Steam heat in toe kick of kitchen cabinets?

[Steamheatdilema]

Our house has a one pipe steam heat system. We have renovated our kitchen and no longer have wall space for the base board radiator. Our contractor relocated the steam heat base board radiator in the toe kick area of our cabinets. However, the cabinets are getting extremely hot. We believe the heat will eventually damage the cabinets. Another contractor suggested incorporating a small fan to circulate the air to prevent the cabinets from getting hot. Then he will box out the base board radiator with trim which will include louvres to allow the hot air to escape. Has anyone ever done this? Do you think this will work? If you have any other ideas to heat the kitchen with steam heat, we welcome suggestions.

 

[Terry]

I lost the picture on my edit. Can you reload the picture?

 

[Sponsor]

 

[Steamheatdilema]

I lost the picture on my edit. Can you reload the picture?

Thank you. I reloaded it.

 

[John Gayewski]

The tie kick doesn't have a fan incorporated into it already?

 

[Steamheatdilema]

The tie kick doesn't have a fan incorporated into it already?

Correct. A different contractor suggested incorporating an a 4" exhaust fan to pull air and then box in the steam pipe with molding. The "box" will container louvers to allow the heat to escape and be decorative. We would love to know if anyone thinks this will work. Our goal is to try to avoid an electric toe kick heater.

 

[Fitter30]

Radiate heated wood floor 80° is max temperature. Just comparing wood floor to the cabinet.

What Wood Floor Pros Need to Know About In-Floor Heat

Facts to know when installing wood floors over radiant heat.

www.woodfloorbusiness.com

Fin tube mounted under toe kick isn't going to work properly they need a air gap of several inches above and below for the convection to work. Even with a fan I'd be worried about drying out the wood cabinets. Looks like 1" 2.5/x2.5" fin tube 1157 btu per ft @1 lb steam.

 

[Steamheatdilema]

Radiate heated wood floor 80° is max temperature. Just comparing wood floor to the cabinet.

What Wood Floor Pros Need to Know About In-Floor Heat

Facts to know when installing wood floors over radiant heat.

www.woodfloorbusiness.com

Fin tube mounted under toe kick isn't going to work properly they need a air gap of several inches above and below for the convection to work. Even with a fan I'd be worried about drying out the wood cabinets. Looks like 1" 2.5/x2.5" fin tube 1157 btu per ft @1 lb steam.

Thank you! What you are saying makes a lot of sense to me. Do you think the steam baseboard heat would work under an island? The height of the island will be at least 34” high. Or should I simply just invest in electric toe kick heaters?

 

[Steamheatdilema]

Thank you! What you are saying makes a lot of sense to me. Do you think the steam baseboard heat would work under an island? The height of the island will be at least 34” high. Or should I simply just invest in electric toe kick heaters?

Another alternative someone suggested is remove the fins from the steam pipe? However, I imagine the pipe will still be hot enough to damage the cabinets over time and may not give off enough heat to properly heat the kitchen.

 

[John Gayewski]

When I think of a toe kick heater I think of a standard designed toe kick space heater which is designed with a fan to blow the heat away. They are great and work great. I'm not really sure how they plan on adding a fan, but it should be fine with one, as long as they can move enough air and set up a control that functions with the heat, which I don't see being practical. What fan will they get that is as long as that pipe? I see they added a "heat shield" which should help, but unless they have some kind of engineered assembly I don't see that being a very good plan.

 

[Fitter30]

Another alternative someone suggested is remove the fins from the steam pipe? However, I imagine the pipe will still be hot enough to damage the cabinets over time and may not give off enough heat to properly heat the kitchen.

Another problem with the baseboard u have 215° f tube toe kick heaters are flush with the toe kick board. Yours is just waiting to be kicked and burn a naked foot. Bare tubing doesn't really put out a lot of btu's compared to properly installed f tube.

 

[Fitter30]

Don't know if Warmly Yours has a heating cable for under floor for radiate . Installed in basement.
+18008755285

 

[Steamheatdilema]

When I think of a toe kick heater I think of a standard designed toe kick space heater which is designed with a fan to blow the heat away. They are great and work great. I'm not really sure how they plan on adding a fan, but it should be fine with one, as long as they can move enough air and set up a control that functions with the heat, which I don't see being practical. What fan will they get that is as long as that pipe? I see they added a "heat shield" which should help, but unless they have some kind of engineered assembly I don't see that being a very good plan.

Thank you very much for you input! Sound like the best thing to do is removed this heating source, repair the floor and cabinet, then just use an electric toe kick heater as the heat source.

 

[John Gayewski]

Thank you very much for you input! Sound like the best thing to do is removed this heating source, repair the floor and cabinet, then just use an electric toe kick heater as the heat source.

Or move it to a different wall.

 

[oniso]

Our house has a one pipe steam heat system. We have renovated our kitchen and no longer have wall space for the base board radiator. Our contractor relocated the steam heat base board radiator in the toe kick area of our cabinets. However, the cabinets are getting extremely hot. We believe the heat will eventually damage the cabinets. Another contractor suggested incorporating a small fan to circulate the air to prevent the cabinets from getting hot. Then he will box out the base board radiator with trim which will include louvres to allow the hot air to escape. Has anyone ever done this? Do you think this will work? If you have any other ideas to heat the kitchen with steam heat, we welcome suggestions. What Color Kitchen Cabinets Are Timeless?

View attachment 87317

 

[Fitter30]

Wood floor manufacturers for radiate heat max temp they want 85°f. The other problem a minimum pitch back to the supply is 1/2" per 10'.