Baseboard Radiator Covers

Adam asks,

I recently completed a huge renovation of my kitchen and living room space which included removing a wall, re-arranging the kitchen and creating craftsman window and door mouldings from scratch. I made my 1958 home look very updated and modern.

The problem I have now is I left the original baseboard radiators, which so not match the updates look. I know there are baseboard radiator covers on the market, but they can be a bit pricey. I have seen people selling wooden baseboard heater covers and know I can craft them myself custom to the needed fit for a fraction of the cost.

Are wooden covers a good efficient choice if they are designed with ample space for airflow, or would it be best to keep metal which would be more conductive to heat? Also, if the wooden covers would be acceptable, would it be beat to strip the front plate off the original baseboard heaters before installing the wood?

Our Answer

Adam, Congratulations on a beautiful remodel. I understand you dont find the metal baseboard radiators attractive but my advice is to get used to them! You are in a very fortunate place having hot water heat, which is the most desirable type of heat and becoming increasingly rare.

I do think that wood baseboard covers would make the heat a little less efficient however, if you design them for maximum convection (air enters at the bottom and exits at the top), it should be minimal. Amazon has one baseboard radiator cover option but yes, costly. However, following this design idea, seems they would not be hard to make. My suggestion would be to replace the solid front panel with decorative perforated metal panels for better airflow. You can and should remove the front cover of the old baseboard radiators. Maybe you can do a section of these where it really bugs you and paint the rest to match your walls.