toe kick hot water heater

allen levine

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new york city burbs
Im going to start making new cabs for the opposite walls Im working on, and they have 2 baseboard hot water radiators.
Instead of eliminating the heat completely, I was told I can put toe kick heaters in there, or at least should keep one of them since the water lines are already there.
If anyone has experience with these, is there anything I should know before I go purchase one of them, like brand?, installation?(as far as making the cabinet or toe kick goes, I dont think Ill do the water lines)
can someone steer me someplace that might have some hints on them, or is it pretty straight foward.
New to me, so Im looking for some info on them besides all the sites that sell them.
 
I installed one in my old house back in NY. It was very easy to install. I ran PEX in my old place when I installed the heater it was a simple job. I dont remember which brand it was though.
 
My parents had one installed in their kitchen. The brand name of theirs was Toester. Funny thing is that even though 1/2 the baseboard heat in the kitchen/dining room was removed during the remodel, they added so much insulation and improved windows that we end up opening windows over there when cooking in the winter to cool it off. The Toester is on its own thermostat and virtually never runs unless someone kicks it up so they can stand in front and warm their toes.

They require 120V power in addition to being plumbed. I believe they pretty much have to be on their own loop off the furnace which means plumbing in a(nother) zone controller. There were some requirements for thermostat placement so that the warm breeze doesn't blow on the thermostat and prematurely shut it down.

For the cabinet, I built it with no floor and added cleats so I could install a removable floor that's screwed in place. It happens to be under a cabinet with all drawers so you don't see the floor at all. The toekick just needed a cutout for the supplied plastic grill and its barely noticable.
 
All I can say is my plumber will do everything in his power to steer clear of have them in a system he installs.:thumb:
 
I have no answers for ya Allen. He will put higher out put stuff on other walls to get the BUT's he needs for that room. Or run radiant heat in floor for the room. Only as a last resort will he do a toe kick heater. It's the biggest call back item he has seen in a heating system. I know the last one he put in on one of my projects finally got changed out after several call backs for the fan being to loud, and when the fan was not to loud it just plan didn't work or never stopped working. :doh:
When we did my house I thought I need one in my calculation to get the BUT's for the kitchen and distribute the heat. He came down look at the BTU load for the room took the toe kick out added 1 foot on one wall and 3 feet on another and we where off with out the toe kick heater. Some 200 dollars less and no wiring.:thumb:
 
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My parents had one installed in their kitchen. The brand name of theirs was Toester. Funny thing is that even though 1/2 the baseboard heat in the kitchen/dining room was removed during the remodel, they added so much insulation and improved windows that we end up opening windows over there when cooking in the winter to cool it off. The Toester is on its own thermostat and virtually never runs unless someone kicks it up so they can stand in front and warm their toes.

They require 120V power in addition to being plumbed. I believe they pretty much have to be on their own loop off the furnace which means plumbing in a(nother) zone controller. There were some requirements for thermostat placement so that the warm breeze doesn't blow on the thermostat and prematurely shut it down.

For the cabinet, I built it with no floor and added cleats so I could install a removable floor that's screwed in place. It happens to be under a cabinet with all drawers so you don't see the floor at all. The toekick just needed a cutout for the supplied plastic grill and its barely noticable.

the baseboard lines are there, and there is an outlet that can supply the electricity, so I dont think its much work to change out the water lines and tap off the outlet.
really dont think we have much of a choice.
If it needs another seperate loop, well, that could involve time consuming work I believe, then we might have to skip it. Not looking to add on a big expense.
the igniter was not working decent on my burner yesterday, so my plumber told me about the toekick heater, said they run around 200 bucks and its not a big deal to install, so Im hoping that doesnt mean other loops or lines.
 
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Most of them I have seen are just in the loop and work the same way a modine heater works. When the pipe gets hot the fan turns on. when it cools off the fan shuts off.
 
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