Alternatives to hot water baseboards?

[Ecosta777]

We just remodeled our kitchen, tore down the old sunroom that was attached to the kitchen, and framed that area out to add to the kitchen sq footage. The sunroom was on a concrete pad, and we had to put joists on top and fill the spaces with rigid insulation, so no plumbing is in there, or can go in there. There are really only a couple of places to install heat / baseboards. The first one (in blue) Is what I know I will be doing, a toe kick pointed towards the door and window since there is now way to put baseboards under the window.

In green / grey is what I'm debating on to cover the rest of the area. So the drawing is cut off slightly at the bottom. But along the bottom is basically an "access hallway" the entry door is on the left bottom corner, walk straight though (to the right on the drawing) and that leads to the bedrooms, the other way (down in the drawing) leads to the living room.

The easiest option would be to put a baseboard along that wall in the "hallway" But im worried it will be in the way when we walk along it. That wall has the chimney in it, so it's very deep. Which allows me to do my second option, put two toe kicks in the wall so they vents are flush and not in the way of walking. My biggest concern with this, is is it ok to do that? I wouldn't have access to them once they're sealed up, and access from the basement may be hard since the support beam is right there.

Third option, would be just put two more toe kicks in the other cabinets. Or a baseboard behind the island, only problem with that is that there's a bar overhang there, and we will have stools. I think it would be in the way, and people would put their feet on it and it would get damaged. Plus it would detract from the look of the island

Are there any other alternatives I'm not seeing? any other heating options out there? Does anyone have personal experience with toe kick heaters? My biggest concern is that they will be noisey.

I don't have to many good photos of the area. You can see the "hallway" in a couple, the two different areas that lead to the rest of the house, as well as the chimney in the wall

Thanks
Erci

 

[firedudetl1]

easy answer might have been electric grid floor heating before installing the finish floor - especially since you insulated the area beneath it.
you may find you don't need too much heat in there depending on how much "waste" heat is generated by the appliances - area looks pretty well insulated
you could run some pex behind/under the cabinets to the window for baseboard and have the return and the supply run "on top" of each other in that void space under the cabinet or sacrifice some space in the back of the cabinet and run the pex in there -insulate the pex in the space and the heat goes to the baseboard
other thought is mini split ac/heat unit
just some thought
good luck

 

[HoosierBuddy]

I've used the toekick hydronic heaters to supplement my sunroom dining area off our kitchen for years. It works well. I used the Beacon Morris brand. They include an automatic fan (2 speed). The only thing I don't like about it is they are a bit loud. You would have to look at the space you have and do the math on how much heat you could actually get out of them...as I recall there is a chart based on water temperature.

I would partially agree with firedude and partially disagree. I would not use any sort of resistance electric heat period end of story. It is simply way way way to expensive to operate. However...the nicer mini splits are pretty awesome if you want to go with an electric solution. Not only would it give you heat and ac...the energy usage would be a fraction of a resistance based solution.

Honestly...I don't know why resistance heat is even legal anymore. If we won't allow enough water in my toilet to flush it properly or a shower head that will get my hair wet....how on earth do they allow resistance electric heat in 2020?

(Ducking and Covering here before the Libertarians put me in my place!)

Phil

 

[tfinniii]

Radiant baseboards are thin.

 

[Jackfre]

You might be able to put a panel rad on the end of the cabinet where you show your kick space her. Runtal is one manuf of them.

 

[u2slow]

My buddy installed pex tubing loops under the floor between the joists. Then runs a single boiler that heats his pool, house, and DHW tank. Says its slick. He has natural gas obviously.

 

[chinboys]

I have a similar situation as you do as I have a split level house where I removed the force hot and cold HVAC system and ran PEX to the upstairs bedroom and Runtal radiators to the den and lower rooms where I have a slab.
I have a high efficiency condensing modulating DHW and boiler.

So here is my advice... radiators like really hot water hence the rooms or volume heats up faster than PEX to heat transfer plates.
But radiators can cost a lot of money plus their fittings relative to PEX and metal transfer plates.
And I added a mixing unit to split the hot water to the radiators at 130-160F to cooler water to the PEX heating loops at 110-115F.

If I had to it all over again... Radiators (Slant brand - copper ) all over the place. I have begun to see a pin size leak at one of the steel radiators... didn't use the right PEX tubing and now need to chemically treat the heating water due to O2 being dissolved in it.

Another thing.. is to run PEX and transfer plates on the sidewalls of the room if you have the wall surface area.

My kitchen faces north with skylights, patio doors, and big picture windows. I have two toe kick heaters and supplement them with 20 feet of baseboard radiators.

BTW, Runtal makes vertical radiators too.