# Radiant floor heaters



## gonekiwi (Dec 13, 2009)

Looking for help. I am renting a house, earth construction with radiant floor heat, which does not seem to work. Its cold out for sure (Northern MN) temps are around zero so I expect it to be chilly but inside temps never get above 54 ( I am using some supplemental gas fireplaces to stay warm). There are 2 systems one is controlled by a Penn electric wall thermostate which has been bumped up to high for 48 hours or more, the other is a Smith-Gates which is now set at 75, again with no noticeable results. I checked the breaker box, nothing tripped. Also, we are on a ripple or off grid system here around Bemidji, which allows at times the power to be reduced to certain home systems during peak usage hours. But it should be on during off hours.

I am at a loss to where or how I can trouble shoot the system.

Any thoughts/suggestions?


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## Basementgeek (Feb 7, 2005)

Hi and welcome to TSF :wave:

Really as a renter you really should be contacting the landlord. It is their responsibility to make sure you have heat.

Check ALL breakers again. Also look for transformer possible on the outside of breaker box. Check for output voltage, it should be something like 12-24VAC.

However if you have a door bell, there could be two transformers.

BG


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## pat mcgroin (May 1, 2009)

I agree.
Call the landlord and have him get someone out there and dont take no for an answer.
It is his legal duty as a landlord.


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## Tumbleweed36 (May 14, 2005)

I agree to call the landlord, it is HIS duty as mentioned to fix that for you and provide adequate heating appliances (radiant heaters) for the size room you are trying to heat. 

What I suspect is that you just don't have large enough heaters to heat that kind of space. What is the size of the area and what is the wattage of those heaters? I have installed many of these and it does take fairly large units to heat a room with those temps.


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