Cabinet Placement in an Apartment or House
Cabinet Placement in an Apartment or House
A manifold cabinet isn't just a decorative add-on meant to hide pipework and valves behind a nice door. It's a place you'll have to come back to from time to time - to bleed a circuit, tighten a valve, replace a thermostat head, or deal with a fault at the exact moment water is leaking somewhere in your home it shouldn't. That's exactly why the question "where should the cabinet actually go" is one worth thinking through before shell construction or before renovating a bathroom core - not once the manifold is already bricked in behind tiling and the only access to it runs through a drill and searching the bin for promises like "we won't need to touch that again". In this article we look at where cabinets are actually installed in flats and family houses, what distances and heights are recommended, how placement differs depending on the cabinet type (surface-mounted vs. recessed), and what people most often forget in practice.
Why cabinet placement matters
A heating or hot/cold water manifold in the cabinet acts as the hub through which all circuits of that branch of the distribution system pass - underfloor heating, radiators, or hot and cold water supply to individual outlets. While walls and floors become practically untouchable once construction is finished, the cabinet is the one place where the pipework is "within sight" and can be physically reached. If it's placed poorly, the cost of even a trivial service task goes up - instead of five minutes with a wrench on a valve, you're looking at breaking out tiling, moving furniture, or drilling into the wall.
In practice we see three types of problems caused by poor placement:
- Not enough room to open the door - the cabinet is built in right next to a wall, a door, or furniture, so the door can only open partially, or not at all.
- Hidden access - the cabinet is bricked into a corner behind a built-in wardrobe, under a staircase, or behind a plasterboard partition with no service opening.
- Unsuitable height - the cabinet is too low near the floor (you have to kneel and light your way with your phone), or conversely too high, so the heads and valves can't be comfortably reached.
The good news is that all three problems can be solved already at the planning stage, without having to sacrifice the room's appearance. You just need to know a few basic rules.
Cabinet in a flat - the most common placement options
In flats, space is limited and the manifold is usually located in the so-called bathroom core or near the riser. The most common solutions we encounter in practice are as follows.
Hallway or entrance area
The most common location in both panel-block and brick-built flats. The hallway has the advantage of being practically always accessible without having to move furniture, and it's not a "living" room, so a cabinet on the wall doesn't feel intrusive. The downside is often the hallway's narrow width - in older flats the hallway is often only 90-110 cm wide, and with a wrongly chosen cabinet depth (especially for surface-mounted models) this can narrow the passage right to the edge of comfort. Here it's worth going for the recessed (flush-mounted) version, which only protrudes from the wall by the thickness of its frame and door.
Storage room or closet
If the flat has a storage room, it's an ideal location - the cabinet doesn't intrude into any living space, and servicing can be done without moving anything. The only thing to watch out for is keeping access clear - many households gradually fill a storage room with boxes, bikes and seasonal items right up to the ceiling, and the cabinet becomes physically unreachable even though it's "technically" accessible.
Bathroom
A common solution, especially where the manifold also serves the hot and cold water supply for the bathroom and kitchen. The advantage is short pipe runs (lower heat losses, fewer joints); the downside is the damp environment - when choosing a cabinet for a bathroom, make sure the body material and any metal parts can handle higher humidity without corroding. You also need to make sure the cabinet door isn't in the path of the bathroom door or shower enclosure door.
Kitchen unit
In flats where every centimetre counts, the manifold cabinet is sometimes placed inside a lower kitchen unit (for example under the sink, next to a built-in washing machine). We only recommend this as a last resort - access is limited by the unit's contents (pots, cleaning products), and for a larger job (replacing a head, bleeding several circuits at once) the work is uncomfortable. If there's no other option, at least keep the relevant part of the unit permanently clear rather than using it for storage.
Cabinet in a family house - more space, more options
A family house generally offers considerably more options, since the floor plan isn't as cramped as in a flat, and a separate utility room often exists.
Utility room or boiler room
If the house has a separate utility room with a boiler, heat pump or hot-water cylinder, it makes sense to put the main manifold here too (and possibly the floor manifolds, if they're close by). The advantages are obvious - the room is designed exactly for this purpose, maintenance is expected there, and the space is dry and well ventilated. In multi-storey houses, a combination is also often used: the main manifold in the boiler room and floor manifolds in cabinets located in the hallway of each floor.
Garage
If the house doesn't have a separate utility room, the garage is another common choice, especially if it's adjacent to the living area of the house. Keep in mind that the garage can be considerably colder than the heated interior in winter, so the pipework and the cabinet's location need to be sufficiently insulated against freezing, or the location should be chosen as close as possible to the shared wall with the heated space.
Upstairs hallway
In multi-storey houses it's common for each floor to have its own floor manifold (especially with underfloor heating, where it makes sense to shorten circuit lengths). The upstairs hallway is then a natural location - short pipe runs, good access, no intrusion into living rooms.
