Where do you typically see receptacles installed with near-continuous low panel radiator?

rossn · July 14

[reposted, as my original post was in the wrong forum and I removed it]

I have an area where some Myson RCV linear panel radiators are being installed in a near-continuous layout. The existing receptacle boxes would be 1/2" below the top of the 8" radiators, if they are mounted at the mfg recommended 4"+ above finished floor. That feels too close to me (electrically), and not the best idea, so I am considering abandoning those.

Where have you seen the receptacles placed in these types of situations?

mattmia2 · July 14

i would like to se you put some dummy panels in and put the receptacles above those. above the active sections having the cord dangling on the hot element won't be a great idea for several reasons.

bburd · July 14

Receptacle locations are generally prescribed by electrical codes. It may be against code to simply remove them without providing a compliant alternative.

rossn · July 14

@mattmia2 - that's a good idea. I don't think for these Myson RCVs they have anything like a dummy panel, similar to what you might find with baseboard. I think the longest one is 8', and I may be able to place outlets between, but I don't think the location of the outlets will be ideal.

@bburd - to clarify, I'm trying to determine where to put receptacles… this will be done under permit and inspected.

I'm starting to think floor receps about 6" out from the wall are better, just was trying to avoid that because it is a garage beneath and sometimes I do noisy work in there.

mattmia2 · July 14

i would put the receptacles above the line of panels. i know runtal has dummy sections, not sure about the more generic european panel radiators.

floor receptacles require a listed assembly for floor installation to take the weight and moisture and i'm not sure if they technically directly take the place of the required wall receptacles. if there is a garage underneath you need to know if the flooring system is part of the fire rated assembly. if it is you need to replace that hole you cut out of the floor by boxing in the floor box or something like that.

EBEBRATT-Ed · 12:57AM

Receptacles cannot be installed above ELECTRIC baseboard although I am sitting in my electric heat condo and they installed many receptacles above the electric baseboard when it was built in the 80s. The requirement not to install receptacles above electric baseboard is very old. You can put receptacles IN an electric baseboard with the approved accessories.

As far as steam or HW baseboard or radiators AFAIK there is no code requirement prohibiting that.

Weather it is a good idea or not requires common sense and the NEC does not recognize commonsense.

I had receptacle directly above hot water baseboard in my old house and never had an issue and the house is still standing at 71 years old.

109A_5 · 1:07AM

Talk with the inspector, they may have some suggestions, and they are the ones you ultimately have to make happy anyways.

mattmia2 · 1:49AM

https://forum.heatinghelp.com/discussion/comment/1900045#Comment_1900045

i thought there was some prohibition but I couldn't find it in the receptacle part of the electrical code. I did not look at the part about electrical heaters or the mechanical code.

hot_rod · 1:50AM

https://forum.heatinghelp.com/discussion/comment/1900045#Comment_1900045

I think most homes with fin tube baseboard have receptacles above them.

What temperatute are those Myson running? probably not hot enough to melt lamp cord or start the drapes on fire.

mattmia2 · 2:01AM

ok, i was avoiding this but i guess i can't. the ambient derates the ampacity of the cord and the plug for that matter. it also makes the materials decompose faster but that part isn't covered in the code. it usually doesn't cause a problem because most modern cables use conductors that could be rated at 75 c or 90 c but usually must be applied as 60 c in low power applications.

EBEBRATT-Ed · 3:19AM

I have never heard of a lamp cord melting from receptacles over a HW baseboard. I have never seen electric baseboard melt one either. I am aways conscious of where our lamp cords are in this illegally wired condo, so I check them in the winter

If it was an issue the NEC because they are so smart would have written 4 new chapter about it by now. If it was new construction, maybe I would try to limit the # of receptacles over the baseboard, but you can't eliminate them, but they could be raised up probably.

Funny story about this town.

They had an electrical inspector here that was the inspector for like forever. He was also a contractor in the same town.

When that happens, you are supposed to bring in another inspector from a neighboring city or town to inspect. He didn't

The job was multiple buildings with oil heat so he decided to not install the required oil burner EMERGENCY switches to save on wire and labor.

But in MA. the fire dept inspects the oil burners and he got caught with no switches. That only bothered him a little bit so he cut boxes into the wall with a switch and a cover plate and no wire.

Where do you typically see receptacles installed with near-continuous low panel radiator?

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