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Toe kick heater?

13 years ago

Our demo started this week and we are down to purchasing the last few items. We are still researching toe kick heaters and wanted to get some advice from the board. Do you have one? What brand, and are you happy with the one you chose?

Featured Answer

jejvtr

13 years ago

pt
the most important consideration in getting replacement heat source to the area is a proper calculation of what is required. Many considerations taken into account to do this properly. Unfortunately, many just take a best guess estimate with this calculation.

Is the toe kick tying into the existing heat system or a stand alone electric type?

Here is a link that might be useful: heat loss calculation

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Comments (9)

cat_mom
13 years ago
Turbonics. VERY happy with ours. Learned about it (and GW forums!) right here in Kitchen forum. Our plumber, who'd tried to dissuade us from getting them ("they're noisy" "you'll hate it" etc...) was impressed with these when he installed them. We have the Kickster (+3 or +4)--we had two installed; one on either side of our island.

If you call the company directly, they will help figure out which model you need (we wanted to end up with same BTU's we were going to lose by moving things around and taking down a wall in the kitchen).

They are quiet (you hear the air noise, but no "squirrel cage" squealing which apparently is common with most kick heaters) and can be hooked up to a switch or not.

Here is a link that might be useful: Turbonics
ptyles
Original Author
13 years ago
Thank you Cat_Mom, do you know where you purchased yours? Btw, I've admired your kitchen many times and have shown it to my dh for inspiration. I believe we live near each other in NY.
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I'm ignorant about this, so probably asked the question incorrectly. Second try--We have a toe kick heater in the kitchen. The cabinets go all the way to the floor and there is a toe kick. The face of toe kick was cut out for the heater, so now we see the grill. That's my total experience with toe kick heaters. In choosing a bathroom vanity, do we need one that goes all the way to the floor so that we'll do the same thing as in the kitchen, or is it possible to use a toe kick heater with a cabinet that has feet--with a space between the floor and the underside of the cabinet?
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Yes, Inspectapedia acknowledges that the minimum clearances varies by mfg. (Inspectapedia is geared as a resource for home inspectors and the 12" clearance is a guideline. If an inspector sees a heater installed with less clearance, then a flag goes up until it is confirmed that the mfg's specs allow less than 12"...) I don't want to belabor the subject but I'm not sure you understand that you have baseboard heaters buried in a wall. I'm not talking about the wall behind the bookcases but the effective new wall that the bookcases have made. The heaters are now recessed & in the installation notes, King says "DO NOT Recess Heater." Figure 2 at the link: https://king-electric.com/wp-content/uploads/kel_product_files/K-CB_INSTALL.pdf So, you would (maybe) be OK if the heaters were mounted to the front of bookcases. (Double check if it OK for them to be mounted directly to wood.) And they wouldn't look too, too bad if painted a color to match the color of the bookcases. That may end up being your best option because toe kick heaters are usually intended to be supplemental heat sources, not a main heat source. You may need to install more than one & that will compound the noise level. I hope I'm not coming across as argumentative. I am is concerned because you have a dangerous installation that could have drastic consequences.
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cat_mom
13 years ago
Thank you for the compliment! I'm glad you like our kitchen! :-)

We bought the Kicksters in Congers at AF Rockland Supply on Rte 9W. When we purchased them (late '06 or early '07), they were supposedly the largest distributor in our area.

Where are you located? I think I remember that you live nearby....
ptyles
Original Author
13 years ago
Thanks for the info. My DH will try and head over there this week. We are in New City.
cat_mom
13 years ago
You're welcome. We're near Suffern. Was in New City yesterday (in the rain, ugh!).
daisychain01
13 years ago
We have a toe kick heater, not sure what brand, but we love it. We have an period house with rad heating and it is wonderful to be able to turn on heat in one room and get instant warmth.

There was a lot of discussion of toekick heaters on this forum a few years ago. If I recall correctly, the concern was heaters connected to the hot water heating systems. I think the problem was with them not putting out heat properly, but can't remember exact issue. Ours is electric.
sue36
13 years ago
What type of heating system do you have?
kaseki
13 years ago
I have two Turbonics 6/8 Toesters in my kitchen tied to my hydronic heating system. They are sufficient to heat the entire kitchen and former LR space, albeit slowly if one demands a large change in temperature. I know this because pending the last coat of floor finish, the LR is still missing its baseboard heaters.

This heating performance is in spite of the Toesters being operated at lower than low speed. Fan speed is deliberately turned down because I found that the fans would start "breathing" when the access panels in the floors of the cabinets were closed. (Turned down means using a motor controller in series with them and wiring them for low speed.) Although the 4-inch kick space meets the requirements of the heaters' drawings, I suspect that there is too much restriction above the fan for the fan to operate stably. I didn't care for the sound, even though it was subtle. Smaller units may not have this issue with this height.

kas

A motor controller or fan controller is like a lamp-dimming wall switch, except a CW action lowers the fan power rather than increasing it as in a lamp dimmer. They are also tolerant of inductive loads. Most electrical distributors should carry them.

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