Yes, I believe there are such things as toe-kick heaters.

People think I'm weird for having carpeting in the bathroom, but at least my feet don't freeze.

I can see it.
My mom had carpet in the vanity area. Her potty & shower were adjacent.
Nice, warm, luxurious tootsies!

{{!gwi}}

Christine - I wear slippers from the time I walk in the door until I climb into bed. I also have several of what I lovingly refer to as 'house coats'! HA! They are fleece zip ups and I take my winter coat off and on goes the fleece also until bed. If I make the mistake of taking my slippers off and then walk through the house for whatever reason before getting into bed, my feet FREEZE and I can't fall asleep.

You remember those MI winters right? ;) I actually live within the Lake Effect Snow belt or pit whatever you want to call it so it's blustery and cold cold cold until....April/May?!

Smarty, Pharoah!
Yes, Autumn, I do.
But I grew up in the 60/70s and my father was a jobber for Standard Oil. (Now Amoco.) We had a house full of wall-to-wall, so I just don't remember anything cold, at least inside!

I don't wear slippers. You know that commercial where a lady says to a man in the office, "Nice boots."
He laughs and says, "They my cats!"

My slippers would be a giant wall of fur. Even though I use my fantastic DeWalt shop vac all the time, I doubt you'd be able to see the slippers for the fur.

Kinda grosses me out.
Great mystery of life: Why aren't cats bald?

I had a toe kick heater in my last house in the sink toe kick. It was hot water heat, if that matters or not. But anyway, it looked like one of those shop vac things and there was a switch on it to turn it off-low-high. My eldest DD ate breakfast on the floor in front of that heater every morning before school when it was cold. It'll keep your toes warm, that's for sure!

I'm very interested to see what you end up with. I didn't have much time for research when we updated our bathroom, and every night I could just kick myself for not learning about tile heating coils in time! We would have only heated about 12 sf so it probably would have been reasonable.

I have a dog that sheds quite a bit, but I often wear wool (hiking) socks around the house to keep my toes warm. It makes a world of difference. The dog hair does stick a little to the socks, but nothing like a pair of fuzzy slippers someone gave me. I've also seen down bootie slippers (from RH) that look pretty cozy.

If I could find some that had a non-sweater-like outside, I'd snap them up. Perhaps an outside shell of neoprene? Then I'd only have to worry about static electricity.

One dog compared to 4 cats and 3 dogs? Pricklypearcactus, gotta love you, but you're a fur-amateur!

Williamsem et al. They sell retrofit tile heater kits that go between the floor joists in the basement, if you have a tile floor that you want warm. And it's on the first floor.

Christine-how about these? (and on sale, too)

Here is a link that might be useful: down booties

ooooOOOOOoooooooo
I'm going to give these a try.
leela4! thank you for your efforts. My tooties thank you.

I wish I had a basement. Except with my luck it'd leak. That said, I've been trying to figure out an efficient way to heat a crawlspace.

I can't say I miss the cold. Runny noses and frozen boogers of my youth yuck. Its been a mild winter here in Central Florida. Lows of 50s. Days of gorgeous sunny 80s. Christine,there is still plenty of room here, if you decide to come down and thaw out.:)Sorry, that's my fix for your frozen toesies.

Why not just put down a small throw rug in front of your sink if your feet freeze while you brush your teeth? They are easily washed and feel good underfoot.

Is this what you mean- a kick space heater? I love mine. It was unplanned but my contractor popped it in under my beverage "station". Every morning I make my coffee while feeling warm air on my feet. It's great.

Phoggie, cats think a throw rug is a litter box. At least all the cats I have known. I've lost quite a few rugs that way.

Running_mom, that's what was in my head.
Can you give me a few details on that?

FLA? Well, No, not for a while. I don't want to leave my house and my gardens and solar panels, etc.

I jinxed it a little, earlier. We have wind that's actually knocking out my satellite receiption! No snow yet. Yet.

Thank you for the reminder of why I don't live in Chicago any longer and am willing to put up with California earthquakes, LOL. We are so wimpy out here that when it gets down to 40 degrees outside and 63 degrees inside the house, the three of us grab our fleece jackets, turtlenecks, heavy socks, and microfleece vests.

We're running around the house wearing as much clothes as if we were outside!