Outdoor placement
For some setups (for example a manifold for garden irrigation or pool technology), a cabinet located outside the building is also used. Here it's essential to plan for weather resistance and frost protection - this kind of solution, though, goes beyond the usual scope of heating manifolds in a flat or house and requires a separate assessment of the whole assembly's frost resistance.
Surface-mounted vs. recessed cabinet - how it affects location choice
The cabinet type significantly determines where you can realistically install it. A surface-mounted (external) cabinet is fixed to the wall and protrudes entirely into the room - it needs no work on the load-bearing structure, installation is fast, and it suits technical spaces especially well, where a few extra centimetres in the floor plan don't matter (boiler room, garage, storage room). A recessed (flush-mounted) cabinet, on the other hand, is set into a niche in the partition, and only the frame with the door protrudes from the wall - an ideal solution for narrow hallways, bathrooms, or anywhere you want the cabinet to almost visually disappear. The price for this comfort is more work on the wall (a sufficiently thick partition is needed) and a somewhat more demanding installation. You'll find a detailed comparison of both types, along with specific recommendations, in a separate article, Recessed vs. Surface-Mounted Cabinet.
A simple practical rule applies to this decision: in places with a limited floor plan (a narrow hallway, a small bathroom), choose the recessed version; in utility spaces where room isn't critical and installation should be fast and cheaper, a surface-mounted cabinet is worth it.
Distances, heights and technical placement requirements
Regardless of whether it's a flat or a house, a few practical recommendations are worth following already at the design stage:
- Height of the cabinet's bottom edge above the floor: we recommend around 30 cm. A lower placement makes work harder (you have to kneel), while too high complicates fitting longer manifolds with several circuits.
- Height of the cabinet's top edge: ideally up to 180 cm above the floor, so you can reach the valve heads and air-vent screws without a ladder.
- Free space in front of the cabinet: at least 50 cm, so the door can open fully while leaving room to work with tools (a wrench, a bleed key, or possibly a bucket to catch water during bleeding).
- Distance from a room corner: at least 15-20 cm, otherwise the door will hit the adjacent wall when opening before you can reach the whole interior.
- Access to a power outlet: if the manifold also includes an underfloor heating control unit or a circulation pump, it's worth having a free 230 V outlet near the cabinet - running an extension cable across the room isn't a nice solution.
These values (30 cm from the floor, up to 180 cm for the top edge, 50 cm of free space in front, 15-20 cm from the corner) are also summed up clearly in the diagram below:
Practical example: renovating a bathroom core
Let's picture a typical case - a 3-room panel-block flat, where the owner is renovating both the bathroom and kitchen and wants to sort out the hot and cold water manifold. The original location was in the corner of the bathroom behind the washing machine, with practically zero access - to reach the valves, the owner always had to pull the washing machine out from under the connection. During the renovation, the manifold was moved to the adjacent hallway, where the space is 105 cm wide. Given this width, the choice of a recessed cabinet was clear - a surface-mounted version, at a depth of around 12-15 cm, would have narrowed the hallway passage to an uncomfortable roughly 90 cm.
The cabinet was installed with its top edge at a height of roughly 175 cm (so it wouldn't collide with the adjacent bathroom door opening) and its bottom edge 30 cm above the floor - exactly per the recommendations above. The result: reaching the whole manifold takes a few seconds, the door opens with no obstruction, and the owner doesn't have to move anything.
The difference between the two cabinet types is perhaps best illustrated by the 105 cm figure from the example above - a real hallway width commonly found in flats:
Choosing cabinet size based on the number of circuits and available space
Placement is also closely linked to the cabinet size you choose - a larger manifold with more circuits logically calls for a bigger cabinet, and therefore more free space on the wall or in the niche. In the atria.sk range you'll find, for example, three common surface-mounted widths - 385 mm, 485 mm and 615 mm - which cover most ordinary and larger installations in both flats and family houses.
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Manifold cabinet 385 mm - surface-mounted - the most compact model, ideal for smaller flats, storage rooms, or narrow hallways where there's no room for a larger manifold with several circuits. Thanks to its smaller size it also fits more easily into tighter corners without disturbing the free space in front of it. Price from €63.10. |
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Manifold cabinet 485 mm - surface-mounted - a medium, universal size suitable for ordinary family houses and larger flats with an underfloor heating manifold on several circuits. This is also the size we most often recommend for a utility room or garage, where space is already more comfortable than in a flat. Price from €67.53. |
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Manifold cabinet 615 mm - surface-mounted - the largest of the three models, suitable for more spacious utility rooms or garages in larger houses with extensive underfloor heating across several floors. With this size, keep in mind that the recommended 50 cm of free space in front applies across its whole width, not just the centre. Price from €75.15. |
The diagram below sums up the relationship between cabinet width and price, along with a rough recommendation of where each size most often fits:
Most common mistakes when choosing a location
Over years of experience selling manifolds and cabinets, we've noticed that the vast majority of complaints and later adjustments have nothing to do with the cabinet's quality, but with the wrong placement. The most common mistakes include:
Building it in with no service opening
This happens especially with recessed cabinets combined with insulation or tiling work - if the final building work overlooks the fact that the cabinet must stay accessible, part of the frame or even the whole door can end up covered by tiling or plasterboard. The fix is simple: before the final surface finishes, always check that the cabinet door can open freely and that the frame isn't partially covered.
