# Baseboard heater in toddler's room.



## nj001 (Jul 17, 2013)

Hi there!

Anyone have baseboard heaters in their toddler's room (toddler is in floor bed)? This is our first year in this house and it only recently occurred to me this was a concern. I'm considering trying to not turn them on in that room and using some kind of child safe space heater (I think those exist?), but I'm not sure if that's even possible or maybe the pipes will freeze.

I came from central air and don't know how hot they get. If you have baseboard heaters, what kind of risk do they pose to an unsupervised 2 year old, a little owie or big burn?http://www.pinterest.com/pin/create/extension/


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## cynthiamoon (Nov 29, 2009)

Hey there! I guess this varies building to building, but in our old apartment with 1960s baseboards, they never got hot enough to burn. I found this out because a bigger issue is putting temp-sensitive things too close to them, or blocking them with furniture. Then you get pockets of hot air that absorb into your furniture and waste tons of electricity on, say, keeping your books toasty and making them brittle. But anyway... When I was moving stuff around there I touched them directly and you'd really have to press hard and not let go to be in pain.

Could you test this out, just to be sure? Like ramp up the heat very high one day, when you will mostly out of the house, and then have your partner go touch the baseboards? If it is an issue, I would emphasize putting furniture along them that allows for maximum ventilation, like those cubby shelves with no backing. Otherwise, that room will get very cold while the others swelter. 

I'd also look into wether particle board furniture out gasses more toxins when heated, since anything you put there to keep baby away will warm up. We just avoided putting any furniture where the heaters were, which made arranging furniture a huge PITA.


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## cynthiamoon (Nov 29, 2009)

Oh, also, I'd be much more afraid of space heaters. I haven't done a ton of research, but they usually have heating elements that get much hottern than baseboards do and they are also a fire risk.


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## TCMoulton (Oct 30, 2003)

We have a space heater that is basically a hair dryer in how it heats the air. It is plastic, the surface is never hot to the touch and it has an automatic shut off if its tipped over. 
If the baseboard heaters do get warm to the touch I might feel more comfortable with a safe space heater.


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## nj001 (Jul 17, 2013)

Thanks a lot!! I'm going to test out how hot it gets soon. The heaters cover wayyyy too much area in the room to be covered with furniture or I'd take that route.


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## sassyfirechick (Jan 21, 2012)

I've had baseboard heaters my whole life with various furnace systems from oil to gas and they never get "hot". We just did a cleaning of the ones in DD's room - found 2 melissa and doug chunky puzzle pieces that I had written off that have been in there for TWO YEARS, and I crank the heat in the winter. She's constantly dropping things in there along with the dog hair that also gathers inside and we've never had a problem. That said we do have an infrared space heater that stays cool to the touch that we use on occasion to warm up DD's room bc of where she is, directly over a walk out basement, she's got two exposed walls below her and her room does stay cooler than the rest of the house.


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## SplashingPuddle (Jun 23, 2012)

We've had a variety of things burn on our baseboard heaters. Crayons are a big one! But we've also had burnt stuffed toys too. No fires though. Every night, I go around and make sure nothing is touching our baseboard heaters. I also check them whenever I turn on the heater too. Still, I prefer baseboard heaters to stand-up heaters that you plug in.


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