Electric baseboard heaters safe?

May 22, 2007 8 Replies

We're looking at a 1955 house with electric baseboard heating. We're wondering how much distance we need to keep between the heaters and furniture/curtains. Is it a few inches, or a couple of feet? The rooms are small, so it makes a difference.



Inches. The do not get all that hot, but some common sense goes a long way both for safety and for heating efficiency. You want good air flow. In most places, electric heat is the most expensive form so be sure to consider operating costs.

My baseboard heaters are about 2 feet lower than the curtains. I would try to keep furniture away from them as best as possible.

I'd be more concerned with having a high load on crappy 1950's wiring than anything else.

I'll say. Elec baseboard will take your money faster than a slot machine.

Particularly if it is 1955 electric baseboard! You would probably recoop the cost of installing a new HVAC system in a season or two!

But it's been working fine that way since the 50's.

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