Originally Posted by ram_man
So basically with a ceiling radiant heat system every room has its own thermostat and the wires are embedded in the plaster in the ceiling and it heats up the ceiling and it radiates through the room. basically the only thing that fails is I guess the thermostat goes out or the wire burns up. And as far as heat rising I'm not sure that that's actually accurate with radiant heat it was explained to me that it works like how the Sun works the sun is above us but radiant heat comes down and warms everything.
OK got it. Interesting setup. Had not heard of such a thing around here.
So, what's above and below these two rooms?
Can you easily access the wiring somewhere? Anywhere? In the box where the thermostat is, for sure, but where else?
Im familiar with on-wall electric thermostats to some extent. Seems to me that the easiest thing to do in a pinch, is to get something like this:
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Legrand...Raceway-Channel-in-White-700WH/100144606
And do something like the lower half of this:
Doesnt have to be the prettiest. Just pull the thermostat out, pull the wires going to the radiant, and then run a new wire through that molding to a baseboard heater installed right below.
I was under the impression when I heard radiant, that it was hydronic radiators. Youre already accustomed to the cost of electric heat... got it.
So from there, yes indeed, mini splits are the way to go to get efficiency advantages if youre still using electric heat. Agreed. But in a pinch, you need to know what the breaker is feeding each, what the switch current rating is in the thermostat, and then ensure that all conductors can support carrying the current.
Then just get the appropriately rated baseboard, and the appropriately rated conductor to feed it, and you should be done in no time flat.
FWIW, I just looked at HD by me, and 1000W baseboard heaters are in stock like crazy, and cost all of $44. So do a temp job like this in two rooms, totally reversible, and Ill bet you can have heat for less than $150. If the thermostats are in OK locations, Ill bet nobody will even be able to see the job you did!