I have the ceiling type of fan heater that works well but it doesn't heat instantly. The heated tile also which works well - you leave those on all the time with thermostat control and timer control. So if you have a predictable wake up time you can set to go off an hour before you get up.

But if you have hydronic heat, that really should be enough for the floors right?

Heat lamps are passe - they are hard to find. Even on the internet, there aren't a lot of options. I couldn't find a replacement bulb for our last house - built 1993. There were bulbs but it was in a tracklight situation and none would look right.

Our old house has a heat lamp. Home Depot has the bulbs.

We did a heated tile floor in our new house. A tile floor will add 15 to 30 dollars a month to the electric bill. We only turn ours on in the winter.

Heated tile floors respond slowly, so they should be controlled by a timed thermostat. If you set it to turn the power off completely, the floor will be ice cold if you have to use the bathroom in the middle of the night. We set ours to cycle between "not ice cold" at night and during the middle of the day, and "toasty warm" during the times we expect to be using the bathroom for showering.

creek_side,

Appreciate if you cd elaborate on the under-tile system you installed. Is it line or low voltage? Total wattage? Maker? Size of floor that's heated? In slab on grade, or over crawlspace? Zone in US? How much time to get the floor comfortable?

If your install was similar to what we're contemplating and your operating costs are accurate, then that is one upgrade that gets struck from my list. I've read mfr's info that claims these under tile mats consume pennies of electricity per day -- but that pitch seems too good to be true. Your experience substantiates my fear, but I wd sure appreciate as much info as possible.

Tx, Mark

Mark,

It'll be a few days before I can gather all of that info. I'll post back with it no later than Monday if you can hold on until then.

Sure--thank you, creek_side!
--Mark

We have a light/vent/heat ceiling fixture over our shower. They do mane them for use in wet areas. You need a ground fault dedicated electric circuit. I am looking to replace ours because the fan has gotten very noisy and that is a bad sign. Went googling the net and found several nice looking models. One was a Panasonic and another a Braun.

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....