Supplementary Bathroom Heat--Which Option Would You Do? (XPost fr

13 years ago

New construction in upstate NY -- 6900 heating degree days.

We would like to add some "comfort" heating to the bathrooms, esp since we keep the house thermostat low (like 64 degrees).

Bathrooms are built over partially conditioned crawlspace (insulated but not heated -- likely crawspace temps in winter in the 50s). We're at the stage of roughing electric and both top and bottom of subfloor are accessible, ceilings not yet insulated or drywalled.

Bathrooms are 13X9 and 6x9 with 9' ceilings.

Choice narrows to elec resistance -- we're doing forced air central HVAC, and the cost of add'l hydronic heating equip for two bathrooms wd be prohibitive. Options include:

Ceiling panels
Floor panels (radiant tile)
Towel warmers (wall mount)
Towel warmers that also act as radiators (larger wall mount)
Supplementary fan-driven heaters
Combination fan WITH towel warmer (blows over the towels)

We wd prefer something that makes the bathroom feel warm quickly--concern over time and cost to preheat large mass of floor only to be used for 20 minutes.

Thanks for your thoughts. --Mark

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Comments (11)

chisue
13 years ago
We're happy with radiant electrical under the floor tiles. Ours is Nu-Heat, with a timer you can set to go up an hour before you usually use the room. (I just leave ours on at a nominal degree all night -- no icy tiles underfoot during a 3 a.m. visit.)

Could you also have tubing for hot water that would run off your water heater? (Presuming you'll have tank heaters.)
booboo60
13 years ago
I would agree with 'chisue', radiant floor heating, from what people tell me, is wonderful! We almost went with it in our build but our house is not that big and the forced air heat works well. "Fan-driven heaters" are expensive to run and don't "spread" the heat as well. Just not familiar with ceiling panels?
Good Luck!
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david_cary
13 years ago
There is nothing expensive about fan driven heaters. Say our is 1500 watts (about right). 30 min a day would be high usage but that would cost $2 a month. Usually run in heating season anyway so provides $.70 in supplemental heat so we are talking $1.30 a month. And the reality is our usage is probably 1/2 that so $.65 a month.
dakota01
13 years ago
I had the ceiling heat lamps in my last house. I did use them, but most times, I just turned the water on HOT and ran it for awhile before my shower. Not economical but it worked for me
lorriew
13 years ago
I would go with the radient heat floor and the fan/heater combo...
manhattan42
13 years ago
Heat the crawlspace.

It is required to be by Code and will solve your problems.
krycek1984
13 years ago
What exactly is the point of heating a crawlspace? You don't heat basements.
manhattan42
13 years ago
Crawlspaces are not basements.

Crawlspaces are required to be ventilated and when not, are required to be insulated and conditioned.

If you do not condition the crawlspace by heating it, cooling it and dehumidifying it, you end up losing heat to it and it becomes a big heat sink.

If you are planning to heat the bathroom without heating the crawlspace you are approaching the building back-asswards and are in violation of energy codes.
--------------

Crawlspaces either need to be ventilated with an insulated ceiling between them and the conditioned space above OR 'closed' and unventilated with walls inaulated and then heated.

Anything else violates building and enegry codes and makes for a wasteful energy design.
booboo60
13 years ago
I was actually referring to "wall heaters" that are installed in a wall and run off a switch. Space heaters are just a portable heater that can be plugged in. If these heaters are only used for minutes a day maybe all you need is a space heater?
manhattan42
13 years ago
I was actually referring to "wall heaters" that are installed in a wall and run off a switch. Space heaters are just a portable heater that can be plugged in. If these heaters are only used for minutes a day maybe all you need is a space heater?

Not according to Buiding and Energy Codes.

Codes require closed crawlspaces to be conditioned (heated).
david_cary
13 years ago
Manhattan42 - sometimes you say the craziest things. In my neck of the woods, every crawlspace is vented and unconditioned. Sealing crawlspace is a new thing but even then you don't purposely heat the space. There is R-19 under the floor - that does a pretty good job at keeping the heat in the house. Are you in NY? - if so it is possible that your codes are more like the OPs. But around here in crawlspace land - we vent and don't condition. Sealing costs some $ but does help some wuth heating costs.

To the OP - you probably have a basement - so all this doesn't apply. Yes - you could heat the basement. This helps but tile is still cold and it is nice for the bathroom to be the warmest room in the house when you shower. We use supplemental heat on our 2nd floor bathroom.

It really sounds like heat lamps or fan heaters are what you want. They both cost the same to put out the same heat. You can only beat that if you have a hot water heating system and can tap into that. Having had both - I prefer the fan because of the "baked" feeling of heat lamps. The lamps can be directed better for heat in one particular spot but the fan heats the room better.

My father is a PhD engineer who wrote some pretty landmark papers on energy efficiency in the 70s - he agrees that using electric resistance heating in a bathroom for occassional heat is the way to go. If you use it for 5% of the time, it doesn't really matter that it isn't the cheapest way to make heat.

Supplementary Bathroom Heat--Which Option Would You Do? (XPost fr

Comments (11)

chisue

booboo60

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