A bathroom heater will keep you toasty
and warm on those chilly mornings.
Why have a bathroom heater? Well, let's think about it.
When is the worst time to be in the bathroom? It's 6:30 on a Tuesday morning after you crawl out of the warm shower and into the cold bathroom.
With all of their hard surfaces bathrooms are notoriously cold. Bathroom heaters change all of that.
There are essentially three types of heat that we use in our homes. The first is forced air, the second is radiant and the third is infrared. By far the most common way to heat a home is with forced air. This means that the air in the home is heated by a gas or electric element and then "forced" throughout the home by a blower. While not the most energy efficient way to heat a home, or bathroom for that matter, it is effective, versatile and inexpensive to install.
Many older homes and even newer homes in northern climates are heated with hot water radiant heat. In this scenario water is heated by a boiler and moved through a piping system to radiators throughout the home. How does radiant heat work? It heats the objects in a room (floor, furniture, even people) as opposed to the air. This makes it a much more efficient method for heating a home and also a much better bathroom space heater.
The benefits of radiant heat are numerous, it is more efficient, less maintenance is needed, it is easily "zoneable" and it keeps a bathroom more comfortable. There are many types of radiant heat sources for a bathroom, the best being electric radiant floor heat. With this type of bathroom heater, the entire floor becomes a radiator of heat keeping those toes warm on a winters morning.
Installing radiant floor heat is usually accomplished while completely remodeling a bathroom although it can be done as a stand-alone project. In floor radiant heat can be installed under just about any floor a radiant heat contractor can help you to decide if the flooring you want is suitable for in floor radiant heat. For example wood flooring over radiant heat is possible but there are many considerations to take. Consult with a professional radiant heat contractor when in doubt.
Other types of electric radiant heat include, baseboard heaters, ceramic radiant heat space heaters and other types of bathroom radiators. Th options are virtually limitless.
When shopping for a bathroom space heater, there is one last type of heat to consider. Infrared space heaters are some pretty amazing things. Sort of like radiant heat they heat objects not air, thus they are more efficient and cost less to run. They rely on infrared radiation to warm your body. This is the same energy that warms your skin when you are in the sun, without the ultraviolet radiation that causes sunburns.
Quartz infrared heaters are probably the most popular electric space heater for the bathroom. In fact you may have one already. These are usually portable and provide some intense heat in a confined area quickly and efficiently. One thing to be sure of is that you have a dedicated circuit to your bathroom if you are going to run an electric space heater for a long period of time or at all for that matter. Safety comes first, we don't want any fires out there.
Finally, if your budget allows a good way to spend a cold winters afternoon would be warmed in your own sauna. Saunas are known for their health restorative capabilities especially in chronic pain sufferers and arthritis sufferers. Infrared sauna heaters can heat a personal sauna quickly and efficiently and provide years of trouble free service.
When searching for the best space heater to keep your bones warm in that chilly bathroom there are many considerations to make. Maybe a simple bathroom exhaust fan heater will be the way to warm up that cool space. Possibly you'll find that a natural gas bathroom heater will be just the ticket. Whatever you decide make the commitment, install a heater and start enjoying your time in the bathroom instead of just enduring it.