I wear silk-wool leg warmers to bed this time of year! BTW, if you have never used silk 'long johns', I can heartily recommend them. They are FABULOUS and soooo nice to sleep in. Many places have them, but I've always had the best luck with the Winter Silks folks. Bought stuff from them for decades now; very satisfied. Silk can shrink but they pre-shrink their stuff, makes a big difference.

I just checked their website to do a link and they're running a sale and free shipping promo:

Here is a link that might be useful: Winter Silks website

Thanks for that link!
I used to have silk undies like that and they were surprisingly warm, yet breathed so I didn't get sweaty and disgusting.

I need to do a little shopping. Imagine me with those booties, silk undies, 4 cats in my lap, drinking wine and eating Reese's cups. All while typing here.

Sorry. didn't mean to scare the kids.

From autumn through spring I always wear socks and usually slippers. And I still find myself standing over the heating vent in the floor in the kitchen letting the warm air blow up the legs of my pj's while I wait for my oatmeal to cook. :o

I know I've seen at least one posting about a toe kick heater (might have been a pic in a finished kitchen reveal) but I can't remember which GW member posted it. I'll do some searches and let you know if I find it. I can highly recommend Winter Silks long underwear. Very lightweight but warm. And those down bootie slippers look very warm and shouldn't be fur traps!

I have a toe kick heater in my kitchen. My cabinet guy even made a walnut faceplate for it because he thought the metal one was too ugly to put on his cabinets.
It's like a small baseboard radiator with a fan that blows over it and out into the kitchen. I can turn on the blower with a toe switch, the radiator goes on whenever my heat goes on(I think), as it is part of that thermostat's loop.
For us, it is fairly useless. Our woodstove heats the whole house so the furnace rarely goes on. I probably use the toe kick heater in the Spring and Fall when the woodstove is not cranking 24/7. This past Fall the kitchen was in ruins so the last time it was probably switched it on was Spring, except for making sure the blower still worked after demo and install that is.
I do have a pair of slippers I love. I don't like booties as they make my feet too sweaty. They are by Dr Weil. You can wear them with socks for extra warmth. Because I work at home, live in them.

Here is a link that might be useful: Weil Slippers

Christine, I live in my faux fur lined Crocs.....easy to hose off, lining comes out to wash.

http://www.crocs.com/crocs-mammoth-evo-clog/12878,default,pd.html?cid=55V&cgid=women-footwear-clogs

The brand of mine is Smiths Environmental Products. It's the Quiet-One kickspace heater. Like localeater's, mine is part of the loop and comes on with the furnace- but it blows some nice warm heat in that area of the kitchen. Nice on the bare toes on a cold morning.

Like Localeater, at home I wear cork soled shoes. I wear Haflinger felt slippers excusively unless I'm remodeling, then it is my orange leather pair of cloggy like shoe/slippers.

I currently have a navy pair:

And here is a felt Halfiinger, in what looks like a little diorama. Credit to Tawney Horses:

Here is a link that might be useful: Tawney Horses

This post was edited by enduring on Sat, Feb 9, 13 at 9:59

Aww, I've always had a soft spot for Haflinger horses. I also have the Haflinger clogs and slip them on upon getting out of bed. They are wool but they do not attract cat fur. I'm on my 2nd pair and will never be without them!

I happen to love cold weather! But that's why we relocated from a pretty cold place (upstate NY) to a very cold place (MT). I always mourn the end of winter (partly because spring is so icky!).

Good luck staying toasty!

That's the kind of heater I had, exactly. Worked well.

I suggest Acorn slippers. Love. Them. As a matter of fact, where are they....?

We had two kickspace heaters installed during the kitchen reno so we could get rid of two long baseboards and put cabinets there. They had their own circulator and thermostat added; you might be able to just add one to your current loop. Here's some pictures of them.

Here is a link that might be useful: Hide a Vector heater

Re slippers - I second the fur lined crocs!
Re kick space heaters, I've looked at both hot water baseboard units which tie in to existing system as well as stand alone electric - easier to install. You're gonna need either a plumber or an electrician.

I would love kickspace heaters!!! I'm always cold.. even in the summer!

Quite some time ago I saved a GW thread about toe kick heaters. That was the first time I had heard about them. The thread has a link to Turbonics and a link to calculate heat loss. I'll link it below. Hope it helps.

