Hi Folks,
I'm in the process of remodelling my basement: the end goal is to be a completely seperate apartment. The house is a split-foyer BTW. Our primary heating/cooling is a single stage heat pump (5t), for roughly a 2000sq' house. Split foyer implies the basement is roughly 1/2 the space.
Anyways, I'm wondering if you think electric radiant heat is worth the cost? Obviously the basement gets pretty darn cold in the winter, but there is one below-grade wall that spans the length of the house that is still bare block.
What I'm *really* trying to avoid is a future tennant littering the place with portable space heaters: those things will surely spin the meter. How well can radiant floor heating suppliment the primary heating system? Do you think this would be overkill once the basement is [fully] insulated?
Lastly, are the controlers for these things simply on/off, or is the power to the heating coils modulated? I have an existing Aprilair 8870 (IIRC) as a 'dummy' thermo for now, but I would *love* to be able to control both dependant and independant of each other.
Thanks for reading, I'v only recently come across the electric version: think huge heat blanket.
Cheers,
Jamie
I'm in the process of remodelling my basement: the end goal is to be a completely seperate apartment. The house is a split-foyer BTW. Our primary heating/cooling is a single stage heat pump (5t), for roughly a 2000sq' house. Split foyer implies the basement is roughly 1/2 the space.
Anyways, I'm wondering if you think electric radiant heat is worth the cost? Obviously the basement gets pretty darn cold in the winter, but there is one below-grade wall that spans the length of the house that is still bare block.
What I'm *really* trying to avoid is a future tennant littering the place with portable space heaters: those things will surely spin the meter. How well can radiant floor heating suppliment the primary heating system? Do you think this would be overkill once the basement is [fully] insulated?
Lastly, are the controlers for these things simply on/off, or is the power to the heating coils modulated? I have an existing Aprilair 8870 (IIRC) as a 'dummy' thermo for now, but I would *love* to be able to control both dependant and independant of each other.
Thanks for reading, I'v only recently come across the electric version: think huge heat blanket.

Cheers,
Jamie