maylo1st
Member
- Location
- Pennsylvania
How do I troubleshoot this type of heat other then checking the voltage across the thermostat? And how safe is this type of heat since I believe this is very old.
electric ceiling heat
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hurk27
Senior Member
- Location
- Portage, Indiana NEC: 2008
Re: electric ceiling heat
Is this in a house?
As heat rises it is not a efficent type of heat and is used as a radient spot heat, Like on a production line where the building is not heated but they want to keep a production workes warm.
but most of the thermo heat is lost directly above it this is why I would think it would be a very dangerous in a house as the ceiling above it would get very hot.
Is this in a house?
As heat rises it is not a efficent type of heat and is used as a radient spot heat, Like on a production line where the building is not heated but they want to keep a production workes warm.
but most of the thermo heat is lost directly above it this is why I would think it would be a very dangerous in a house as the ceiling above it would get very hot.
maylo1st
Member
- Location
- Pennsylvania
Re: electric ceiling heat
Yes this is in a home and I am not sure how it would be efficient but it's been there for years. This building used to have a flat roof but has since had a peak roof installed over it.
Yes this is in a home and I am not sure how it would be efficient but it's been there for years. This building used to have a flat roof but has since had a peak roof installed over it.
hurk27
Senior Member
- Location
- Portage, Indiana NEC: 2008
Re: electric ceiling heat
Wow! How close to the ceiling is it?
and is there some kind of protection from the heat that protects the ceiling from the heat?
To trouble shoot this only requires a continuty tester to tell if the eleminit is good then the thermostat is calling for heat. and of course somthing to check for voltage on the circuit. but I don't think I would put it back in service if it is dangerous, as it could be a liability to you. Heat being produced at the ceiling tends to stay there.
Wow! How close to the ceiling is it?
and is there some kind of protection from the heat that protects the ceiling from the heat?
To trouble shoot this only requires a continuty tester to tell if the eleminit is good then the thermostat is calling for heat. and of course somthing to check for voltage on the circuit. but I don't think I would put it back in service if it is dangerous, as it could be a liability to you. Heat being produced at the ceiling tends to stay there.
hbiss
EC, Westchester, New York NEC: 2014
- Location
- Hawthorne, New York NEC: 2014
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- EC
Re: electric ceiling heat
Yeah, I've seen that stuff years ago. A whole condo development was done with it. It looks like a 4x8 sheet of sheetrock (actually is) with a romex tale sticking out of the backside. I don't believe anything special was done as far as insulation was concerned- it was just applied to the ceiling joists with screws and normal fiberglass insulation above.
I also remember thinking that it couldn't be very efficient. I wouldn't want to be the one to have to install a bunch of recessed lights after it was finished either.
Yeah, I've seen that stuff years ago. A whole condo development was done with it. It looks like a 4x8 sheet of sheetrock (actually is) with a romex tale sticking out of the backside. I don't believe anything special was done as far as insulation was concerned- it was just applied to the ceiling joists with screws and normal fiberglass insulation above.
I also remember thinking that it couldn't be very efficient. I wouldn't want to be the one to have to install a bunch of recessed lights after it was finished either.
G
Guest
Guest
Re: electric ceiling heat
I first heard about that stuff in the 60's. Even though heat prefers to rise, ceiling heat is remarkably effective. Many radiant heating (water pipes in concrete floor) systems work fine running the upstairs heat zone while keeping the upstairs and downstairs comfortable. Of course the upstairs will be a tad warmer. This works well if you have old people upstairs and young people downstairs-- assuming old like warm, and young like not as warm
Heat will try to equalize towards cold. The majority will rise, but a fair percentage will drop. Ceiling heat is effective, albeit a bit wasteful. It's just not as bad as we'd presume.
As for an old heat system in ceiling Sheetrock, I'd seriously consider junking it as it makes me nervous. I'd do some serious research on documented failures.
If this is a two-story home, and the bedrooms are on the second floor, the bedrooms are probably adequately and efficiently heated as they can rely on the first floor ceiling to pull the majority of the load and BTU delivery for both floors. Typically these systems are zone controlled by several thermostats (ala baseboard heaters).
Another safety factor is that with the large surface area, the surface temperature is very low. There should be low danger of wallboard paper ignition from spontaneous combustion due to charcoaling. Please do some research to confirm this, as this is only an opinion.
[ December 09, 2003, 07:03 AM: Message edited by: awwt ]
I first heard about that stuff in the 60's. Even though heat prefers to rise, ceiling heat is remarkably effective. Many radiant heating (water pipes in concrete floor) systems work fine running the upstairs heat zone while keeping the upstairs and downstairs comfortable. Of course the upstairs will be a tad warmer. This works well if you have old people upstairs and young people downstairs-- assuming old like warm, and young like not as warm
Heat will try to equalize towards cold. The majority will rise, but a fair percentage will drop. Ceiling heat is effective, albeit a bit wasteful. It's just not as bad as we'd presume.
As for an old heat system in ceiling Sheetrock, I'd seriously consider junking it as it makes me nervous. I'd do some serious research on documented failures.
If this is a two-story home, and the bedrooms are on the second floor, the bedrooms are probably adequately and efficiently heated as they can rely on the first floor ceiling to pull the majority of the load and BTU delivery for both floors. Typically these systems are zone controlled by several thermostats (ala baseboard heaters).
Another safety factor is that with the large surface area, the surface temperature is very low. There should be low danger of wallboard paper ignition from spontaneous combustion due to charcoaling. Please do some research to confirm this, as this is only an opinion.
[ December 09, 2003, 07:03 AM: Message edited by: awwt ]
maylo1st
Member
- Location
- Pennsylvania
Re: electric ceiling heat
Thanks everyone for your input I'll try to find out more and post whatever I find for future questions. If anyone else finds anything please E-mail me at maylo1st@yahoo.com or post here as I will check back soon.
Thanks everyone for your input I'll try to find out more and post whatever I find for future questions. If anyone else finds anything please E-mail me at maylo1st@yahoo.com or post here as I will check back soon.
maylo1st
Member
- Location
- Pennsylvania
Re: electric ceiling heat
One more question when testing for resistance what shoud I show on the meter?
One more question when testing for resistance what shoud I show on the meter?
hurk27
Senior Member
- Location
- Portage, Indiana NEC: 2008
Re: electric ceiling heat
Continuty. I say this because to know the resistance one would have to know the watt/volt of the elemint in question and since most elemint only do two things when they go bad there is no reasone to know the resistance of it. one it burns opens, two it shorts to ground or both. so this is why I said that you only need a continuty tester and a voltage meter.
Continuty. I say this because to know the resistance one would have to know the watt/volt of the elemint in question and since most elemint only do two things when they go bad there is no reasone to know the resistance of it. one it burns opens, two it shorts to ground or both. so this is why I said that you only need a continuty tester and a voltage meter.
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