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    • #13194
      Kim
      Guest

      Hey there. The electric baseboard heat in my home stains the walls, directly above the heaters. I try to scrub this off but mostly meet with failure. What is the cause of this? Is the heat “burning” the walls? What is the marking caused by? How can it be avoided, or how can I clean it successfully? I have no doubt that the cheapest baseboard heaters available were installed here. Would more expensive models resolve this problem?

      Also, where there are two baseboard heaters operated by a single thermostat, is it possible to disconnect one of the heaters so that only one of them operates? My furniture arrangement options are quite limited because of these heaters; disconnecting just one of them in my living room would help a lot.

      Thanks.

    • #80423
      Dr.Home
      Guest

      Easy one first. Yes you can disconnect one of
      the heaters. How to do it is dependent on the
      wiring arrangement of the heaters.

      The harder one now. The walls above the heaters
      are probably being burned because the heat is
      being sent up the wall instead of out into the room.
      Either there is no deflector shield above the heaters
      or it is a poor design. The solution will be
      dependent on the their make-up.

    • #82189
      Jim S.
      Guest

      I have the same problem. After considerable research, including discussions with several manufacturers (who were not always of the same mind) I think I now have an understanding of the problem. Understanding ad applying a solution is another issue.

      Electric baseboard heaters use room air. Thay are quite simple. Metal plates are heated and thus heat the room air by convection. Room air is pulled in at the bottom, heated by convection and released through the top vents. The warmed air is attracted to cool surfaces. Because the heater is generally flush with an exterior wall surface, the heated air is immediately attracted to the cool wall behind the heater. Any dust in floor carpet or that has settled on the floor is carbonized in the haeting process and adheres to the cool wall as it rises with the warmed air. This the asme process that transports air pollutants thousands of miles in the atmosphere. This problem is particularly noticeable if there are sources of contaminants in or near the room, i.e. smokers in the house or if candles are burned. There are several things that can be done to help.

      The first consideration is replacement. After years of heating and cooling metals in the heater fins do start to break apart. This is not a major part of the proble, but consideration of the systematic replacement of 20+ year old electric baseboard heaters is not unreasonable. I have replaced some heaters, but when doing so I have also reset the heater farther away from the wall by extending the wood baseboard behind them. I have noticed that the new repositioned heaters are cleaner. Where I have replaced heaters away from the wall I have noticed a difference. In addition, however, keeping them and the room clean with minimal dust is imperative. I have also placed a high performnace room air cleaner in those renovated rooms. Im sure that has also helped.

      One question that I have not been able to answer is whether replacing heaters with the newer, soposed more efficient, liquid filed electric baseboard heaters would be cleaner. I am also interested in any feedback on the efficeincy of those heaters relative to conventional baseboard heaters.

      Thanks!

    • #82190
      Jim
      Guest

      I have the same problem. After considerable research, including discussions with several manufacturers (who were not always of the same mind) I think I now have an understanding of the problem. Understanding ad applying a solution is another issue.

      Electric baseboard heaters use room air. Thay are quite simple. Metal plates are heated and thus heat the room air by convection. Room air is pulled in at the bottom, heated by convection and released through the top vents. The warmed air is attracted to cool surfaces. Because the heater is generally flush with an exterior wall surface, the heated air is immediately attracted to the cool wall behind the heater. Any dust in floor carpet or that has settled on the floor is carbonized in the haeting process and adheres to the cool wall as it rises with the warmed air. This the asme process that transports air pollutants thousands of miles in the atmosphere. This problem is particularly noticeable if there are sources of contaminants in or near the room, i.e. smokers in the house or if candles are burned. There are several things that can be done to help.

      The first consideration is replacement. After years of heating and cooling metals in the heater fins do start to break apart. This is not a major part of the proble, but consideration of the systematic replacement of 20+ year old electric baseboard heaters is not unreasonable. I have replaced some heaters, but when doing so I have also reset the heater farther away from the wall by extending the wood baseboard behind them. I have noticed that the new repositioned heaters are cleaner. Where I have replaced heaters away from the wall I have noticed a difference. In addition, however, keeping them and the room clean with minimal dust is imperative. I have also placed a high performnace room air cleaner in those renovated rooms. Im sure that has also helped.

      One question that I have not been able to answer is whether replacing heaters with the newer, soposed more efficient, liquid filed electric baseboard heaters would be cleaner. I am also interested in any feedback on the efficeincy of those heaters relative to conventional baseboard heaters.

      Thanks!

    • #82191
      Jim
      Guest

      I have the same problem. After considerable research, including discussions with several manufacturers (who were not always of the same mind) I think I now have an understanding of the problem. Understanding ad applying a solution is another issue.

      Electric baseboard heaters use room air. Thay are quite simple. Metal plates are heated and thus heat the room air by convection. Room air is pulled in at the bottom, heated by convection and released through the top vents. The warmed air is attracted to cool surfaces. Because the heater is generally flush with an exterior wall surface, the heated air is immediately attracted to the cool wall behind the heater. Any dust in floor carpet or that has settled on the floor is carbonized in the haeting process and adheres to the cool wall as it rises with the warmed air. This the asme process that transports air pollutants thousands of miles in the atmosphere. This problem is particularly noticeable if there are sources of contaminants in or near the room, i.e. smokers in the house or if candles are burned. There are several things that can be done to help.

