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Free area for custom toe-kick vents (supply)

Brad Burch| Posted inEnergy Efficiency and Durabilityon

I’d like to do integrated vents in my toe-kicks and am trying to determine how much free area I need to allow for.

I have (3) supplies (120 CFM, cooling only) and am planning on routing 1/4 to 1/2″ horizontal slots in the kick material.

Cabinets are either 24″ or 36″ wide so I have some width to work with.

Thanks for any input/advice.

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Replies

  1. GBA Editor
    Martin Holladay||#1

    Brad,
    I'm not in favor of the approach you are suggesting. It sounds like you intend to pressurize the air space under your base cabinets, and provide slots in the toe-kick to let the warm air into the kitchen.

    There are several problems with this approach, including:

    1. When you pressurize the space under the cabinets, you may be sending warm air into your walls. The only way to prevent this is to do a meticulous job of air sealing before the cabinets are installed -- and you may have to depend on other trades to do this work.

    2. When the furnace is running for extended periods of time, you'll be heating up the bottom shelf of your cabinets. I hope the homeowners don't store chocolates in their base cabinets.

    All of that said, the area of your slot, at a bare minimum, would need to at least equal the cross-section of the ducts that are used to pressurize the space. For example, a 6 inch round duct has a cross section pi * 3 * 3 = 28 square inches. A 1/4-inch-wide slot would need to be 112 inches long to equal 28 square inches -- but if the slot is a little less than 1/4 inch, that would throw off the math.

    1. Brad Burch||#2

      Thanks Martin, all good points.

      I should clarify, this is new construction so air sealing the kick boxes can be controlled and would be a priority.

      We'll have in-floor radiant heat, so the kick supply will be cooling only. Considering my sweet tooth, I appreciate you're looking out for the chocolate...

      I'm configuring some slot configurations and the calcs. you've provided are helpful.

      Thanks again.

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