Saving Money with Radiant Heating

In a previous post “Does Radiant Heat Save Money” I mentioned a home that I partially converted from electric baseboard to radiant heat in a few rooms. This article is a follow-up to that post.

Significant Renovation and Extension

As mentioned in the previous post, the owners so enjoyed the comfort of the radiant heating system they wanted it throughout their home including the entire extension. They replaced the electric baseboards in their kitchen, bathroom and laundry room with electric radiant heat. They also added about 2,000 additional square feet to the home. A big garage with a full granny suite above it (living room, kitchen, bathroom, and bedroom) plus a connecting hallway and a sunroom with plenty of windows were added to the home. All these areas were heated with radiant ceiling and/or radiant floor warming.

Interesting Results

In a conversation I had with them recently, I asked them how they were getting along with their system. Of course they love it (but you knew I was going to say that :) ), but they also mentioned something very interesting:

Despite adding over 2,000ft2, an additional occupant in their home and a significant hike in their cost of electricity per kwh, they said their overall electrical bill has dropped during the winter! They have not changed their lifestyle at all—no changes in how they operate the heating system, no special night-setback strategies, etc.

No Numbers, Sorry

I would dearly love to be able to provide you with hard, quantifiable data. Unfortunately the home is not independently monitored for the heating portion of their energy use. There’s not a separate meter measuring the heating system only. So we don’t really know how much of their energy consumption is for heating and which portion is for everything else (lights, tv, stove, hot water, clothes dryer, etc.) and therefore we can’t say that by changing over to and adding radiant heat that they saved X%. But we can say, all else being equal, that they certainly are enjoying a very economical heating system. They also haven’t had to spend a cent on maintenance, either.

Are You Interested in Saving Money?

If you’re contemplating a renovation, you really owe it to yourself to investigate whether electric radiant heating is a viable option for you. Having done thousands of renovations, we fully expect that you can see similar results in your own home. We have many different product lines that are well suited for renovation applications. In most cases you can make the changeover one room at a time as time and budget permit. We try to make it as easy as possible for you to enjoy the benefits (and rewards) of a radiant heated home. Why not give us a call?

September 4, 2010 | Tags: , , | 1 Comment »

Time of Use or Off-Peak Rates Explained

What are They?

Utility companies will often offer their customers the ability to choose an alternative rate structure. Sometimes these are referred to as “Off-Peak” or “Time-of-Use” rates. Utilities are often subject to peak demand. That is to say at certain points in the day their customers demand more energy than at other times. This peak demand usually occurs during the day. Offices, factories, etc. are all demanding energy at the same time. The utility companies need to meet this demand.

To meet this demand, utility companies have a number of strategies. They can bring more power on-line (if they generate power themselves) or they can buy the extra capacity from the open market. The problem with this, though, is that the additional energy they produce or buy generally comes at a higher price. Yet the price they charge customers (under the normal rate tariff) is always the same.

Enter Time-of-Use Rates

However, if the utility companies can persuade their customers to shift their demand for power to a different part of the day, then this would lower the company’s peak demand. It would reduce their need to bring on-line or buy additional power at the higher rates. It can also delay the need for adding additional and expensive infrastructure – more power generating facilities, higher capacity power lines and transformers, etc. By simply shifting some of that peak demand to a different time of day the company can save all that additional investment.

What it Means to the Consumer

An “Off-Peak” or “Time-of-Use” rate has a different rate or cost for that energy depending on when that energy is used. Much like long distance phone calls, if you call later in the evening, the cost of that phone call is less. And so does a Time-Of-Use rate. The exact rate and the time at which these lower rates kick in vary from utility to utility. Often the “Off-Peak” rate is half (or better) than the Peak Rate. That can add up to significant saving on your energy bill if you can take advantage of these rates.

In a later post I will describe how you can do just that as well as how SmartRooms can really help you take a bit out of your energy bill.

August 8, 2010 | Tags: , , | 1 Comment »
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