Baseboard heating apparatus

Abstract

A baseboard heating apparatus includes housing sections that may be connected together and mounted to a mount, such as a plurality of brackets. A portion of a housing may be elastically deformed to engage the housing with a mount. The housing may be pivotally mounted to a mount at a position near a wall or other surface to allow the housing to be rotated open and allow access to the interior of the housing. A bracket may have a lower portion that both supports a heat exchanger and engages with a housing. A connector for interconnecting housing sections may have a groove into which a housing section is inserted.

1 . A baseboard heating apparatus for heating an area to be occupied by humans, comprising: 
 a heater mount constructed and arranged to be attached to a surface and support a heat exchanger, the heater mount having a top portion positioned near the surface when mounted to the surface and a bottom portion; and    a housing constructed and arranged to mount to the top and bottom portions of the heater mount secured to the surface and at least partially enclose a heat exchanger supported by the heater mount, at least a portion of the housing being elastically deformed to mount the housing to the top and bottom portions and retain the housing on the heater mount.    
     
     
         2 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the surface is a portion of a wall.  
     
     
         3 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the heater mount includes a plurality of brackets constructed and arranged to be individually mounted to the surface without a backplane support.  
     
     
         4 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the housing is formed from a sheet metal or plastic.  
     
     
         5 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the housing has at least one opening to allow heated air to flow from a bottom of the housing through the at least one opening.  
     
     
         6 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the heater mount includes a plurality of brackets that each include an approximately L-shaped portion.  
     
     
         7 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the heater mount includes a plurality of brackets, a bottom portion of each of the brackets engaging with the housing.  
     
     
         8 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the housing is pivotally mounted to the top portion so that the housing may be rotated upward to expose a heat exchanger supported by the plurality of brackets.  
     
     
         9 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein at least a portion of the housing remains elastically deformed while mounted to the heater mount and causes the housing to be biased into engagement with the top and bottom portions of the heater mount.  
     
     
         10 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein a portion of the housing mounted to the top portion of a bracket is positioned at most ½ inch from the surface.  
     
     
         11 . A baseboard heating apparatus for heating an area to be occupied by humans, comprising: 
 a plurality of brackets each constructed and arranged to be individually mounted to a surface and support a heat exchanger, each of the plurality of brackets having a top portion and a bottom portion, the bottom portion for supporting the heat exchanger; and    a housing constructed and arranged to mount to the top and bottom portions of a plurality of the brackets secured to the surface and at least partially enclose a heat exchanger supported by the plurality of brackets, the bottom portion of each of the plurality of brackets that supports the heat exchanger also engaging with the housing.    
     
     
         12 . The apparatus of  claim 11 , wherein at least a portion of the housing is elastically deformed to mount the housing to the top and bottom portions, the elastically deformed portion of the housing causing the housing to be biased into engagement with the top and bottom portions.  
     
     
         13 . The apparatus of  claim 11 , wherein the surface is a portion of a wall.  
     
     
         14 . The apparatus of  claim 11 , wherein each of the plurality of brackets is constructed and arranged to be individually mounted to the surface without a backplane support.  
     
     
         15 . The apparatus of  claim 11 , wherein the housing is formed from a sheet metal or plastic.  
     
     
         16 . The apparatus of  claim 11 , wherein the housing has at least one opening to allow heated air to flow from a bottom of the housing through the at least one opening.  
     
     
         17 . The apparatus of  claim 11 , wherein each of the brackets has an approximately L-shaped portion.  
     
     
         18 . The apparatus of  claim 11 , wherein a portion of the housing is positioned within at most ½ inch of the surface when mounted to the top portion of a bracket.  
     
     
         19 . The apparatus of  claim 11 , wherein the housing is pivotally mounted to the top portion so that the housing may be rotated upward to expose a heat exchanger supported by the plurality of brackets.  
     
     
         20 . The apparatus of  claim 11 , wherein the heat exchanger is a hydronic heat exchanger.  
     
     
         21 . A heating apparatus for heating an area to be occupied by humans, comprising: 
 a heater mount constructed and arranged to be mounted to a surface and support a heat exchanger, the heater mount having a top positioned near the surface; and    a housing constructed and arranged to engage with the heater mount to at least partially enclose a heat exchanger supported by the heater mount, the housing being pivotally mounted at at least one position near the surface to allow the housing to be pivoted upwardly and expose at least a portion of the heat exchanger.    
     
     
         22 . The apparatus of  claim 21 , wherein at least a portion of the housing is elastically deformed to mount the housing to the heater mount and retain the housing on the heater mount.  
     
     
         23 . The apparatus of  claim 21 , wherein the surface is a portion of a wall.  
     
     
         24 . The apparatus of  claim 21 , wherein the heater mount includes a plurality of brackets, each of the plurality of brackets being constructed and arranged to be individually mounted to the surface without a backplane support.  
     
     
         25 . The apparatus of  claim 21 , wherein the housing is formed from a sheet metal or plastic.  
     
     
         26 . The apparatus of  claim 21 , wherein the housing has at least one opening to allow heated air to flow from a bottom of the housing through the at least one opening.  
     
     
         27 . The apparatus of  claim 21 , wherein the heater mount includes a plurality of brackets, and each of the brackets has an approximately L-shaped portion.  
     
     
         28 . The apparatus of  claim 21 , wherein the heater mount includes a plurality of brackets, each of the plurality of brackets having a top portion positioned near the surface when the bracket is mounted to the surface.  
     
     
         29 . The apparatus of  claim 21 , wherein the housing is pivotally mounted to a top portion of the heater mount so that the housing may be rotated upward to expose a heat exchanger supported by the heater mount.  
     
     
         30 . The apparatus of  claim 21 , wherein the heat exchanger is a hydronic heat exchanger.  
     
     
         31 . The apparatus of  claim 21 , wherein a portion of the housing mounted to the top of the heater mount is positioned at most ½ inch from the surface.  
     
     
         32 . A baseboard heating apparatus comprising: 
 a baseboard heating element having an elongated heat source portion adapted to output heat and having a longitudinal axis, and at least one fin connected to the elongated heat source and extending both in a direction parallel to the longitudinal axis and radially from the longitudinal axis, the at least one fin being thermally conductive and constructed and arranged to receive heat from the elongated heat source portion and exchange heat with surrounding air, the at least one fin being constructed and arranged to support the weight of the elongated heat source portion and the at least one fin.    
     
     
         33 . The apparatus of  claim 32 , wherein the at least one fin has at least one perforated portion that allows air flow through the perforation.  
     
     
         34 . The apparatus of  claim 33 , wherein the at least one perforated portion is formed by a punch process.  
     
     
         35 . A baseboard heating apparatus comprising: 
 a baseboard heating element having an elongated heat source portion adapted to output heat and having a longitudinal axis, and at least one fin connected to the elongated heat source and extending both in a direction parallel to the longitudinal axis and radially from the longitudinal axis, the at least one fin being thermally conductive and constructed and arranged to receive heat from the elongated heat source portion and exchange heat with surrounding air, the at least one fin having a perforated portion that allows air flow through at least one perforation.    
     
     
         36 . The apparatus of  claim 35 , wherein the at least one fin is constructed and arranged to support the weight of the elongated heat source portion and the at least one fin.