Toaster under wall cupboards - does it harm cupboard above

[BridportSpectacular]

We've got a toaster on the worktop - so it's under a wall cupboard. DH insists on pulling it out as he says the toaster will harm the cupboard above when it's on. I think it looks really untidy like that and push it back.

It's a small thing - but I think he's wrong.

When kitchen got redone we didn't have a 'applicance garage'....

Mine's been under the cupboard for 15 years. No problem at all.

Might depend on your kitchen. My mum had hers “wrapped” to update the cupboards and the wall cupboards above the kettle and toaster are now peeling and you can see the old fronts.

The obvious solution is to pull it out to use it, then push it back when you've finished.

If you use the toaster under the cupboard, it warms the cupboard which is not good if you have food in that cupboard. I would also expect the underside of the cupboard to become discoloured over time.

I also think it's potentially dangerous - the build up of heat, fire risk - particularly if the toaster malfunctioned.

It should be fine. We have had our toaster under the cupboard for years with no problems.

Although I would suspect it is too close to the underside the heat may damage the cupboard over time. It all depends on the proximity and the material.

If you LOVE your cupboards or they were very expensive I would pull it out to make sure...then push it back when finished.

Depends how much heat and how close to it it is.

I would have thought that if there is enough room for the toast to pop up there is probably enough clearance for heat.

Kettle I think would be worse.

As other people have said, the problem with MDF is that over time the veneer can peel off and it looks bad - the only way to really deal with this is to replace it.

The other place i notice it is around anywhere where there is a lot of water and steam. So around the dishwasher and on the top of the cupboard door under the sink, and on the underneath of the worktop next to the sink. The water gets inside the mdf and makes it swell up and the veneer peels. I have fixed some of it with waterproof tape, which seals of the wood.

I suspect there's no right or wrong answer to this.

If you keep your toaster on a tray, it's easy enough to slide out from under the cupboard to use, and also means you won't forever be cleaning crumbs off work surfaces.

It absolutely does. My under cupboard has now discoloured and it won’t clean up back to white unfortunately. It’s heat damaged. You can’t see from standing but if I stoop down this is what it looks like 😳 image attached.

To be fair, my cabinets are around 6cm lower than the average as we have a pitched roof in our kitchen but if yours are of average height then definitely pull it out to use 🥰

Is it not as simple as pull out to use and push back in to store?

Ours is below an under cabinet light which flickers if it's on while the toaster is in use, so there's definitely potential for problems!

The obvious solution is to pull it out to use it, then push it back when you've finished.

This. 🤷‍♀️

We just pull out to use, push in after. Exactly the same system with the kettle - if anything steam is worse than dry heat as MDF absorbs water and expands.
The expected life of a kitchen is surely only 20 years anyway, so I think leaving it under is probably a valid option if you're not going for max life.
Another option is to get some steel sheet from Wickes and fix it to the cabinet above.