Can't you just turn the heat off? Is it electric or hydronic (hot water) heat? Radiant heat in the floor is relatively expensive, so I'm surprised it was done without your knowledge.

The flooring also has to take the in-floor heat into consideration. Its my understanding that some wood floor manufacturers won't warranty an installation with heat under it.

Bruce

I was aware it was being installed, just not in the pantry. If I turn off the heat the areas where I do want it won't be warm

Abcd-

You still need to answer the question about whether it's electric or hydronic....

I believe it's hydronic

Unfortunately, that would likely be harder to disconnect or alter for that one area than an electric mat system.

A small room like a bathroom or a pantry heated by an electric mat might be able to be disconnected depending on how the install was done. A hydronic system with tubes would be much less likely to have a dedicated small zone that you could simply isolate by closing of a manifold.

I am assuming in both cases that there is no access to the floor from below.

What did you end up doing?