Heating a kitchen without wallspace (for rad)

jmBuildExt

I've presses on the 3 walls of my (proposed) kitchen (it opens out into an open plan area that will be heated separately)
So I've no wall to put a rad on.
Floor is suspended timber not insulated, it will be tiled over as part of the refurb.

The current planned solution is to use discreteheat skirting rads in the kickboards, but they seem very pricey and the way my kitchen is designed there would be 3 separate runs of it so a bit of messing about with bridging them etc - bit more labour for the plumber.

Any other solutions out there I haven't thought of? - underfloor obviously springs to mind, but I think alot of heat would be lost through the floor.

Dardania

radiant ceiling panels? could look quite industrial...but could be acceptable depending on the finish chosen:

http://merriottuk.com/product/radiant-panel/

Just remember to have a TRV control valve at low level (e.g. waist height) so you could accurately control the room temp, rather than the temp up in the ceiling

K.Flyer

Kicker board convectors

http://www.myson.co.uk/products/kickspace_hydronic.htm#tab-2

fully floating

You don't mention if there is an island unit in the kitchen but I have in the past installed a radiator on them

antoinolachtnai

You can put electric underfloor, but it can be hard to control. In a kitchen, you sort of need heat when you need it.

You can use one of these things. http://www.handyhardware.ie/product/43653/Dimplex-Kick-Board-Base-Unit-Heater-2kW?gclid=Cj0KCQjwub7NBRDJARIsAP7wlT-FTdQkHvSLwiuHwllp6r9LyWpZNKrvR2ywZLzl74ozOxPwzIbjX4IaAmg5EALw_wcB

These are cheap and easy to wire, give instant heat. You switch it on and off with a remote control. It is electric so not desperately economic. But if it's just to take the chill off the kitchen on a cold day, it's fine.

This is a version that connects to your central heating plumbing. More economic. It's basically a radiator with a fan. This one also has electric I think.

https://www.plumbnation.co.uk/site/smith-s-space-saver-ss5-dual-fan-convector---kitchen-plinth-heater/

skirting rads is not a good solution at all. You will end up with presses that have food in them getting a lot of heat and you may make the space under units less accessible for maintenance, etc.

SeanHarty

Underfloor heating may be your best option, but could be expensive depending on the system used (if there is very little space or timer joists down then you would need a system called heatrack (supplied by Heatmerchants) or something similar, comes with a foil back so it send the heat back up reducing losses to the floor.

youd be surprised about how much heat is actually lost through the floor.

http://www.schoolphysics.co.uk/age11-14/glance/Heat%20energy/Heat_loss_from_a_house/images/1.gif

jmBuildExt

Cheers for all the replies....

First time ive ever seen ceiling panel heaters - it doesnt seem right - Would be to complicated for us with extractor fan and un insulated rooms above.

I was aware of the fan heaters but I didn't like the idea of the potential noise and then dust it might move about.

Our plumber was saying to install underfloor panels, and not worry about insulating underneath...but this didnt sit well with me either - if we were going to do underfloor properly it would have worked out too expensive.

We have an island, and its 1200 wide with a hob on the kitchen side. Seats on the other side. The only realistic place to put the rad would be on the wrong side of the island (facing back out into the already heated openplan space)


We have decided to lose one 600mm kitchen unit on one side and install a vertical rad - (we need about 3000 BTUs) - the missus thought of it - I was taking out 3 or 4 units and putting in a normal rad!!

Thanks again.

antoinolachtnai

Glad you found a solution. Think about whether you really do need 3000 BTUs of radiator though. The kitchen is different from every other room in the house in that it generates its own heat as you cook and even as appliances operate. Even a single plate on the hob is a few thousand BTU. For the most part, the challenge in a kitchen is cooling it and ventilating it, not heating it.

jmBuildExt

antoinolachtnai wrote: »

Glad you found a solution. Think about whether you really do need 3000 BTUs of radiator though. The kitchen is different from every other room in the house in that it generates its own heat as you cook and even as appliances operate. Even a single plate on the hob is a few thousand BTU. For the most part, the challenge in a kitchen is cooling it and ventilating it, not heating it.

I used this to calculate... but surely i can just turn it down if its over kill.
http://www.bestheating.ie/btu-calculator
Ventialtion is taken care of.

antoinolachtnai

You can of course just turn it down. But if you could use the space for storage or something else, I would consider doing that.

The calculation you refer to (it is only very approximate) estimates the total heat requirement. But if you are cooking in the kitchen, you will be generating plenty heat anyway. An oven or a hob will generate a lot more than 3000 BTU.

The suspended timber floor will 'feel' warm enough even though it is not insulated (kitchens with badly insulated concrete floors are the ones that feel really cold when you walk into 'em on a winter's morning).

I don't think you have much to worry about, even if you don't put any radiators in the kitchen end whatsoever.

Ask the plumber what he thinks. He may be able to do some calculations for you, and even if not, he should have a 'feel' for the amount of heat a room might need.

jmBuildExt

antoinolachtnai wrote: »

You can of course just turn it down. But if you could use the space for storage or something else, I would consider doing that.

The calculation you refer to (it is only very approximate) estimates the total heat requirement. But if you are cooking in the kitchen, you will be generating plenty heat anyway. An oven or a hob will generate a lot more than 3000 BTU.

The suspended timber floor will 'feel' warm enough even though it is not insulated (kitchens with badly insulated concrete floors are the ones that feel really cold when you walk into 'em on a winter's morning).

I don't think you have much to worry about, even if you don't put any radiators in the kitchen end whatsoever.

Ask the plumber what he thinks. He may be able to do some calculations for you, and even if not, he should have a 'feel' for the amount of heat a room might need.

Cheers for that.
The calculator takes into account the room type. Id rather have it in there from the start and not use it, than go without and try to fudge something in later.
We have plenty of storage space too ...there's a utility room just off the kitchen, and about 12 or 13m of presses in the kitchen itself between high and low, then the island as well.
Vertical rad is simplest solution... we are actually happy with it, we don't see it as a compromise at all.