A:  Great question. In answer to your question here is how this both this unit and a hydronic heating zone operates. The zone thermostat will close when room temperature is below set point. This will complete the low voltage control circuit energizing the relay. The relay will then feed 120 volt power to the circulation pump. When the pumped how water reaches the kick space heater, the aqua stat in the kick space heater will sense the presence of hot water and allow power to go to the blower motor. It the switch happens to be on high speed, the motor will run in high speed. If it is in low speed it will run in low speed. And if it’s left in the off position, the blower will not come on even though hot boiler water is present. Note that the kick space heater is not wired back to the boiler nor does it communicate with anything else. The kick space heater has a constant power supply and comes on when specific things occur in the performance cascade that result in hot water being present in the coil. When the zone thermostat is satisfied, the flow of hot water is stopped. The blower action cools off the coil. The aqua stat will no longer sense the presence of heated water, so power is cut to the blower. The biggest reason why kick space heater do not work as expected is that the piping is not done correctly, so hot boiler water does not flow properly. If you have further questions or if my answer does not satisfy your need please feel free to give me a call. Chris 978 651 3301

A:  It will come on and shut off automatically based on the temperature of the water. When the zone calls for heat and the water circulates, the fan will kick on when the set temperature is reached and will shut off when the temperature gets below the temperature threshold.

A:  No the front grill does not come off for cleaning. Keep in mind, the brands with removal grills can not be serviced from the front as that is not where the critical service areas are. The solution to this, for all brands, is in the installation. The proper way to install kick space heater is not to hard pipe it. Meaning do not bring ridged pipe all the way to it. Instead a hose kit should be utilized to attached the unit to the ridged piping. This allows the unto be serviced easily. The screws holding the kick space heater to the kick space are removed. The unit is then slid out from under the cabinet. Following service it can be slid back into place. In fact in one of the best installations i have ever seen the installer utilized draw slides on both sides of the kick space heater. It could simply be slid out like a draw. It was a little excessive and I actually think it was done to form a secret hiding place. But it was an ingenious idea. At some point over the life time of any brand kick space heater it will need to be serviced; this is normal. As a plumber I can not count the number of times I have been asked to fix one the that has been hard piped in place before the cabinets were installed. In that situation it always troubles me that I have to cut out the sink base above to gain access. If the original plumber had acted with forethought I would not have to disfigure the cabinets to gain access. A sample of a kick space heater hose kit would be Home Depot SKU 202809213. If you put that in the search box on the Home Depot site it will come up. Regardless of brand you ultimately select it is a best practice to install with future service in mind.

A:  The unit needs to be installed with "Quick-Fit Hose Kit for Toekick Heater". This has flexible hose for the heat connections. Also make sure the electrical is installed with a loop. You then remove the 2 screws that mounts the unit in the baseboard and the entire unit will neatly slide out for cleaning.

A:  There are two issues with that. First, it was done so infrequently that the manufacture let its approvals relative to use with potable hot water expire. Therefore the product lacks the necessary approvals. Second, potable water in the United States is limited to max temperature of 120 F. If you look at the specification sheet you will see that this unit is not even rated for water temperatures that low. Even at 130 F, which is listed, the heat output is roughly half of what you would get with 180 F water. Hydronic heating systems are typically designed around water temperatures that are much hotter than potable water temperatures.

A:  Great question. Because modulating condensing boilers now account for 50 percent of boilers sold, these units are now built with the low temperature aqua stat, also referred to as "clicks on switch", factory installed. To reiterate the low temperature aqua stat is the default. Therefore the blower should come on when it senses 110 F water and shut off when the temperature drops to 90 F. Although you have not asked let me add this. If it is a very cold day and the out door reset causes the boiler to modulate up and produce 180F water; that is not a problem. The aqua stat will still turn on the blower when the temperature rise passes 110 F. And if the water temp reaches 180 F or higher the blower will continue to run. The only difference is the unit will put out more BTU's of heat because the delta T between the water temperature and the room temperature is higher. Lastly as a best practice, it is a good idea to install kick spaces heaters with either hose kits or in some way to gain access to the unit for service later. You don't want to have to cut the cabinet later. Clicks on switches have a defined life and will need to be changed later, no matter what the brand; Smiths, Beacon Morris, Myson or Turbonics. If you have further questions please feel free to call. Chris 978 651 331