# Anyone have baseboard heaters?



## JamesMama (Jun 1, 2005)

DH and I are moving next month and the apartment we are getting has baseboard heaters in what will be James' room.

Okay, so what are the rules on those? the room is too small to put his bed in the middle and still have room for his toys. So do we put the bed by a wall? One wall doesn't have a baseboard heater, should the bed go there? What about his toy box and train table and the like? Can those go against the baseboard heaters? The head board we have for his bed, is one of those with built in shelves so it's about 6-9 inches thick, it will more than likely go against one wall? Maybe one with a heater, is that okay?

Does that make any sense?


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## PixelDust (Jun 16, 2005)

I've only had them once; when I first moved to Illinois from Arkansas, my apartment had them, and I didn't know what they were! I put my couch up against one, and it scorched the fabric. I wouldn't put anything up against them; not only could it be a fire hazard, but even something non-flammable would block some of your heat, right?


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## Mama Dragon (Dec 5, 2005)

Don't ever let anything touch a baseboard heater, don't put furniture (even non flamable stuff, as the heater can overheat and cause a fire that way, like in the wall) against it, no curtains, toys, anything.


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## Caden's Mom (Jul 27, 2006)

We have them. Our don't get that hot honestly. Of course are building is about 40 years old so maybe that makes a difference.


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## OakBerry (May 24, 2005)

I have baseboard heaters, very common in this area.
Our couch is up against our baseboard heater in the living room, we've never had a problem, but I leave a space between it and the couch. Putting a large object like a bed or couch in front of one will also block the heat from getting to the rest of the room.

In ds's room, his bed is on the empty (non-baseboard) wall, and his toy shelf and toy box are up against the heaters. I leave a space so they are not touching it directly and always pick up any small toys and such that fall behind. The heaters don't get that hot to the touch, but small toys can get stuck inside and why risk it.

Also, the metal ridges inside and on the underside of the baseboard heaters can be sharp if little hands poke in there. Ds got papercut like cuts from it when he was crawling.


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## momto l&a (Jul 31, 2002)

The first house dh and I bought had them. The kids of the previous occupants had put gum wrappers and all sorts of toys in them. Its amazing the house didn't burn down







:

We tore them out.


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## HoosierDiaperinMama (Sep 23, 2003)

We burn corn now, but we built our house to be total electric so we have baseboard heaters. Make sure all electrical cords are totally out of the way of them. Even though we don't use them anymore I still instinctively check each night that no electrical cords or toys or anything like that is hanging around the heaters.

I will echo what other posters have said, in that, none of your DS's furniture should be against the heaters or any of your household furniture. And, you should make sure all your heaters are turned on about the same temp. and that any that aren't on are in a room w/the door closed. My DH said that, for instance, our living room heaters shouldn't be trying to heat the entire house b/c they will overwork themselves and get too hot.


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## RedWine (Sep 26, 2003)

Yikes. We have all sorts of crap up against our baseboard heaters. Always have. I don' t think ours get hot enough to do any damage. After 4 years of living like this, if something was going to catch on fire, it would have already...right....?


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## oldcrunchymom (Jun 26, 2002)

Ours don't get hot enough to do any damage either, but they are incredibly old so maybe that's why. We have (accidentally) left wires, paper, cloth, all sorts of things on the heaters for extended periods of time and nothing has ever happened except for a slight warping of plastic items (and that took about a year!).


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## Penelope (Jul 22, 2003)

We have 50+ year old cast iron ones. They don't get hot enough to set anything on fire, but they're very efficient. I love them.


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## PeacefulSeams (Apr 10, 2006)

We have always had baseboard heaters. Don't put anything by them. All of our things are away from the heaters. Mine have melted crayons all over them. And yes, I did catch my cutains on fire because they were on the heater. That was when we first had them. So they can be a fire hazard if you are not careful.


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## bravofrenchie (Oct 15, 2004)

We have baseboard heaters. You're supposed to keep things a certain number of inches away from them. (4? 6?) We've got bookshelves close to them, but not touching.
Once, a notebook was left against the livingroom baseboard. (I have no idea how long it had been there. A couple days?) When I found it, the paper was all dark brown, and the plastic cover was warped.
We always make sure to keep things away from the heaters.


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## griffin2004 (Sep 25, 2003)

Be SO careful not to have the bed so close to the heater that blankets, sheets, or toys could fall on it in the night. My dad nearly burned our house down that way.

I hate hate hate baseboards. My dog, however, sleeps ON (no, not next to; I mean on) a baseboard. So far, she hasn't spontaneously ignited...


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## Snowdrift (Oct 15, 2005)

We have them. I had them in an apartment. In the house they are supplemented by electric radiant heat panels in the ceiling.

