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Bathroom heating options

2 years ago

I have a large bathroom that is too cold. There is a toilet room, a very large shower, and an open space with a large tub and two vanities. I also don’t have enough hanging towel space. I’ve heard of wall towel bars that are also towel warmers, wall mounted radiators, heaters in a ceiling fan, and baseboard heaters that can go in the toe kick space. The largest available wall space is above the tub, where the current towel bar is. I could put any size there, and if I had a professional install could have electricity run to it through the wall, at least more easily than to run water up to that spot. The toe kicks are only a couple of feet, but there are two. I could likely get power there to those through the cabinets. One of the two already has a plug inside for the tub. The fan could be replaced, but it’s very far away from the rest of the bathroom, up high.

The house uses gas and electric, so both infrastructure exists, but I’m not going to add gas elements.

The bathroom is against two exterior walls, so it is going to get very cold from outside. There is attic access above it with some insulation there. The water heater is above in the attic. I could put a thermal window covering, or try to add more insulation in the attic, but I don’t think there is much I can do to the two exterior walls now.

Thank you for any advice you have!

Comments (5)

  • 2 years ago

    More bathroom photos

  • 2 years ago

    You may be able to insulate the walls. There is blow-in insulation or foam that is put in place through holes either cut in your drywall or in the exterior wall. Siding can sometimes be removed and replaced after the holes are filled. With brick, They have to go from the inside. Fire stops in the stud walls can mean LOTS of holes, though, I would think.

    All of my outer rooms with two exterior walls get very cold, too. I have brick siding. I have lots of blown-in insulation in the attic of our 1978 ranch, but I don’t think there is much, if any in the walls. I freeze once the weather turns cold, lit is like feeling the warmth sucked out of my body. We solved this in three rooms in our house using something called cove heating. It is electric heat from panels hung up by the ceiling. He it is in our small bathroom. It works best hardwired into two household circuits to make 220 circuits (or is that 240? I never remember). It uses less electricity that way. You put a thermostat in each room with a cove heater, and keep the door closed except when entering and leaving. The room can get quite toasty. The cove heater puts out radiant heat. You can feel it “shining” on you when you stand still. The radiant heat hits objects in the room, heats them up, and they then radiate heat into the air until the room reaches your set temperature. We first got one for my father-in-law, who had the corner bedroom, and who was 90 years old. It worked very well and did not seem to add very much to our electric bill. Then, when we remodeled the bathroom, I had one installed there. Husband’s office/music room/library with French door got the third one. He uses it when he works from home or is practicing music. We tend to turn up the heat an hour or so before we want to use the room. The bathroom thermostat is set to turn on before shower time in the morning and go back down afterward. Unlike forced-air or fan heat, there is no breeze created that battles with how warm the extra heat versus the increased draft feels on the skin. There is nothing that things, kids, or pets can touch that might burn them. Mine come from Nebraska and are American made.

    https://www.radiantsystemsinc.com/get-comfort-cove-pricing/specifications-sizing-guide/

  • 2 years ago

    We have a heated floor and a mini-split in our bathroom. Works well.

  • 2 years ago

    I recently replaced the flooring and shower, so radiant flooring is not an option

  • 2 years ago

    You might be able to have blown in insulation for the outside walls. However, the cove heating suggestion from Nancy sounds like something to explore.