Placement behind furniture
A classic scenario - the cabinet is initially well accessible, but a few years later a new wardrobe, shelving unit or built-in bed gets added to the room, and the manifold becomes physically unreachable. When planning furniture for a room with a manifold cabinet, always think about future layout changes too, not just the current state.
Underestimating free space in front of the door
Even if the door can open, the work itself (bleeding, replacing a head, checking pressure) also needs room for you to stand or kneel comfortably in front of the cabinet. The recommended 50 cm of free space in front of the cabinet isn't an exaggerated requirement - it's the real minimum distance needed to work without acrobatics.
Wrong estimate of the future number of circuits
During renovations it sometimes happens that a smaller cabinet (e.g. 385 mm) is chosen first, with the idea that "another circuit will be added later" - without first checking whether the smaller cabinet can even accommodate any future expansion of the manifold. In that case it's more sensible to go straight for a medium or larger size (485 mm or 615 mm), especially if finishing an attic, garage, or another room with its own heating circuit is planned.
Ignoring access to electricity
If the manifold includes a control unit or a circulation pump, the absence of a nearby outlet is solved either with an extension cable running across the room (unsightly and potentially hazardous in damper spaces), or with additional electrical work. Both can easily be avoided by planning for this requirement already at the electrical design stage.
Summary - what not to forget when choosing a cabinet location
When choosing where to place a manifold cabinet, it's worth proceeding systematically: first choose a suitable room (hallway, storage room, bathroom or kitchen unit in a flat; utility room, garage or upstairs hallway in a house), then decide between the surface-mounted and recessed version based on available space, and finally follow the recommended distances - 30 cm from the floor to the bottom edge, up to 180 cm to the top edge, at least 50 cm of free space in front, and 15-20 cm from a room corner. Add a correctly chosen cabinet size based on the number of circuits, and you'll have a manifold that's worth coming back to and can be comfortably reached whenever needed - which, in the end, is the whole point of this decision.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does the manifold cabinet always have to be accessible without moving furniture?
Yes, ideally it should be. Although in practice we do come across solutions where the cabinet is, for example, inside a lower kitchen unit, that's more of a last-resort solution. The ideal state is one where you can reach the manifold instantly, without having to move anything - saving you time and hassle at future service visits.
Can a cabinet be moved later if the original location turns out to be unsuitable?
Technically yes, but it's work comparable to a partial renovation - the pipework has to be extended or rerouted to the new location, which means breaking out and replastering. That's why it's worth investing time in choosing the right location from the start, rather than fixing it later.
Is there a difference in placement between a hot/cold water manifold and an underfloor heating manifold?
In principle, the same recommendations apply for height and free space. The difference is more that an underfloor heating manifold tends to be bulkier (more circuits, possibly also a circulation pump and control unit), so a utility room or at least a larger cabinet is more often chosen for it, while a water manifold commonly fits into a smaller space in a bathroom or hallway.
What if I have very little free wall space in my flat?
In that case a recessed cabinet is almost always the better choice, since only a thin frame with a door protrudes from the wall instead of the whole cabinet body. You'll find more on the differences in the article Recessed vs. Surface-Mounted Cabinet.
Does it make sense to place the cabinet outdoors or in an unheated garage?
In an unheated garage, yes, but with emphasis on pipe insulation and, if possible, placing it against a wall shared with a heated space, to reduce the risk of freezing on cold days. A purely outdoor location (outside the building) is a specific case that requires a separate assessment of frost resistance and isn't a common solution for a standard heating manifold.
How do I know what cabinet size to choose for my number of circuits?
As a rough guide, the compact 385 mm cabinet suits smaller flats and a lower number of circuits, the medium 485 mm size covers an ordinary family house, and the 615 mm variant suits larger boiler rooms with a more extensive manifold. The exact size should always match the actual size of the chosen manifold - you'll find the detailed method in the article What Cabinet Size Based on Number of Circuits.
Related topics
- How to Choose a Manifold Cabinet
- Recessed vs. Surface-Mounted Cabinet
- What Cabinet Size Based on Number of Circuits
- Installing a Manifold Cabinet
You'll find the full range of cabinets in the main category Manifold cabinets.
Have a question about this topic?
Not sure what to choose, or dealing with a specific situation in your home? Write to us - we're happy to help.