Hello all, I hope I'm posting this in the right forum, but I have a strange heating element in my bathroom. I have baseboard heating through my home. However, in my bathroom, my heating element goes along the ceiling. As you can see in the picture, it's very aesthetically unpleasing. I am sprucing up the bathroom, so I was wondering if there were any options I have with this. Can it be boxed out? Is there a better heating vent cover out there that would be more aesthetically pleasing? I don't know what buzz words or phrases to even use to try to google possible solutions. Some feedback from you veterans would be most appreciated. Thank you!

 

That is a commercial/industrial version of baseboard. It operates the same as baseboard by cool air entering at the bottom and heated by the fins inside and exiting at the top/front. Yours may be doing a great job heating the ceiling. Correct location would be about 4 inches or more above the floor to heat the room air.

BTW: I installed one in my bathroom (correctly) to replace a cast iron radiator.

 

You could remove the ugly louvered steel cover and have a new one fabricated. It would be pricey but you could have a local metal fabrication shop make a new one for you. You could choose what style of perforations you want or even go for a "fancy" metal like copper, brass or stainless steel if you like the look and have enough budget.

But, unless you plan on redoing the plumbing in the walls to relocate the heater it's got to stay. And, it needs free airflow so you really can't enclose it much. Whatever you put up there needs to be mostly open to allow air in and out.

In most cases though it just gets a new coat of paint.

 

Hi guys, yeah, this thing is not moving at all. I really don't have options on that front and it's too much money for little gain. So it's about making this look as nice as possible.

How much would fabricating something new look like? Is "boxing it out" an option at all?

 

If it's a hydronic heater.... you can't box it off unless you no longer require heat from it.
A heater of that type requires cooler air to flow into the bottom and warm air cones out the front/side.

 

If you keep it open on the bottom and on the top, you could put a solid panel across the front. Painted wood wall-to-wall would work. The panel could be wider than the enclosure front and drop down lower at the bottom to somewhat block the view (but not the air flow). Space at the top must be maintained.

 

If the cover comes off I would take it off so you have a better idea what you are dealing with.
While off I would clean it up (get rid of the drips) perhaps even strip it and then repaint it properly.
Be careful if you do this because if you bend a louver it will stick out like a sore thumb, Also if they do get bent they are near impossible to repair.

I think you have to keep the louvers for it to work properly.
I would try to put some moldings around it so it looks more like a built in.

You may even want to change the color, The idea here is if you cannot hide something turn it into a feature.

 

How about using this type of unit? https://www.walmart.com/ip/Beacon-Mo...FK84/118073590