      The first consideration is replacement. After years of heating and cooling metals in the heater fins do start to break apart. This is not a major part of the proble, but consideration of the systematic replacement of 20+ year old electric baseboard heaters is not unreasonable. I have replaced some heaters, but when doing so I have also reset the heater farther away from the wall by extending the wood baseboard behind them. I have noticed that the new repositioned heaters are cleaner. Where I have replaced heaters away from the wall I have noticed a difference. In addition, however, keeping them and the room clean with minimal dust is imperative. I have also placed a high performnace room air cleaner in those renovated rooms. Im sure that has also helped.

      One question that I have not been able to answer is whether replacing heaters with the newer, soposed more efficient, liquid filed electric baseboard heaters would be cleaner. I am also interested in any feedback on the efficeincy of those heaters relative to conventional baseboard heaters.

      Thanks!

    • #85445
      Ken
      Guest

      The staining as outlined by Jim is the problem. Baseboard heaters are usually made in two watt densities, that is the amount of electricity used per foot. Usual is 187 or 250 watts per foot. The lower watt densities, spread the heating load over longer sections, thus run at lower temperatures and the air moves across them a lower velocities, carrying less debris (which is what sticks to the walls) All of them, including hydronic heaters, causes some wall staining but the lower watt-density heaters will cause less. Spring cleaning each year will minimize the build-up.

    • #110379
      bruce price
      Guest

      i am looking for someone who makes baseboard heaters in colors other than white and almond. can you help? thanks

    • #132826
      Teddy
      Guest

      I have a couple of problems with my electric baseboard heater…first, it often gets a noisy clicking noise. this happens when i lower the thermostat. I’ve had to keep the heat up with a window open to avoid this annoying clicking noise.

      also, my electric bill is very high during the months that i use the baseboards. I asked a few neighbors, and they have a high bill as well. on warmer days, i cant turn off the heater then back on, or it will shoot my electric bill even higher thru the roof (that happened last year). any suggestions on these??? thanks!

    • #136405
      Sherene
      Guest

      I too have this same problem however, my house is brand new so I don’t think it is from dust or dirty carpets. The problem is in every room in the house. The window sils and mini blinds right above the heaters are covered with a significant amount of soot. Any ideas?

    • #138568
      Renee
      Guest

      I live in a home with electric baseboard heat. In my bedroom, the heating unit was installed directly below the window. I have recently noticed the wall/drywall is bubbling, we cut a section out and found the drywall is molding and crumbling. I suspect the heat source directly below the window is causing this due to condensation. Any suggestions?

    • #145220
      Ty Derrow
      Guest

      Do you have anything that can be installed under a kitchen base cabinet in the toe kick area??

    • #145541
      charles d Fackler
      Guest

      how can i clean a base board heater

    • #145544
      charles d Fackler
      Guest

      how can i clean a base board heater

    • #153528
      DARLEEN KENNEY
      Guest

      I BOUGHT A 13 YEAR OLD CONDO 2 YEARS AGO AND THE ONLY SOURCE OF HEAT THROUGHOUT IS ELECTRIC BASEBOARD. I HAVE FOUND THAT SOME OF THE UNITS ARE NOT WORKING AND THE ONES THAT ARE TAKE FOREVER TO HEAT UP AND MAKE A LOT OF NOISE. I ALSO HAVE FOUND MY HEATING BILLS TO BE ASTRONOMICALLY HIGH!!!! I WAS TOLD THAT THERE ARE

      CERAMIC BASEBOARD HEATERS THAT RETAIN THE HEAT MUCH BETTER AND ARE MORE COST EFFECTIVE. DOES ANYONE OUT THERE KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT THIS AND IF NOT CAN SOMEONE PLEASE TELL ME HOW TO GO ABOUT REPLACING THE EXISTING UNITS. WHAT IS THE BEST BRAND OUT THERE????

    • #215431
      Barbara Moyer
      Guest

      have the same problem, what is the solution to the problem, apartment is not that old and walls are really becoming very ugly, what do you recomend to do.

    • #231952
      Nick R.
      Guest

      According to http://www.electricheat.com/radiant/users.html on the user page it has a note from a user that is as follows:

      “…no ‘fried dust’ phenomena or gassing off of chemicals intrinsic in other heating elements.”

      C.F.D., Epping, ND

      Therefore it may seem the solution to the problem is switching to Ceramic Baseboard heater. Does anyone know if there are problems of dirty walls with Ceramic Baseboard Heaters?

    • #255883
      Unregistered-JOYCE OLMSTED
      Guest

      GOOD MORNING
      MY BASE BOARD HEATERS, THE TOP OF THEM ARE ALL RUSTED AND SOMEONE HAS REPAINTED THEM, SEVERAL TIMES.
      PAINT STRIPPER DOESN’T REMOVE THE PAINT OR THE BUMPS OR LUMPS ON THEM.
      WHAT CAN I USE, TO CLEAN THEM UP AND REPAINT THEM?
      THANK YOU

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