On the tile electric use. I doubt it is that much but I don't know in the new house. In my last house, I didn't notice a bump when we put it in but like most people our electric varies $10-20 each month even when it isn't temp related. Zone 7, 120V, 800 watts or so, 140 sq ft, above insulated crawlspace. New house is 240V 1600watts, 200 sq feet, 2nd story. Both times I used the wire technique. Obviously electric use is dependent on how you set it. If you only run it for the hour before showering (about the heat up time) - then you are looking at no more than $.15 a day - even with a large bathroom. You also have to count about 1/2 of that to lower your heating costs. I say 1/2 because electric resistance heat is about two to three what other systems costs - but it depends on your primary heat system. You should also include in that, that your bathroom floor is one of the most important places to be warm, so you might wind up lowering your thermostat a degree. My wife and I like it cold at night so our bedroom zone is at 60 - the bathroom floor needs to be a bit warmer than that. But without heated tile, we might need to bump our stat to 62 or 63 and the bathroom still wouldn't be as comfortable. So don't be overly concerned about the electric use. Be concerned but don't forget the substractions to the cost. So if it costs $10, it may provide $4 worth of heat to the house, and then might allow a degree down your stat at night which saves another $4. So in the end, it might be $2 a month....

First thing is DON'T listen to folks unless they are knowledgeable in that field. The person that told you to simply change the breaker is a fool! See what is actually on that circuit. Adding a 250W heat lamp will not overload the circuit unless it is close already with what is always on. You can have potentially 40 amps worth of load, it's just that not everything is on at the same time. There are no heaters or bath receptacles on this circuit, are there?

I don't know the fixture you're talking about but I have an 8x10 room and my 2 bulb heating lamp by Braun does do some warming, but not very much. I put it in because DH wanted a heating lamp like we had when the room was 8x5. It was helpful then, when the room was smaller, but now it really doesn't provide much warmth in my experience. I have floor warming and central heat so the room feels nice after a shower. I could have done without the ceiling heating lamp.

Do not put heat under the shower floor: 1) Electric mats can develop defects and the presence of water can lead to a shock hazard. If you think this is far-fetched, there is more than one thread in these forums about such problems. 2) Hydronic heat (warm water circulated in tubes) does not present a shock hazard, but it is also of little use in a shower. Radiant heat only makes the floor warm enough to keep the ambient air at a decent room temperature...as soon as you turn on the shower, the initial blast of water overwhelms any contribution of warmth from the floor in a second or two.