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How to Heat Your Kitchen Without Sacrificing its Style

We’re yet to wave goodbye to winter but we must admit that there’s something wonderfully cosy and comforting about curling up on the sofa with a blanket. But what about keeping warm in the kitchen? Just like the rest of your home, the kitchen gets cold and with so much time spent there it’s important that it’s a comfortable, inviting space. However, a radiator can feel like a waste of wall space and often doesn’t fit into the design of the room. So what other kitchen heating options are open to you -have you ever considered a fireplace, underfloor heating or AGA to help heat your kitchen?

Introduce a Fireplace

For many of us a fireplace in the kitchen is the ultimate dream – bringing the homely, welcoming warmth of a fire into the core family space. Whether it’s an open fire or a traditional wood burner, a fire within the kitchen provides a unique heat that immediately creates a friendly atmosphere. A fireplace works in kitchens of varying styles – whether you’re looking to complete a cosy country kitchen or want to add a statement feature to juxtapose a modern, chic design. As well as providing such wonderful heat, a fireplace can be styled and dressed when not in use to create a beautiful feature. Head over to our Pinterest board to get some fireplace inspiration. Sadly, though unsurprisingly, a fireplace is not always a possibility in a kitchen. Practicalities and logistics make it a difficult feature to introduce. If structural or budget restraints prevent this, there are many other options available to you.

Underfloor heating

Underfloor heating is a popular option as there’s no interruption to the aesthetics of the room and the warmth is evenly distributed. By going underground very little warmth is lost and the walls are spared, left free for additional cabinetry or furniture/accessories.

Underfloor heating must be considered early in your kitchen planning as it cannot go under cabinets or appliances. The concentrated heat can cause cupboards and their contents to warm up, affecting the products within and potentially damaging the cabinetry and appliances.

Underfloor heating generally works in one of two ways – hot water (wet systems) and electric mats (wire systems). The wet system uses water from the central heating system, and as the water can be at a lower temperature than is required for radiators, is cost effective to run. However, the cost of installation can be high because the floor height may need to be altered to allow for the piping.

Alternatively, wire systems are less disruptive to install than wet systems because the floor height doesn’t need to be changed. Cables attach to open-weave mesh mats that are laid across the floor – though easier and less costly to install, a wire system is more expensive to run than a wet system. It’s also important to remember that regardless of the system you choose, it is worth installing insulation under the floor to prevent heat being lost.

Traditional Appliances – AGA

When you think of a country kitchen on a cold winters’ day the likelihood is that you conjure up images of drinking tea by the AGA. As well as an iconic cooking appliance, the AGA doubles up as an efficient heat source. The older models are on all the time, whilst wonderfully warm in the winter this can be a problem in the milder months. However, the new AGA models offer far more control, allowing you to regulate the temperature of your kitchen accordingly.

Kathryn Lowe, AGA Marketing Manager explains “Our new flexible AGA models offer the best of both worlds. In the cold winter months you can keep the ovens switched on to provide the cosy AGA warmth in the room. This warmth is often described as ‘the beating heart of the room’ by AGA owners and often replaces the requirement for a radiator. In the summer months our new AGA models have been designed so that you can switch all – or parts – of the cooker off so you’re able to control the heat output into the room. For example, you may decide to turn the AGA Total Control’s ovens off during the summer and just switch the boiling plate on to cook a quick omelette to go with your summer salad.”

When it comes to  kitchen heating, there are many different options depending on style and budget. People often assume that a radiator is the only option, but this isn’t the case. A radiator may be the obvious choice but there remains a wide array of alternative options to heat your new kitchen through the chilly winter months.

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