Bathroom Heating

When you're in the middle of designing your ideal bathroom, it can be easy to get carried away with color schemes and tiling, but forget about practical necessities such as heating. You'll soon remember about it when the winter starts though! There are many types of bathroom heaters, in all shapes, colors, and styles to suit your bathroom décor. Some you see and some you don't. Let's start by looking at a very popular, very modern "invisible" type of bathroom heating...

Underfloor Heating

More and more people are installing underfloor heating systems in their bathrooms. There's nothing better than stepping out of a shower onto a tile floor to find that it's lovely and warm. Indeed, underfloor heating adds a huge degree of comfort and ease to using your bathroom even when it's freezing cold outside.

Underfloor heating usually works based on a system of warm water pipes running underneath your bathroom floor tiles. Alternatively, electric heating cables may be installed. The potential drawbacks to this system are that it can take a long time for heat to permeate through a thick floor, and that this type of heating will most likely increase your energy bills. On the plus side, once it gets going, underfloor heating creates a constant temperature in all areas of the bathroom.

Wall Heaters

Mounted wall heaters or radiators are another alternative. Because they attach to the wall, they can help to avoid cluttering the room and spoiling your décor. Some radiators can even be painted a color that suits your bathroom design, making them less noticeable. A baseboard heater is another type of heating device which is attached to the bottom of the wall. This can also be an option if you want to keep your bathroom space neat and tidy.

Towel Rails

In a modern bathroom, a heated towel rail is the way to go. They come in literally all shapes and sizes, and colors. They can be free standing but are more often mounted on a wall. Not only do they keep your towels warm (and allow you to dry and reuse them) but they can even provide enough heat for the whole bathroom (although underfloor heating will probably create a more constant level of heat).

Other Heaters

Freestanding electrical heaters are perhaps preferable only as a back-up option if your installed heating system breaks down, or if the weather gets really, really cold. Free standing heaters inevitably take up floor space, and can therefore make the bathroom look at bit untidy. Also, in the case of blow heaters, which expel warm air, they often don't provide constant heat. Your feet and legs may be warm but the top part of you will still be freezing!