Anyone here ever make baseboard heat covers

[Jay Jolliffe]

I have to make covers for a lot of base board heaters. Not electric ones. Do you keep the frame that holds up the fined sections or just the brackets. Do I need an opening at the bottom ?....The way I think they work is they draw the cold air off the floor & it exits at the top.....could be wrong. So if anyone has made any & want's to share how they made them it would be greatly appreciated....

[scott vroom]

Jay, are you referring to forced air registers and returns? A pic of your work site would be helpful.

[Jay Jolliffe]

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-IPCGtvPlW0U/UuTRr-rnX4I/AAAAAAAAAYk/5Jbl4MrrIh0/s1600/WP_20140126_001.jpg (http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-IPCGtvPlW0U/UuTRr-rnX4I/AAAAAAAAAYk/5Jbl4MrrIh0/s1600/WP_20140126_001.jpg)This is what they look like...these are not them just a pic I found

[scott vroom]

Ahhh...a hydronic fin tube radiator. I've never built wood covers for them but I snagged a few pics from the web (google wood cover for hydronic fin tube baseboard heater). They are convective heaters in which cooler air is drawn in from the bottom and exits as warmer air after passing over the heated fins. They are also radiant heaters to the extent the cover is heated by the fins and radiates into the room. Replacing metal covers with wood won't affect the convection but will slow the time it takes for the wood to heat up and radiate. I had metal fin tube heaters many years ago and the covers got dinged and corroded to the point where i ripped it all out and replaced with Runtal wall rads.

[Jay Jolliffe]

I saw them at Google also Scott. What I'm wondering if I just build them over the existing metal cover that they already have ?

[scott vroom]

I saw them at Google also Scott. What I'm wondering if I just build them over the existing metal cover that they already have ?

Jay, I'd rip out everything except the fin tube and design the covers to sit on the floor with internal brackets holding them to the wall.

[Peter Aeschliman]

I agree with Scott, with the caveat that you should to keep the curved metal piece that goes over the top of the fins to direct the heat out to the top/front of the unit. This way the heated air is directed out the front of the unit more efficiently and you reduce the heat on your wood top (which might affect the finish).

And you correct- you need to keep the bottom open so that colder air is naturally drawn in the bottom as the heated air exits.

[Lee Schierer]

You might want to do a search here at SMC, there was a thread just a month or so ago where Jim Becker told about making his baseboard register covers. Find his name and look for recent posts.

[rudy de haas]

Hi:

You may want to review some earlier threads on this.. e.g.
http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?76349-Can-I-make-baseboard-heat-covers-from-wood

Plus - I'm making nearly 200 feet of them and got a lot of help in this thread:
http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?226834-Help!-Somebody-tell-me-how-to-make-these-support-pieces

In the end, I bought a small band saw..

[Harry Niemann]

I covered mine with contact paper 15 years ago, and they still look good.