Options for Heating Your Bathroom Floor

Stepping on a cold tile on the bathroom floor is a cruel experience to start the day. Given the constantly rising prices of natural gas and electricity, it is hardly a wonder that many households in the former socialist countries have given up central heating. However, the heating tubes in your bathroom become ice cold in winter, and so do the tiles. Hardly anyone wants to start his or her day by entering a fridge to shave or have a shower, so it’s time to think of some useful bathroom floor heating solutions. 

As floor heating has been around for about a century now, you will certainly have a wide range of bathroom floor heating solutions to choose from. Before staring your search for a floor heating system, there are several things that you should bare in mind: 

Budget

You don’t want to spend a fortune on heating up the floor of your bathroom. An electric radian system for floor heating costs anywhere between $400 and $700, including installation costs. More importantly, this system consumes as much electricity as three 100 W light bulbs. 

Architectural Design

Tiles, marble and stone are great heat conductors. However, you should take into consideration the thickness of your bathroom’s floor: the thicker the floor, the longer time it will take for the system to heat it up. 

Local Building Codes

Building codes are based on the principles of energy conservation, energy efficiency and environmental sensitivity. Most of the new floor heating systems are created in keeping with these principles, and they can be easily adjusted to use renewable energy sources. 

Radiant Heat Systems

Radiant heat systems use hot water, steam pipes or electric resistance coils to heat the floor of your bathroom. This system is relatively easy to install and, as mentioned, is quite affordable.  Since it produces few greenhouse gases and uses little energy, the radian heat system is one of the most environmental-friendly bathroom floor heating solutions.

The Cost-Effective Open Direct System

Of all radiant heat systems on the market, the open direct system appears to be the most cost-effective because it uses the same hot water source which you use for bathing and laundry. In addition, this system could be converted to use solar energy.

The Closed Radiant Heat System

With the closed radiant heat system, the floor of your bathroom becomes warm when the hot water pump is turned on by a thermostat. The pump sends hot water from the boiler to the tubes built in the floor.

Other Types of Radiant Heat Systems 

Some radiant heat systems use electricity to heat the floor of your bathroom. This solution is also known as in-floor cable electric heating. Depending on the size of your bathroom, you may choose between 120 and 240 V kits. As suggested by its name, this system uses a network of wires built in the floor to heat your bathroom. Some companies also offer multi-purpose heated floor mats that could be used to heat the floor of your bathroom. These mats also have an anti-slip system and a cushioned surface. Unlike other floor heating systems, the heated floor mats do not have maintenance costs, and you can roll them up in the lumber room when summer comes.