Some of ours have pieces of furniture in front of them that have not been moved in fifty years (we moved into DH's grandparents' house when they passed, literally some of the furniture hasn't been moved in that long--ok, except for recarpeting, once.) No fires yet. We are cautious in the bedroom, and thankfully the one in the baby room (she naps int here sometimes, and we keept her dresser there) is broken--it has my "nursing couch"--a twin mattress on the floor--jammed right up next to it. That dial is taped so that it can't be turned on, even though it doesnt' work at all. Other than that one, they dont' get that hot. I just don't enclose the working ones too closely to prevent heat build up.


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## RedWine (Sep 26, 2003)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *zenenlightened* 
We have always had baseboard heaters. Don't put anything by them. All of our things are away from the heaters. Mine have melted crayons all over them. And yes, I did catch my cutains on fire because they were on the heater. That was when we first had them. So they can be a fire hazard if you are not careful.

I guess our heaters are different. My kids leave crayons on them all the time. Not one has ever melted, or even looked warped. Our house is really old (built in 1870), so maybe our system is a little different?

I do try to keep things an inch or so away from them, but there are usually things on them/in them all the time because of the kids. Nothing has ever been warped in the least. So maybe ours don't get that hot..?


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## Llyra (Jan 16, 2005)

I've never had any other kind of heat, in any of the places I've lived, and I've never had them get hot enough to ignite anything, but it still pays to be careful. I usually leave a space of a few inches between them and anything I put near them, mainly because I don't want to block the heat from getting to the room, and I don't put big items like couches in front of them for the same reason. I do have DD's bed situated so that the head of it is against one small end of a baseboard, but like I said ours just don't get more than warm to the touch.


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## Aeress (Jan 25, 2005)

We have the old cast iron ones upstairs and newerone down. Upstairs we are very vigilent about having nothing next to them.

we have a very old boiler system. works great. house is warm. house is old as well!

I had forced air and hated it! house was either too warm or too cold!


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## oldcrunchymom (Jun 26, 2002)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *RedWine* 
I guess our heaters are different. My kids leave crayons on them all the time. Not one has ever melted, or even looked warped. Our house is really old (built in 1870), so maybe our system is a little different?

I do try to keep things an inch or so away from them, but there are usually things on them/in them all the time because of the kids. Nothing has ever been warped in the least. So maybe ours don't get that hot..?

I think maybe the new ones might be different from the old ones? Ours are at least 40 years old and let me tell you they don't burn anything. In fact, in the winter when we come in from playing in the snow we put our stuff on them to dry out. My daughter actually SITS on the heater sometimes when it's wicked cold. There is definitely not enough heat coming out of there to burn down the house.







I have found bits of paper inside right on the heating element with no marks.


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## caeden&connersmom (Apr 18, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *RedWine* 
I guess our heaters are different. My kids leave crayons on them all the time. Not one has ever melted, or even looked warped. Our house is really old (built in 1870), so maybe our system is a little different?

I do try to keep things an inch or so away from them, but there are usually things on them/in them all the time because of the kids. Nothing has ever been warped in the least. So maybe ours don't get that hot..?

We have baseboard HOT WATER heat. They dont get hot, we have furniture against some of them, heck my living room curtains sit right on top of it. Everyone up here has that type of heat and I have never heard of anyone having a problem with potential fire threat and items against them.

That could be the difference some of us are having. With hot water baseboard heat, the heat of the water running through the lines are what emits the heat, vs an electric baseboard heat. (Am not familiar with that at all)


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## Twocoolboys (Mar 10, 2006)

Wow, I have never heard of baseboard heaters being a fire hazard and I live in the northeast and have lived with baseboard heaters for years and years. I guess ours don't get that hot, nor have any baseboard heaters in any other places I have lived. We dry our mittens directly on the baseboard heaters in the winter.

The only reason I have ever heard to not put things next to the heaters is that the warm air will not be able to circulate in the room. But, sometimes, there is no choice - in a small room that has three walls with baseboard heaters, and a door and a closet on the remaining wall, there is literally no where else to put anything, so against the heater it goes. I do keep some space so air can circulate. But, we have had toys, crayons, dog hair, dust bunnies and any number of things in our heaters and never had so much as a crayon melt.

I think that if your baseboard heaters are hot enough to start fires, there is something wrong with your heating system and you need to get it inspected a.s.a.p. Because, that is not normal.


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## Penelope (Jul 22, 2003)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *caeden&connersmom* 
We have baseboard HOT WATER heat. They dont get hot, we have furniture against some of them, heck my living room curtains sit right on top of it. Everyone up here has that type of heat and I have never heard of anyone having a problem with potential fire threat and items against them.

That could be the difference some of us are having. With hot water baseboard heat, the heat of the water running through the lines are what emits the heat, vs an electric baseboard heat. (Am not familiar with that at all)

Yeah, we have hot water baseboard heat. It does make a difference.


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## art4babies (Mar 6, 2004)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *bravofrenchie* 
We have baseboard heaters. You're supposed to keep things a certain number of inches away from them. (4? 6?)

WI thought it was something like 3' for fabrics (curtains) but I could be wrong. Of course if you are in a smaller area, you can't spare too much space, but the further the better.


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