Here is a link that might be useful: GW thread on toe kick heater

Can I join the whine? Our familiy of six has being living in a house (in Canada) under construction with nothing but a fireplace and two electric construction heaters to keep us warm (insulation is for wimps DH says). Often it hovers around 36 degrees inside so we fight to keep the pipes from freezing LOL. One day we will have infloor heat, but for now we have infloor freeze. Sure teaches the kids about pioneer life in a new way. I wear my full coat all day long, and would take it into the shower if that was practical LOL. Stay warm everyone!

Carol

Ontariomom, that is how I lived for FOUR years!
Granted, our winters aren't as long, and our really cold month like that is pretty much February, but when you're cold, you're cold.

OMG. I hope you have plumbing? electricity? I didn't. I do (most) now. Put a heater in my potty.

My STBX GC DH ran extension cords from our space heaters thru holes poked in the walls (let's let in MORE cold air) into the garage, where they hooked into the breaker box. And to think we had an electrical fire.

BTW, all. Thanks for the info. I would need a stand alone heater, which is exactly what I've been researching. The electrician part I'm good with! :)

Carol stay warm.
Enjoy your slippers, my friends. (why do I hear the Dos Equis' guy's voice?)

Hi CEFreeman,

Wow four years you lived without heat, plumbing and electricity!! You've suffered more. We have had no heat for two winters. However, we have had some plumbing (except when pipes froze once) and skeleton electricity (watch out or you will blow the breaker again). Our build was a reno and an addition with a demo of furnace/ducts as we wanted in floor. What I wouldn't give for our old furnace and ducts again. This is what you get when DH is the GC (and he works a full time job on the side). I sure hope you finish soon, and get all of the heat you need, CEFreeman.

As per stand alone heaters (not sure if you mean a plug in unit or not), I like the electric heaters with oil as they are quietest, and so far have not burnt out like the standard plug in electric heaters do. They look like old radiator heaters.

Carol

I'd have sworn I responded, Carol!

When I got my solar grants from the state, I put HVAC into the house. Talk about living large! :)

I also, though, zone heat with the space heaters you're talking about. I love them. They don't dry you out like the blowing kind! Plus, when my power goes in and out, the latter don't come back on, where the radiators do. My dogs have one in their mud room (where the dog door is). I like 'em to be toasty warm!

Can you threaten to call someone in for estimates? My DH WAS a GC, so nothing was every good enough, plus, we didn't have the $$ to pay someone. Everything was "good enough for now".

Dearheart, no one "works a full time job on the side". He has a full time job and thinks he's running a renovation "on the side" which means it's not a priority because [insert a million, some valid reasons why].

Sometimes you get so used to something you forget how it should be. And can be. Like heat. It sounds like you're in the making for DIY Disaster. He's obviously not going to get this finished.

If your DH were outside looking in, wouldn't he be disgusted that some guy was making his family live like that to save a few?

We have a Broan kickspace heater in the bathroom. It heats up the whole bathroom when on high. A drawback is the noise of the fan when on high.

http://www.broan.com/products/filter/kickspace-7f3bc11d-da48-4dc1-83c7-78fa4ab5f6e3

Don't worry, we will get it done. We have made progress just slow. We have hired good subs, but ran into trouble with the in floor contractor. DH and I are hiring and supervising subs, but not actually building much (okay we are chief garbage haulers, problem solvers, cheque writers). Money is an issue as the project is large. Plus with the rate we make decisions, the slow pace has its advantages to buy us decision time. However, when spring arrives it will all be more tolerable. DH is a teacher so has some nice summer holidays/spring break when progress will be accelerated.

Good luck with your project! At some point the frustrations of renovations will be a memory.

Carol

Well great CEFreeman, now you've got me wanting a toe kick heater! lol

Can you put those under a sink? If so, how do you protect it from water in case of a leak?

That's what I want to do, Marti8a. Kitchen and MB.

I plan to line my sink bases. One, anyway, is particule board. (I know, I know. Before I knew anything about anything.) I've considered those expensive liners, but after lining my entire office floor with sheet vinyl (cat pee) I think I'll probalby use that! It's flat, easily cleaned, and looks good. I'd probably create a slight slant towards the front, so if something did leak, it'd come out the front and I'd know.

Goodness knows if plumbing is going to leak at someone's house, it's gonna be mine. I haven't had the $$ to replace all (yes, all) DH's "good enough for now" plumbing. At 2-3 sometimes major leaks a year, shouldn't be long, though.