We’re getting a lot more enquiries about baseboard heating repair in Minnesota, especially in Minneapolis and St. Paul.
Not long ago, most modern houses were equipped with radiators that transferred heat from a boiler unit in the basement through pipes in the house.
With the introduction of forced air systems, radiators and baseboard heating went by the wayside in a lot of residential building applications.
The big cast iron radiators evolved into baseboard heating panels that ran along the floor in certain areas of the room, all of which were connected with piping to the boiler unit located somewhere in the home.
What was the problem with baseboard heating?
In some cases, it was hard to maintain water lines within the house, leaks, blockage, corrosion, mold, and the expense of running copper pipe throughout the home made forced air more cost-effective, and easier to maintain.
In the past, a malfunction with this type of heating could mean freezing pipes or boilers could cause serious problems in cold climates, and especially if a house was left vacant and the boiler wasn’t being heated.
But it’s not 1934 anymore, and heating has come a long way since its early days.
Baseboard heating can also be completely electric, which has left some homeowners wary, considering the risk of fire hazard due to malfunctioning units, or even something as basic as the expense of running a purely electrical heating unit in a room all day long.
What happened to baseboard?
Due to building costs, maintenance, and other factors, this type of heating lost out in favor to forced air systems, especially when the price of natural gas made it relatively cheap to heat a home of any size with forced air.
There was also the added feature of having hot air blowing directly into a room that made forced air just seem more modern, compared to the radiators and baseboards of older homes.
The heat was a little bit easier to regulate with forced air, since the dispersion of heat was a little bit more even.
Why is baseboard heating coming back?
Things are changing now, especially with polymer composite piping and tubing, baseboard has also evolved from the cast iron register or metal box in the corner of the room and the dangerous fire-hazards of early electric heaters.
Baseboard heating is now a sophisticated system with thermostatic control, boilers and hydronic heating, and a variety of other configurations.
Baseboard heating also provides reliable, even distributed heat, and with new advances and improvements in heat delivery systems baseboard heating is often extremely cost-effective in the long term.
Baseboard heating isn’t always about pipes and boilers either – it can be independent of any central system and can be installed on a room by room basis, wherever it is needed, without massive changes to the structure of your home.
That’s a lot more than can be said of installing a central forced air system in a home that wasn’t designed as such!
What is the advantage of baseboard heating?
The main advantage of baseboard is that it allows heat to being more localized for your areas of use.
For example, in the winter months, you can save energy costs with a baseboard system if you are only heating certain rooms of the house.
The other rooms can be closed off and a central forced air system isn’t desperately trying to maintain the temperature of a space no one is using.
Baseboard is also an ideal method of heating something like a cabin, where a woodburning stove might provide the ambient heat and atmosphere for most of the living space.
A baseboard heater can warm the room you are sleeping in, and keep you cozy all night, even after the fire dies down.
What is the disadvantage of baseboard heating?
The main disadvantage of baseboard heating is that forced air is easily adapted to central air conditioning, while baseboard heating is not the same system.
Central air conditioning not only offers relief during the hot summer months, but also serves as a way to manage humidity.
But along with improvements in baseboard heating technology, there are all sorts of ways modular technology in cooling can work alongside baseboard heating.
Conclusion
As with anything else in heating and cooling, our experts are ready to answer any questions you have about baseboard, forced air, or other options for your home!
Need baseboard heating repairs in Minnesota?
Contact us at (651) 294-7798 to see what other heating options can work for your home in conjunction with baseboard heating.
