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Advice for addition built on slab

stillmand
stillmand Member Posts: 2
edited February 2023 in Radiant Heating
We bumped our kitchen out by 10 feet. The addition, which measures about 10 x 15 feet, is built on a concrete slab. The contractor did not plan for air circulation, there are no vents in or pointing into the addition area. It is noticeably a few degrees colder in the kitchen.

The addition opens into the main living area (with a basement underneath, not slab) as par of one large “great room”. The temperature at kitchen countertop level (68F) is only a few degrees colder than the main living area (71F) while the temperature at kitchen floor level is about 5 degrees colder (66F). You can feel the difference as you step from the living area that is built over the basement to the kitchen that is built on the slab.

It is clearly too late to add under floor heating without ripping up the floor.

My thought was that a cost effective solution might be to install a small (like 24x24) flat panel radiant heater on the kitchen ceiling, or I guess what they call a “cove” radiant heater on the upper wall of the kitchen near the ceiling. Seems like this could do the trick given we only need to bump the kitchen floor/air temperature up by 3-5 degrees.

But I am not an expert and would be grateful for others who could confirm this would work or if you have other ideas to consider.

Comments

  • EBEBRATT-Ed
    EBEBRATT-Ed Member Posts: 15,452
    What kind of heat do you have in the main house warm air? If so that won't work and your radiant suggestion is probably the way to go or electric baseboard or electric fan coil unit.
  • stillmand
    stillmand Member Posts: 2
    Thanks much @EBEBRATT-Ed for the reply. Forced air through rest of the house. We did install an electric toe kick under a kitchen cabinet, but want a quieter solution long term. And also the warming effect is basically gone right when it cycles off because the flood cools off immediately.

    Is electric baseboard any quieter than an electric toe kick? (or basically the same thing?). Also, can we easily do electric baseboard if there are already cabinets installed around the outside of the whole kitchen?