Google: Radiant ceiling panels. You can put them on timer when you're most likely to bathe.

We have radiant heat in our bathroom ceiling.

About the ceiling tiles, are they on a thermostat? I would like the bathroom to be warm when I get up in the morning, so I would want to set a thermostat to start heating up the room before I woke up. And, how long does it take to heat the room with the ceiling panels?

We have radiant heat in the floor and they can be used to keep the bath warm all the time. We don't as we have it set to warm the floor just when we're in the room, but when we first started using it, we had the floor temp up and it kept the whole room warm and then some.

However, the floor is a heat sink, so if you want it warm, keep it warm all the time as it's slow to heat and slow to cool.

Our radiant floor does heat the room. In fact if the door is open it also heats the maser bedroom. I'm sure it can't be the sole source of heat but it's definitely a few degrees warmer.

I have an eHeat electric wall panel heater in one bathroom. It's a plug in without the thermostat. I'm on my second winter with it and it heats the room just fine. I have to keep the door closed in order to keep the heat in.

Thank you all for your thoughts and recommendations. Here's the thing, because I live in the pacific northwest, the temperature can fluctuate 50-60 on day and 30 the next. I had a whole house radiant heating system in my last house and it was great except when it got hot or cold outside, but the radiant took 2 days to adjust and by that time, the temp already changed again and it was sooo hot in the room you had to open all the windows to get some cool air in there.

So, I am definitely going to have the warm electric floor in the bathroom, but I do want an additional heat source, whether it's a small in the wall heater with a thermostat that I can either set to go on and off based on a temperature, or just turn it on and get a stream of heat flow quickly to heat the room when I'm in there. I don't plan on spending long hours in the bathroom so I don't need the temperature to be constant, because I think I would be facing the same problem that when it gets warm outside, it will be too hot inside.

I've looked online and I've seen some hardwired small heaters built in that I'm going to check out. Also, I'm going to look at the radiant ceiling tile that one tile might just be enough to keep the room at a constant warm temperature and if it gets too hot, it can be turned down and will react in a shorter period of time than the radiant floor heat system.

I'm still looking. And if anyone has any more suggestions, keep them coming. Thanks!!

The radiant heat it sounds like you had in your other house (water in tubes under the floor) is different than the wires under the tile. We have the wires, and live in the midwest where the temperature fluctuates more than it does in your neck of the woods. We don't have the slow adjustment times you describe in your post. The floors go from zero to full temp within a half hour, and if you do like us and just leave them on all the time, they self-regulate and keep the floor (and room) at an even temperature.

We live in the Seattle area and remodeled our small master bath about five years ago. We installed an electric radiant heat mat under our marble tile floor and it's hooked up to a programmable thermostat. After playing with it the first few months I've found that I prefer to leave it on all the time, at a relatively moderate setting (6 out of 12 levels of heat), only turning it down a little (to 4) during the summer months. The only other heat source in the bathroom is a heat lamp/fan unit, located just in front of our shower - it produces plenty of heat to make me feel toasty in the morning. Because we're just heating a small room, and not the whole house, we've never had a problem with the bathroom feeling too hot or too cold. (The only cold spot are the tiles around the sides and back of the toilet, where we didn't run wires to avoid any condensation problems - those tiles are freezing in comparison! Brrrr!)

Not sure i've seen it mentioned but have you considered something as simple as having a heat lamp present for the extra jolt of heat? I doesn't have the convenience of a thermastat but if you're already having the under floor electric heating and you still don't think thats enough, a heat lamp might be just enough extra to keep you happy. It sure warmed the room plenty fast in the hotels I've been in that had one anyway.

That's what I'm thinking is some kind of heat lamp/fan for that quick burst of heat to warm up the room quickly if it's too cool in the winter and even in the summer. For folks who live in the Seattle area, you know that in the summer when the heat is off, the nights can still get down into the 40's. There will be regular heat vents in there, but there will be no heat in the room during the summer and I don't believe the electric floor coils can fully heat the room without ANY other heat source. But, a small heater or heat lamp (with or without a thermostat) could definitely be a solution for those times when I need some extra FAST heat to warm up the room when I go in there in the morning to get ready for work.

The big Home Show is tomorrow and we're going, so I'm going to be looking for those types of things there and some Professionals to talk to. Thanks again!!

Any heating system will keep the room at the desired temperature if it has a separate thermostat. First pick the system for it's comfort and energy efficiency and then ask the designer to provide a separate zone and thermostat for the rooms you want to be the most comfortable. A programmable thermostat will save some money since you will use the bathroom less than most other spaces.

A forced air system will heat the space more quickly when the outdoor temperature drops quickly.

