kitchen renovation - baseboard heat location

tpagel

Will be renovating a kitchen in a few weeks. Currently, hot water pipe for baseboard heating loop runs in front of the cabinets, in the toe kickspace. Obviously I want move it back out of sight. Is it better to move it back behind the frames of the new cabinets (18" above floor), or back and below the new cabinets (4" above floor)? Does it matter at all?

Jim F

I wonder why they would put them there in the first place. Do you think the were trying to increase the heating surface to supplement the registers in that space? Are the regesters adaquate for that space? It does make sense to move them back out of the way. It seems they wouldbe prone to damage under the kickspace.

tpagel

There is no baseboard in the kitchen at all, just the naked water pipe running in the kickspace. I assume that maybe they were either trying to heat the space with the naked pipe, or it was put in after the cabinets. Either way, it's a terrible condition

AllanJ

If the cabinets are against an exterior wall, then it is slightly more energy efficient to leave the pipe where it is.

In any event, relocating the pipe to be behind the cabinets will result in little or no heat given off into the room (kitchen).

Not that anyone would think about it but if the furnace quit or you lost power in winter, it would be difficult to get at a pipe in back to thaw it out.

Another alternative is to paint the pipe and also the kick space black or brown to make the pipe less conspicuous.

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tpagel

Thanks Allan,

I do intend to install 2 Myson toekick heaters as part of the hydronic loop, so there will be heat in the kitchen area. I am guessing that either place, behind or below, that I put the pipe (which would be foam insulated), I would still need to be cutting into cabinet frames if I ever need to get at them again.

Jim F

I've never heard of Myson. I have a Beacon Morris toe kick heater and I don't reccommend it. It's always been noisy and getting noisier as it ages, triple ball bering or not. The fact that Myson calls theirs a Wispa sounds promising. I wonder if anyone has any experience with the Myson. It may be time for an upgrade.

AllanJ

Do they make a non-electric (convection only) baseboard radiator that fits in the toe kick space, namely takes the place of the naked pipe running the same route?

I was thinking about taking a do it yourself finned baseboard pipe and installing it there and adding a trim strip, but it is too much trouble to cut off the back edges of all the fins to make it fit.

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The disadvantages of crab apple trees. In summer, the apples are too sour to pick and eat. In winter the birds come and leave dropping all over the place.

tpagel

Allan:

http://www.houseneeds.com/Shop/Heati...sontoekick.htm