Can You Install Electric Baseboard or Wall Heaters Under Title 24?
Rarely as the main heat. In a new home, Table 150.1-A marks electric resistance space heating as not allowed in all 16 climate zones. In an existing home, Section 150.2(b)1G bars electric resistance as the primary heat source of an altered or replacement heating system, with three exceptions that all need the existing heat to be electric resistance already. A heat pump is the electric alternative.
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New homes and additions
The prescriptive package calls for a heat pump, so resistance heat as the main system has to pass through the performance approach and be offset elsewhere. A small supplemental heater is allowed in a space already served by the primary system: up to 2 kW or 7,000 Btu/h, on a time-limiting control of 30 minutes or less. The compliance manual’s example of a baseboard heater in a new bedroom, used instead of extending the furnace ducts, says this works only by performance compliance.
Replacing heat you already have
- Baseboard for baseboard. Non-ducted electric resistance may replace non-ducted electric resistance.
- Electric furnace for electric furnace, only if ducted cooling is not being replaced or installed as well.
- Zones 7 and 15. Electric resistance may replace electric resistance.
- Gas to electric resistance. Not allowed. The manual’s Example 9-42 says a gas wall furnace cannot become an electric wall heater, and the only electric option is a heat pump.
Replacing an electric furnace while adding central air makes the point: in zones 1 to 6, 8 to 14 and 16 the new heating must be a heat pump or gas or propane, while zones 7 and 15 may keep resistance (Example 9-45). A gas wall heater replaced by another gas unit is not touched by this rule.
What the code leaves out
The Standards do not define “primary”, so whether a bathroom or garage-conversion heater counts as the primary source is a question for the building department. Non-central electric heaters are excepted from the setback thermostat rule in Section 110.2(c), and the compliance manual says there is no minimum appliance efficiency for electric-resistance heating.
Related pages
See heat pump requirements, adding central air, room additions, all-electric new homes and HVAC replacement. Zones are on the climate zone lookup.
Common Title 24 Questions
- When is Title 24 required for a home?
- Does a remodel need Title 24?
- Does a room addition need Title 24?
- What plans are needed for a residential Title 24 report?
- How much does a residential Title 24 report cost?
- How long does a residential Title 24 report take?
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes. Exception 1 to Section 150.2(b)1G allows non-ducted electric resistance heating where the existing space heating is electric resistance.
Not prescriptively. The compliance manual says it works only through performance compliance, offset by other efficiency features in the addition.
No, not under Section 150.2(b)1G. The only electric replacement for gas heat is a heat pump.
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