Browse Forums Bathrooms and Laundry 1 Jul 11, 2012 4:10 pm Hi all, About to renovate the bathroom. Up till now we've had a small bathroom (which is fine BTW) and a 750x750 shower with sliding doors (not so fine). Also I might add we have an extraction fan above the shower (removes all steam fantastically) and a central heating vent in the room. [Thinking mid winter, where at 6am the house isn't quite up to temp] - So with the shower door shut the steam keeps you warm, and when you exit the shower we have a small electric heater (that you trip over and accidentally kick from time to time) that has no problem adding extra heat to the room. A lot of the warm central heating air is being extracted along with the steam, being replaced by the 3 degree air from outside. So, the new bathroom will be larger (read even harder to keepo warm mid-winter). We've opted for a closed shower to keep the steam in for our warmth [and the reason for the post] - we *do* want to avoid having the crappy little heater to kick around. The only alternative I see is the IXL tastic. What are you guys using (other than central heating) to heat the bathroom? and for those that own IXL tastics, do you think these do a good job? Any info appreciated. Cheers, HC Re: Bathroom heating options? IXL Tastic the only option? 2Jul 11, 2012 4:23 pm for a large ensuite, unless you are capable of finishing up all matters underneath IXL tastic, after getting out of shower it is, otherwise it is pretty much useless. it's not enough to warm up a large ensuite, and it is fixed at one location, distributing heat top-down/vertically. central heating takes a while to warm up, let alone wasted energy in other area of the houses where you don't normally use in the early morning, probably just shower --> get dress --> coffee/beer --> garage.
I have a rectangular size ensuite, it is long but not very wide, at 1 end is shower space, the other end bath tub, then 2 basin in the middle. I bought a fan assisted 2400w radiant heater placing near the bath tub end facing shower end, switch it on when i get in, off when i am done and leaving ensuite. my ensuite visit mostly last 20 minutes max, so i think it work out cheaper than central heating, but am not sure, i just like to think so. I have also been looking at electric heating strip, the type you have in outdoor area, but judging the price difference i could live with a 40 dollars radiant heater. Re: Bathroom heating options? IXL Tastic the only option? 3Jul 11, 2012 4:24 pm A few people I know have wall mounted panel heaters such as these http://www.nobo.com.au/html/AU/Content_Products_Heat.htm I think the IXL Tastics are a bit of a waste really as they only seem to burn the top of your head while the rest of you freezes!! I have also heard of getting an extra duct from gas ducted heating into the bathroom if thats also a possibility. Re: Bathroom heating options? IXL Tastic the only option? 4Jul 11, 2012 4:49 pm I've found these 3 in 1 units a waste of time. Heated towel rails actually help keep the room warm as well as giving you warm towels. If they are electric just put them on a time switch to come on 30 mins before you get up. The Harder You Try - the Luckier You Get ! Web site http://www.anewhouse.com.au Informative, Amusing, and Opinionated Blog - Over 600 posts on all aspects of building a new house. Bathroom heating options? IXL Tastic the only option? 5Jul 11, 2012 5:15 pm If you are retiling the floor, underfloor heating is the go. It only costs around $700 if you do it when retiling and in my view is the safest and most satisfying form of bathroom heating. On the other hand if you're not planning on taking up the old tiles the costs will be prohibitive. Re: Bathroom heating options? IXL Tastic the only option? 6Jul 11, 2012 5:17 pm offshore If you are retiling the floor, underfloor heating is the go. It only costs around $700 if you do it when retiling and in my view is the safest and most satisfying form of bathroom heating. On the other hand if you're not planning on taking up the old tiles the costs will be prohibitive. Wow! You can do that? I'm very interested. Can you give me a brand or name of this type of heating? Bathroom heating options? IXL Tastic the only option? 7Jul 11, 2012 5:39 pm Not sure of brand off the top of my head. Your sparky will know. We just had three put in during a full house renovation, and they come with a little LCD wall control pad so you can set them to come on at the right time of day. The other advantage of this type of heating is that the floor dries really quickly. Definitely a no brainer if you were already planning to redo the floor. Re: Bathroom heating options? IXL Tastic the only option? 8Jul 11, 2012 6:27 pm offshore come on at the right time of day. Looks like it's definitely not for short term "exit shower and preen" sessions. Cool idea though - I never knew this existed. Cheers Offshore, HC Re: Bathroom heating options? IXL Tastic the only option? 9Jul 11, 2012 10:30 pm We have the Cold Buster system under our tiles; comes on at 25C at off peak, then turns off during the day. In the evening, turn on to 20C during the shoulder rate. Keeps the en suite dry and toasty in cold morning, and dries the towels too (we have it running under the towel rails). Seems to keep the whole en suite warm, but it isn't very big, only 4.5m x 3m. Bathroom heating options? IXL Tastic the only option? 10Jul 12, 2012 8:26 am "only" 4.5 x 3m? That's a decent size for an ensuite, bigger than the average bedroom! But yeah we run ours on a similar cycle and it warms the whole bathroom, and the heat source is down low where you need it. After all it's the only room in the house where you are normally barefoot in winter! Re: Bathroom heating options? IXL Tastic the only option? 11Jul 12, 2012 10:20 am So many options, the 'ixl' is a infra red heater and heats what's in front of it, it won't heat a room, you can get fixed bar type heaters, you can get electric heaters that look like air conditioners (I wouldn't put a air con in though, would be fine in heating, but cooling there would be to much moisture in the air and it would probably leak!) You can also get wall mounted panel convection heaters, ducted heating, hydronic heating (more a whole house thing, boiler, hot water radiators etc) and of course the many kinds of underfloor/slab heating, the simplest is an electric blanket installed under the tiles! I suppose if you made the bathroom huge, you could put in a log fire! Or maybe a gas space heater like a rinnai, but they are meant for much larger spaces! 2 Hi, I'd like some advice on the best option please on the estimate options we've been provided from our builder. This is for the… 0 4126 Newbie question for flooring options. We are thinking of changing the flooring for bedrooms and passage area. Last time we looked at flooring options was almost 8years… 0 3653 Would also like an opinion from anyone that has used xcem over hebel for floors. Thanks 1 14352 |