Baseboard electric heat has the advantage of being easy and inexpensive to purchase and install. You can buy them in almost any hardware store and they're a great choice for small additions to your home, "cool spots" in your home, or seasonal homes where the heat is only on when someone is there. Baseboard electric heat also has the advantage of being very safe and 100% efficient.
Baseboard heat is safe because there is no open flame or venting. You don't have to worry about carbon monoxide poisoning with electric heat. It is 100% efficient because all the heat produced is put into the space you are heating. No heat is lost through venting because there is no vent. Any heating system that needs to be vented, like a gas furnace, can never be 100% efficient because some heat is always lost through the venting process.
Baseboard heaters are commonly installed along the bottom of outside walls, often under windows (where heat loss is greatest). These units are surface-mounted and can be installed after walls are finished. In bathrooms and kitchens they can be installed as kick-space heaters set into the spaces beneath cabinets.
They are the least expensive heating system to install and they tend to be popular in very well-insulated homes, because they can be sized to match the load very easily. Since no flues or chimneys are required, you will not have to put holes in walls or roofs.
There are disadvantages to baseboard heat. They satisfy thermostat calls rather slowly, they are easily blocked by furniture, and it is hard to control air circulation. Baseboard electric heat can be costly to operate. That's why Price Electric Cooperative has the Dual Fuel program which cuts the cost of heating with electricity almost in half making baseboard electric heat an all-around, affordable choice for home heating.
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