Baseboard heaters & fire code (couch, bedroom, apartment, pipes)
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just hoping to get some clarification about water baseboard heaters. we live in an apartment building and were told the other day that we needed to have 3 feet of clearance around any one of our baseboard heaters in out unit, as per fire regulation.
i was told that water baseboard heaters would never get hot enough to ignite items around it. we've always allowed a few inches to be on the safe side but 3 feet seems a wee bit ridiculous.
this info came directly from a fire inspector who visited our unit. however funny part is, we had already spoken to 2 different ppl from their office who never mentioned anything about clearance from these heaters when we called for info. someone please help!
He obviously mistook the baseboard heaters for electric heaters.
Having at least 8-12" of clearance will help with convection; but it would be highly unlikely to start a fire- unless you're storing highly flammable/ low flash temp products in the house you have little too worry about.
Only if you have huge rooms!! It would really be impossible to arrange many rooms with 3' of clearance around the perimeter.
Go online and look up your local fire department and see what their regulations are, in writing. Your town/township might also have specific codes regarding this.
I remember looking at one apartment where a double closet was added to a bedroom that had baseboard heaters. The heaters ran through the closet!!!! I thought that was a little unsafe, to say the least!
I remember looking at one apartment where a double closet was added to a bedroom that had baseboard heaters. The heaters ran through the closet!!!! I thought that was a little unsafe, to say the least!
How is it you think those pipes get to other parts of the rooms? They run through holes in bare wood whether it's walls, joists etc. Those pipes are in direct connect with numerous materials that are combustible throughout a home. Hydronic piping has been used for ohh I don't know a century. It's never been a fire hazard. Typical water temperature in those pipes is not going to exceed 180 and wood needs temperatures nearly 5 times that to spontaneously combust.
I don't know what the temperature of an oil/water filled electric baseboard heater operates at but it's going to be similar, matter of fact I would assume they are actually safer that the more common radiant electric baseboard.
It's the cheap standalone radiant electric heaters that are the issue becsue those produce very high temperatures near the source and anything combustible near them can potentially catch fire.
I would listen to him.
Of course you'll probably have to put your dressers on top of your bed but what the hell....use your creativity.
Seriously, we had HW Baseboard for many years and will only caution against something like a long couch in front of one which will block a lot of the heat from that section
How is it you think those pipes get to other parts of the rooms? They run through holes in bare wood whether it's walls, joists etc. Those pipes are in direct connect with numerous materials that are combustible throughout a home. Hydronic piping has been used for ohh I don't know a century. It's never been a fire hazard. Typical water temperature in those pipes is not going to exceed 180 and wood needs temperatures nearly 5 times that to spontaneously combust.
I don't know what the temperature of an oil/water filled electric baseboard heater operates at but it's going to be similar, matter of fact I would assume they are actually safer that the more common radiant electric baseboard.
It's the cheap standalone radiant electric heaters that are the issue becsue those produce very high temperatures near the source and anything combustible near them can potentially catch fire.
Hmmm... good points. So, no code violations, just very inefficient heating -- you'd have to leave the doors open all the time to heat the room. No thanks!
For those who remember my rant against building codes being co-opted and used as a means of power by those without a clue, I offer the OP as an example.
Hmmm... good points. So, no code violations, just very inefficient heating -- you'd have to leave the doors open all the time to heat the room. No thanks!
Well yea if that is the only source of heat for the room I can see that as a problem. LOL I've seen bare pipe run through closets just to get it to the next section of heating but I've never seen them used as heat.
I would ask for this 3' rule to be provided in writing. A verbal message means nothing without being documented.
I don't see how it can be three inches let alone 3 feet. The 3 feet rule will apply to heater like this:
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