Here is the proper way to do it: You need to heat a thermal mass. Heat lamps and such will not heat the room.

The ideal situation would be to have a ceiling of about 1" - 1.5" of rough plaster. Then install the heating panels, and the finished ceiling goes over that.

The mass of the ceiling will absorb the heat from the panels, and radiate back into the room, OVER A SUSTATINED PERIOD OF TIME. This will heat the room throughly and evenly.

A heat lamp will do nothing, except warm you when you stand directly under it. Heat in the floor is going to be something like 300 watts - which serves only to heat the floor.

Certainly the electric radiant floor heating will warm the room. How could it not do so? It is important to select the best control system. Mine has a sensor buried just under the tile, in a small conduit so that replacing the sensor, if necessary, is easy. It signals the wall thermostat and the floor temperature is quite even and consistent. The cheaper system uses a wall thermostat that senses the room temperature and turns on and off the floor elements. It can vary more in the temperature of the floor itself .

Can the OP explain why an additional source of heat would be needed in a bathroom if it is to be held to a constant temperature? The systems discussed so far are mostly intended to be supplemental heat when the bathroom is in use. Why would a separate zone of the primary heating system not be able to maintain the desired temperature at the lowest cost?

My understanding is a solution is needed for when the primary heating system is not activated, IE summer and to a certain degree fall and spring. Can't say I'd want my furnace maintained and running year round for 5 minutes of comfort after jumping out of the shower in the morning, but that's just me.

IMO a forced air furnace is a poor choice for this house. Consider putting the cost of supplemental heat toward a more efficient hydro-air system.

We are going to have a one zone furnace for the whole house. We are going to have the electric warming floor tiles in the master bath. The master closet which has carpet and no heated tiles and is off the master bath is quite large 14' x 12' and that's where I get dressed in the morning. I spend about 45 minutes in the bathroom and closet every morning getting ready for work. I just wanted something fairly simple and inexpensive that I could turn on when I'm in there either if it's really cold outside and I want it a little warmer in there, or in the spring and summer when I'm not running the furnace and it's still quite chilly in the morning where I live.

Yesterday we went to the big Home Show and saw a couple of wall heaters. We also saw a radiant ceiling tile with a on/off and thermostat. The product I liked the best was call ConvectAir. They make several different types and styles of wall heaters. One can actually be built into the wall with new construction and can be painted. They have a thermostat, but also an on/or switch that actually sends out heat like a space heater, but very quiet. I will have total control when I want it on or off and it will add heat quickly when I want extra heat. I think I'm going to get one for the master bath and one for the closet. They're pretty cool!

Many thanks Judysgarden!! We're building a new house and an extra heating source for the master bath was on my list to research.

If you get one -- Convectair -- please report back on the model and let us know if it meets your expectations.

This post was edited by jannz77 on Sun, Mar 24, 13 at 20:51

jannz77 - I will definitely let you know. We are still waiting for our permit and hope to be living in our house by Nov or Dec so I should be able to try it out this winter. I'll let you know. If you having heard from me, shoot me a message regarding it.

judysgardens - Your thread came up via a search for "Convectair," which we are considering for the same reason as you. We live on Puget Sound and did a major remodel during the last two years.

The old air-to-forced-air heat pump system was removed and replaced by a geothermal heat pump-to-radiant-in-floor heat on the first floor only. We live on the first floor and are comfortable and delighted with the system.

However, there is no heat source upstairs other than whatever drifts up for the first floor. We want supplemental heat for the bathroom and guest bedroom, so I also am looking forward to reading your experience with Convectair (or whatever you settle on).

judysgardens - Your thread came up via a search for "Convectair," which we are considering for the same reason as you. We live on Puget Sound and did a major remodel during the last two years.

The old air-to-forced-air heat pump system was removed and replaced by a geothermal heat pump-to-radiant-in-floor heat on the first floor only. We live on the first floor and are comfortable and delighted with the system.

However, there is no heat source upstairs other than whatever drifts up for the first floor. We want supplemental heat for the bathroom and guest bedroom, so I also am looking forward to reading your experience with Convectair (or whatever you settle on).

Rudolf,
what is a "air-to-forced-air heat pump"?
I am outside Seattle, and we have 2 ductless heat pump systems--one for each floor of our house; each with multiple heads for different rooms of the house.

Have you considered a ductless heat pump?

Also, there is an HVAC forum here, and you might get more responses if you post there.

Slightly off-topic question:

We're going to do radiant heating under the bathroom tiles. Can I have an on/off switch installed by the bed so I can "turn on the tiles" before I get out of bed?

Get a programmable (time of day) thermostat.

Here is a link that might be useful: Line Voltage Thermostat