I have heated ceilings in a 60 year old house. The problem is one area of ceiling about 4 feet by 4 feet has multiple cracks and is now sagging. I have no problem with such repairs but am a little wary of the heating wires and not sure how to go about reconnecting the ceiling since I can't just tear in out. Has anyone attempted this kind of repair. Any help is appreciated.
troll
troll (trol) verb To post a message in a newsgroup or other online conference in the hopes that somebody else will consider the original message so outrageous that it demands a heated reply. A classic example of a troll is to post an article in favor of torturing cats in a pet lovers' newsgroup.
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snipped-for-privacy@yahoo.com wrote:
On Jan 14, 12:00=A0am, Robert Barr wrote: What is your problem? You have no idea what I was refering to do you. If not, just don't say anything.
ide quoted text -
Why do you say troll? Have you never heard of heated ceilings? They were very "state of the art" some years ago and was thought to be the wave of the future. Educate yourself rather than ridicule.
Not even , very common , electric wires embedded in the plaster ,
to the op, if the heat still works , then no problems , they are simply bare nichrome wires embedded in the plaster , carefully clean the cracks , and repair with plaster . or mud , being certain to not nick or scrape the wires . and then allowing plaster or mud to set completely before powering them up .
good luck
Robert Barr wrote:
rile42;
I'm fairly familiar with the Emerson Electric Ceiling heat. Popular during the 60's when all electric homes were being built.
Unfortunately, today the electric heating elements are no longer available and a splice kit also is not available. Your options are limited to an electric baseboard heater. The baseboard heater can be installed below the wall thermostat [where 220volt feed is already available] at the floor level. This is a solution to a mis-hap that caused the ceiling wiring to fail [usually caused by either a water leak from the roof, a un-informed plumber who tearing the ceiling out to install new copper piping, or someone who decided to replace the ceiling for whatever reason.]
Thanks for the info. My only problem was if there is a fire danger if one of the wires is nicked.
Edwin is right. I have some Popular Science/Mechanics and Mechanics Illustrated from the early thru late 50's and have seen them in there. Never knew how common they were, or how well they worked. From what I can tell, as soon as drywall hit the market here, plaster was gone. I assume these heater wires were only installed in plaster ceilings. Since heat rises, it would not seem to be a very efficient way to heat, but then I have absolutely no experience with them, so I could be dead wrong. I would also imagine a lot were abandoned as central a/c was added to the house. I also remember reading predictions in those mags from the early 50's that in the future, like the 1970s, nuke plants would be providing all our electricity, and it would be produced so cheaply that the utility companies would not even bother with meters, and just have a small flat rate fee to cover it's minor operating expenses. Larry
The house was my father-in-laws house. I really don't know how efficient the heating was but it always felt warm. The basement ceiling was covered with foil like paper and I often wondered if that had anything to do with the heating system. I know he used to get ticked if it got torn somehow.
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