With winter still well and truly nipping at our heels, we are all still looking at ways to keep our homes warm. And there’s one room in the house that we want to keep warm more than anything else is the bathroom. There’s nothing worse than a cold bathroom in the morning after getting out of a toasty warm bed. And in the evening, a warm bathroom is the perfect way to unwind before going to bed. But with energy costs rising, it is understandable that warming up your bathroom is probably the least of your concerns. So today, the team at Martec is going to discuss some cost-effective heating solutions for your bathroom, to keep you warm all year round!
Technical Ways to Create Cost Effective Heating Solutions
First, we will discuss the most important aspects of finding cost effective heating solutions for your bathroom. This is the technical ways, through appliances, use of appliance, and energy use. These include:
1: Using Your Bathroom Exhaust Fan Cleverly
Bathroom exhaust fans are a great way of warming your bathroom. And 3-in-1 bathroom fans are not only economically, but they’re also space-saving. A 3-in-1 bathroom fan combines a heater, bathroom light, and bathroom exhaust fan, and is usually ceiling mounted. This means your bathroom is uncluttered, reducing the risk of accidents from stand heaters and fans. And 3-in-1 bathroom exhaust fans, like those from Martec, are IP Rated, so they are safe for use around water.
However, experts recommend turning off your exhaust fan while you’re taking a bath. The warmth will stay in the bathroom while saving you energy. However, you must turn your exhaust fan back on as soon as you get out of the bath, especially if you have a 3-in-1. Your exhaust fan is an integral part of your bathroom as it prevents moisture build-up.
If moisture is allowed to build up it can lead to mould growing in your bathroom as well as the destruction of walls, paintwork, and bathroom fixtures. Further, mould can be a severe health hazard for family members, especially the very vulnerable like children, the elderly, and those with chronic illnesses.
And, by turning your heater back on when getting out of the bath, it ensures you don’t get cold while drying off and getting ready for work or bed.
Most 3-in-1 bathroom heaters have the option to turn elements off while keeping others on. So you may keep the heater and lights on while keeping the exhaust off. Or turn the heater off and use the lights and exhaust. By doing so, you can use your exhaust fan cleverly for cost-effective heating solutions.
2: Choosing an Efficient Bathroom Heating System
Not all heating systems are built the same, and not all systems are equally efficient to run over long periods. For one, portable heaters, top-up heaters, and portable fan heaters should never be used on a permanent basis, especially in a busy bathroom. The running costs of these heaters quickly eclipse any savings you made purchasing these cheap heaters over an energy-saving 3-in-1 bathroom heater.
As a rule, the most efficient heating systems in a bathroom at those that use radiation, not convection heating. Convection is a form of heat conduction where heat is transferred via the air. As the air passes through your heater, it heats up. This causes it to rise, circulating the room and transferring to the occupants of the room. Radiation or infrared heating, however, heats objects and surfaces directly without heating the air. This is similar to the same way that the sun warms the Earth. It is a far more efficient process because it ensures you lose less heat through draughts and open windows. This makes infrared heating options the best for bathrooms where warm air is constantly sucked out of the room by the extractor fan.
To take full advantage of radiated heating, you can combine your infrared 3-in-1 bathroom heater with other radiation bathroom heating, like underfloor heating. These systems push radiated heat from the ceiling and floor while not wasting energy heating the air. This is not only more efficient but there are also a number of benefits for busy bathrooms. Radiated heat warms surfaces, meaning moisture is less likely to condense and will evaporate faster. As a result, you can keep dampness at bay, protecting your bathroom, helping prevent mould, and helping prevent slippering floors!
3: Adjustable Bathroom Heating
When choosing how to heat your bathroom, it is important to consider if the system is adjustable or not. Martec 3-in-1 heaters and exhaust systems, for example, are not only heat adjustable but are compatible with Martec remote control. This means you can control the heater even while in the bath, allowing you to adjust the heat levels, as well as turn the heater or exhaust off. Martec 3-in-1 heaters can be run at 100% or 50% heat, and you can run the lights, exhaust, and heating independently of each other. This allows you to use the heater however you need, making it easy to adjust to your needs. This means you limit energy consumption compared to units that will run all three functions at once, no matter if you just need the lights in the middle of the night!
4: Sealing Off Leaks
When it comes to keeping our homes warm, we are quick to find and seal off leaks around doors and windows. But one of the rooms most often overlooked is the bathroom. Because our bathrooms are often internal rooms, especially in apartments where there isn’t the option to give the bathroom a window, we don’t think about leaks. However, bathrooms are just like any other room in your house, your bathroom needs to be weatherised. Leaks can occur around windows, if you have them, under doors, and even around some vents.
As a result, it is important to check your bathroom, just like any other room of the house, for leaks and seal them off. This ensures hot air isn’t leaking out of the bathroom, forcing the heater to work hard, causing you to waste energy and driving up your energy bill. It also ensures that moisture isn’t escaping into the rest of your home, potentially causing mould to grow, causing illness and property damage.
Decorative Ways to Warm a Bathroom
While these suggestions below won’t actually warm up your bathroom, they do work on our psychology. As a result, they help to make our bathrooms feel warmer, tricking us into feeling a space is warmer than it is. This can help save on energy, if we don’t feel the need to use as much heating. We have a few easy decorating solutions below:
1: Warm Up Your Bathroom with a New Colour Scheme
Colour theory plays an incredible role in how we perceive the world. Cool colours like blues and greens can make us feel cool or cold, while warm tones can make us feel warm and cosy. So your bathroom colour scheme can play a significant role as to whether your bedroom feels warm or cold.
While the current trend is for bathrooms in stark white and black tones, these tend to enhance the cold feel of your bathroom. Try incorporating a warm colour into your bathroom décor, paint, or even your tiling to warm up your bathroom.
2: Utilise Warm Lighting
A lot of modern light bulbs emit bright, white light. And while this bright, cold light is great in task areas, like the kitchen or a study, they aren’t always the best option for your bathroom space. Bathrooms are generally a place where we are waking up in the morning or unwind at the end of the day. So a warmer light is far better than a brighter, colder one. For more information on using lights and light temperatures, read our blog here.
3: Towels and Robes
The towels you use can make a difference to the overall feel of your bathroom. Cosy, plush towels and bathmats help create a warmer atmosphere in your bathroom. A cosy bathmat, especially, is important when stepping out of the bath or shower to keep your feet warm. After all, no one wants to step on a cold floor or a thin mat that holds no warmth. A soft, cosy bathmat and towel can warm up your bathroom in no time.
Struggling to find oversized bath towels? You could always invest in a bathrobe. Not only does a bathrobe cover your whole body, but you can also step out of the shower or bath and be covered instantly. It is an easy way to keep warm, even in winter.
4: Houseplants and Décor
Adding houseplants to the empty spaces in your bathroom can help make your space seem warm and inviting. Not only do they add to the overall environment of your bathroom but they can literally add warmth by releasing moisture and increasing humidity levels.
As well as adding plants, consider adding small elements of décor to make your bathroom a more inviting place. Trinket trays, books, bath bombs, and anything else that will help make you feel relaxed and happy. The happier you are, the more comfortable and cosy your bathroom will feel.