk about prices here so please edit out your geothermal number but I would strongly suggest you look again at geothermal if you have ruled out fossil fuel.

I hired an engineer to plan my geothermal system and hired the drill rig (they drilled vertical well, sunk the loop and poured the grout) then I installed the water to air unit myself. Compared to the cost of electric resistive heat the payoff would be fast.

pmchale

Thanks @ethicalpaul. I edited the $ (sorry about that).

Solid_Fuel_Man

How does geo compare to electric resistance as far as COP in your place @ethicalpaul ?

ethicalpaul

I don’t have that house anymore but I had a very nice cost comparison system on it that would measure the btu that I took out of the ground, how much electricity i used and then compare that to the cost of oil, gas and electric.

It was almost identical to NG which was a little depressing to me. (I would have installed a NG furnace but it didn’t run on my street despite being in Norwalk CT!)

Was cheaper than oil by a good amount and blew resistive electric away. Never got to ROI but I really enjoyed installing and running it. Got it from Ingram, a very pretty stainless jacket and a piece of cake to install

Jolly Bodger

What about an air source heat pump? Mistubishi or Diakin. Depending on your climate the cop is 4+

pmchale

I am still (sort of) considering air source heat pump route, but I am worried about these systems keeping up in cold central NY winters...my wife wants to be comfortable in retirement. The house will be well insulated with R40 roof SIPs and at least R27 built-up walls. I am chatting with a company that does both air and ground source systems.
Any thoughts on air source in cold climates would be most welcome.

Solid_Fuel_Man

My opinion on air source heat pumps (I've installed well over 100) is that they do work well to about 10F no matter what the sales guy tells you. Outdoor humidity plays a big role in how often they must defrost.

The longevity of them is very questionable, I'm not putting any money on them lasting more than 10 years. I've installed Fujitsu, Daikin, and Mitsubishi. Honestly they all seem pretty much the same. China/Taiwan made with paper thin copper subject to 400+ PSI. Lots of thermal cycling. You can see what's next.

Jolly Bodger

Ground source would definitely outperform air source in your climate. Operating cost and comfort.