Cold Bathroom

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intel86

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We have a bungalow and in the bathroom we have one towel rail / radiator combo. The ceiling height is massive, approx 3mtrs! Double glazed window (old type with outside beading and vent holes drilled in frame with sliding cover).

In the wall is a big extractor fan. 150mm x 150mm. We use it to extract the steam when using walk in shower but boy is it cold in there! I think the large extractor fan going through the wall is not helping but we have to have an extractor fan due to the steam.

Would it be worth putting a smaller extractor fan there or should we put one in the ceiling instead? The extractor has no internal 'back draught' facility only the vents on the outer wall. Room size is approx 10ft by 10f and as said all the walls in the bungalow are approx 3mtrs high.
 
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I would drop the ceiling and put a vent into you "new" void and then out through the wall.
 
we have a ground floor disabled converted bathroom/wetroom so probably similar to bungalow, we have a ceiling light/heater combo for when a shower is wanted and the central heating isnt on. it gets the room nice and warm very quickly.
 
This is real back of fag packet stuff using some online tools but assuming there are no major drafts from the (secondary?) glazing and there is, as you say, no draft coming in from the vent then I would say the radiator is potentially not putting out enough heat for that space.

A quick look at some current water fed towel radiators indicates they put out round about 2000 BTUs at the top end. A room your size seems to need in the region of 4500 BTUs.

I've got a similar size bathroom with a ceiling height of 3.5m (up into a gable) and three outside walls. It is well insulated and has a small double glazed window plus extractor and that is just about warm enough with a 3000BTU single rad.

Unless your towel rad is pumping out more heat than I've estimated I'd say that is the main problem and you need more heat.
 
You can get self closing grills for the outside vent, the flaps close due to gravity but when the fan runs the airflow opens them. Might be worth trying first?
 
Radiator is probably too small. You generally want them oversized in a bathroom so the room is extra toasty. Also check how hot the current radiator is getting and make sure any stat is fully open.

If you have tiling all the way up the walls that can make a bathroom feel colder than it is.

Check for draughts too as the slightest draught is going to make a big difference.

Can you set the fan to manual with a timer so you could put it on when someone leaves the bathroom to clear the steam rather than while they have a shower? Would feel a lot warmer when they stepped out.
 
rad is too small towel rails don't give out the Same amount of heat as a similar sized rad. Just had our bathroom done so I know all this from when we sized it.
Now have a heated floor as well but that's more for comfort!
 
You need a decent sized radiator. We had new central heating put in about two years ago and had a double fin (is it?) radiator put in which is a decent length too. When I run the bath, (in winter) I make sure the radiator is on its highest setting, I run the hot water tap, turn off the extractor fan (ssshhh) and close the door and go back in about 15 mins later when there's enought water in it and put cold in as needed. It's like a sauna in there. I then turn the extractor fan on and close the door and get in the bath.

I hope my husband doesn't see this post as he is always telling me off about this. Lol!

Lisa
 
Bathrooms aren't meant to be warm, stop being so soft.

As already stated...lower the ceiling and change the rad.
 
Or do what i did and kept the towel rail run off the central heating and fitted underfloor heating.

me in your position i would lower ceiling like said, get a smaller extract, a 4" would be sufice, fir unerfloor heating, (electric one) it does not cost much to run at all, makes the floor warm for your bare feet(lovely) cover a couple of the holes in the window, have the fan set on a timer so when the light is switched off it still runs for ten mins or so, so all the steam is gotten rid of.

spike
 
Best get the radiator size checked then as it is only a towel one. Maybe put a 2nd rad in there too? Dont fancy lowering ceiling as it is a feature of the room but will look into changing extractor as it is rather large and only grill is on outside wall which has flaps on it.
 
Get yourself some underfloor heating and tile the floor . Fit insullation boards first to reduce the energy loss / running costs . You can fit it in an average bathroom for around £300 with a lifetime garauntee . I actually sell this as my day job so if you need any more information just drop me a pm .

John .
 
We would only need to put underfloor heating in the spaces not under bath obviously? Also, we have suspended floor.
 
intel86 said:
More bills and doesnt heat rise? Our ceilings are 3mtrs high
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our wetroom is 11ft x 9ft with the ceiling 8ft 4" (this is why I said probably similar in my first post), it gets cold in there due to wetroom flooring all over, tiles and extractor.. if the central heating has been on when I want a shower then fine but if not I will literally turn on the ceiling heater as I get into the shower and 4-5 mins as I get out I turn it off and the room is toasty and stays that way whilst drying off and having a shave..

that's all I can say because that's what happens, I cannot see it eating into the fuel bills that much. I would say its one of the cheapest DIY options to get a warm bathroom.
 
intel86 said:
We would only need to put underfloor heating in the spaces not under bath obviously? Also, we have suspended floor.
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Yep only on the main floor area , when you say suspended do you mean floating on an insulation the likes of kingspan ? This isn't a problem you just still leave the expansion space aroud the edge and a 2 part adhesive is best to fix the tiles down depending on the type of board you have for the floor . Anything is possible these days it just depends what you want to spend . The advantage of underfloor heating v's a rad for instance is you feel the heat rising from the floor so can run it at a lower temperature to a rad as you feel the heat that falls from your ceiling from a rad so is actually cooler than what the rad puts out .
I've been selling underfloor heating and tiling products for over 10 years and have never known a system go wrong .
I don't really want to go too much into it on here and end up turning this into a sales pitch .
 
intel86 said:
Any links to the item mate?
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ours is the old school ugly one like this..

http://www.astra247.com/154/Heating/Heat-and-Light-Bathroom-Heater-BHL750/750W/

does the job really well though, I would have no problem replacing it if it failed.

but there are some snazzier ones available nowadays, also 3 in 1, light, heat and extract, not sure how you extract a ceiling but there you go..

http://www.tlc-direct.co.uk/Main_Index/Heating_Index/Heat_and_Light_Unit/index.html

then there are the standalone wall heaters like these..

http://www.astra247.com/8572/Heating/Mistral-Bathroom-Fan-Heater-18kW-MS180/White/

this might not be the solution for you, but they do work well for us, on when needed off when not needed, job done.
 
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