We are making a few changes in our kitchen and we would like to eliminate the HVAC register in the floor. I want to put in one or two toe kick registers and I have a good opportunity to put one in the oven cabinet as we currently have it removed for floor finishing.
So can anyone give me some pointers on installing a toe kick register? Do I need an extra high box underneath the cabinet or anything? Are there stock metal goods for this, or do I need to have ones made?
Thanks!
Replies
All thats really needed is a hole in the toe kick and a register. I usually add a couple of 1"x?" mostly for nailers at the cutout but they also keep the air going out the right hole.
Just did 3 of these. Since it is below an oven cabinet, install the duct, toekick and vent prior to re-installing the cabinet. This way you will be able to easily do the duct installation and adjustments. You can even make a custon grill in the toekick. You will need this kind of access to insure the duct is located properly and is attatched to the toekick to create a good seal. Otherwise you may be blowing air into the toekick space.
When re-installing the cabinet, just break off the existing toekick. You will have to coordinate vertical supports/ sides. Is the cab a slide in or can it be lifted over the toekick to install? I guess this is determined by the countertop/ cooktop above if there is any.
Your biggest hurdles will be: a) having the joist bays align with where you wnt the toekick register (ha!) and b) having to work in two areas - the Kitchen and the space below the Kitchen at the same time. I helper comes in very handy here.
Frankie
Exasperate your vegetables until exhausted; disturb your chestnuts in milk until queasy, then disappoint.
Arabella Weir as Minty Marchmont - Posh Nosh
These are cheap cabinets. The toekick for this cabinet seems to be a separate box, which pretty much fell apart when we picked it up. So I figure I'm going to build a new box anyway, and then (maybe) use the old stuff as a laminate. This is a 96" wall oven cabinet, not a range. Two shallow drawers in the bottom, a combination oven and microwave unit, plus two doors for storage above.Fortunately, I'm not moving the vent far, about 4 ft is all.This is an old house. The concept of balancing the flow, etc is pretty much laughable. The register in the entry way of the back door is actual just a grill. On both sides, so as to warm the entry and the bathroom. This is an addition. To keep the pipes from freezing, the duct is dumped into the space underneath the addition, and there is a slot up the wall to the grills to supply heat. Actually works amazingly well.Are toekick registers a standard item? What about the sheet metal duct for the feed? Do they make a standard 'el' to connect to the register? I was going to pick up a couple so I know what size box to be working with.
As with any change, pay attention to detail. If you place a major vent under a solid cabinet door you're changing greatly its environment, drying it out. Can be to the point of warping the door.
As long as the heating system is/was balanced, shouldn't be a problem. I once ate some doors after installation when the HO didn't bother to enlighten me that one register was the primary heat source. I hadn't bothered to check the (unbalanced) system.
Cabinet bases are often used as a plenum, without changing the height.
PAHS Designer/Builder- Bury it!
I make a little directional plenum that will fit under the cabinet, and comes out right out at the kick vent...IMO the bottom of a cabinet just seems too big and hard to seal to be really efficent I need a dump truck, baby, to unload my head
It will warm the bottom of the cabinet, so if it's a food storage area a little ridgid foam will moderate the temp rise. Also caulk or foam to keep the warm air going where you want. Sometimes it's easier to simply build a duct before the cabinets are set.
:-)
In many cases you don't need anything. The toe kick often does not come all the way up to the bottom of the cabinet floor, leaving a gap that allows air to circulate. Air dumped into the space below the cabinet will naturally exit through this gap, assuming that other possible exits (pipe penetrations, gaps at back wall, etc) are reasonably well sealed.