A warm bathroom is a cosy bathroom, so we should take great care when selecting our bathroom heating equipment. We can choose from may kinds of wall heaters or floor heating.
Ladder-type heaters
Wall heaters are no longer only crude and heavy cast-iron rib heaters. Modern ladder-type heaters provide suitable temperature and humidity in a bathroom, but they may also be a part of bathroom decoration, a dryer and a hanger at the same time. A heater can serve the role of partition wall or a support for lightweight shelves.
Bathroom heaters are made of steel or copper, less frequently of aluminium. The most popular are heaters powered by water from a central heating installation, although some models have additional electrical heating elements which allows activating the heater outside the heating season. Additional heating elements can be installed in most water heaters. The power of the heating element should be lower than the heating power of the heater.
There are also ladder-type heaters powered by electricity – particularly recommended in houses with no central heating system. These heaters are powered by a heating element in a form of a cable running inside the heater. Electric heaters are completely safe, their construction prevents the user from becoming electrocuted.
Ladder-type heaters are manufactured in many shapes (rectangular, cylindrical, round) and in many colours. Some manufacturers provide the option of ordering a custom heater... at extra charge, obviously.
Floor heating
Another practical bathroom heating solution is floor heating installation. Floor heating can be powered by water or electricity, the two being different as regards the structure and cost of manufacturing. Water heating is more expensive to produce but cheaper in operation.
Electric floor heating makes use of three heating elements – cables (the cheapest), mats and films. When activated by current, they become warmer and transmit their heat to the floor. Electric heating systems are usually powered by 230 V single-phase current, less frequently by 400 V three-phase current.
The main element of water floor heating are plastic pipes. Installation of this type of heating system requires thermal and damp insulation. Water systems are heated by water at a temperature of 50 degrees Celsius, supplied from additional heating boilers or distribution points, so this type of heating is recommended for buildings with central heating systems.
When deciding to install floor heating, remember that in most cases it raises the bathroom floor level by 5-7.5 cm. Electric wires and water heating pipes should be installed in a concrete screed, electric mats and heating films require no special surface. The best materials for finishing the floor are those which best conduct the heat, i.e. marble, granite, gres and ceramic materials. Due to the difference in thermal expansion between concrete and ceramic tiles, it is better to use smaller tiles and fill up their connections with special, flexible filling.
As regards floor heating, avoid floors made of wood or wood-like materials, as they are bad heat conductors and may become deformed under impact.