Gransnet forums

House and home

Underfloor heating in bathrooms.

(26 Posts)
GadaboutGran Fri 10-Feb-12 17:56:41

Our holiday cottage had underfloor heating in the bathroom. It was bliss in a wet & chilly August. My husband says it would be more trouble than it's worth, especially if it goes wrong or if you need to get to waste pipes etc., especially in an older house. He won't tile the bathroom floor either fo rthe same reason. Everyone else seems to have tiled floors without any problems I hear of. Is he right to be cautious or is he a dinosaur?

Zephrine Fri 10-Feb-12 18:12:11

We had underfloor heating put in the bathroom in our last house and it was wonderful. We didn't have any problems but I suppose it would have been a bother taking the floor up if we had. On the other hand we had lived there for 31 years without having to take the floor up so maybe just a small dinosaur smile

johanna Fri 10-Feb-12 18:45:44

gadabout
No don't think your husband is a dinosaur, but.. your local plumber probably is!!
grin

yogagran Fri 10-Feb-12 19:03:27

What about electric instead of pipes? We have electric underfloor heating in our kitchen and it's lovely in the morning with bare feet

susiecb Sat 11-Feb-12 09:57:36

We have electric underfloor heating which is the usual kind now I believe in our conservatory - it does seem to use a lot of electricity though. I once worked for a housing association who put underfloor heating throughout all their new builds - never had a problem.

harrigran Sat 11-Feb-12 11:02:01

While having major work done on house I asked all the tradesmen about underfloor heating, not one gave me a positive answer. Both of my bathroom floors are warm because pipework ( from central heating )crosses underneath. When I realised this I went round the house and found that the hall and kitchen too was warm. I have Amtico though, ceramic tiles would not be warm. My DD and SIL have underfloor heating in their bathroom and found that it was only a constant temperature if they kept it on 24/7.

numberplease Sat 11-Feb-12 17:14:23

I`d settle for any kind of heating in my bathroom! It`s colder than the flippin` fridge in there!

goldengirl Sat 11-Feb-12 17:31:22

I've got a tiled bathroom floor but no underfloor heating. I'd love a heated towel rail rather than underfloor heating. We have a radiator but it's under the window and I'm going to investigate whether there is a towel rail that is horizontal rather than vertical - and if so whether it will look OK when fitted as I don't want pipe ends sticking out of the floor.
We used to use a paraffin heater in the bathroom as a child because it was so cold otherwise. I remember picking the ice off the inside of the window!!! Those were the days, eh?

greenmossgiel Sat 11-Feb-12 17:32:49

Remember the big 'heating bulbs' that you used to get? Are they still available, numberplease? Probably not - because of Health and Safety - but we used to have one in our bathroom in the other house, and it was great!

jeni Sat 11-Feb-12 17:42:50

golden I have a towel rail instead of a rad in my bathroom! Plenty available.

Maniac Sat 11-Feb-12 18:22:37

Underfloor heating is bliss! especially as I love walkig around barefoot.
We lived in a tied house with underfloor electric heating when children were small (in the 60s)
DDs partner has built house they live in with underfloor heating installed.But,removing outdoor shoes in hallway is obligatory!!
I'll ask him about installations in older houses.

numberplease Sat 11-Feb-12 18:30:19

Greenmossgiel, I know the ones you mean, at least I think I do. Were they fitted on the light fitting, instead of the normal light? I haven`t seen any in yonks. We had a small wall heater in there when we moved in, but hubby took it down because the kids kept leaving it on.

greenmossgiel Sat 11-Feb-12 18:38:02

It just fitted into the normal light socket, numberplease. Wonder if you can still get them? I think I'll have a look on Ebay - just out of interest!

greenmossgiel Sat 11-Feb-12 18:46:32

Had a look on Ebay - they do have them for 'bearded dragons' .....but not for the use of humans, by the look of things! (Just thinking - I could have bought my mother-in-law one...she was a bit of a 'bearded dragon' now and again)! grin

tanith Sat 11-Feb-12 19:12:02

goldengirl have a look here for a narrow towel rail..http://www.geyser.co.uk/news/news/horizontal-shaped-chrome-heated-towel-wider-tall-perfect-window/

tanith Sat 11-Feb-12 19:12:37

sorry my link doesn't seem to work..http://www.geyser.co.uk/news/news/horizontal-shaped-chrome-heated-towel-wider-tall-perfect-window/

gracesmum Sat 11-Feb-12 21:55:21

Underfloor heating seems to work like a sort of electric blanket of wires under the tiles. When we had bathrooms done 4 years ago we had heated towel rails as part of the CH system but with an optional electric switch to have them on if we want in summer when the heating is off - they are great. The underfloor heating was a step too far though as everything seemed to come in dearer than the original budget. Shame - I know somebody who had it in their kitchen - not all over, just in the bit where the dog liked to sleep!

numberplease Sat 11-Feb-12 23:13:01

Greenmossgiel, lol!!!

goldengirl Sun 12-Feb-12 15:43:56

Thanks tanith I'll take a look.

GadaboutGran Fri 17-Feb-12 15:06:29

Thanks for the information.

Goldengirl's memory of the paraffin heater reminds me why I hate being cold. After returning from 4 years in Australia as a child we rented a flat in London where we had just one Monovector heater for the whole flat. The bathroom was at the back and it was so cold it was like having a bath outside. It didn't toughen me up - I've feared being cold ever since.

artygran Sat 25-Feb-12 19:15:52

We have just moved into a house with underfloor heating in the large conservatory. We have only put it on once and the meter was going bonkers, so we switched it off! The people who lived here before used it every day. In our previous house, we had a wall mounted warm air bathroom heater put in for DH when he was working, as he used to get up at five, well before the CH came on and it was freezing in the bathroom in the middle of winter. He could have a shower without having icicles hanging off his dangly bits! We looked for one of these heat/lamp thingies, but didn't seem to be able to locate one.

lukewilliam Wed 06-Jan-16 06:31:19

Message deleted by Gransnet for breaking our forum guidelines. Replies may also be deleted.

Greenfinch Wed 06-Jan-16 06:55:13

Reported

Nelliemoser Wed 06-Jan-16 16:44:09

Oh! I was about to post when I saw the date of the last posting. This thread was from just before I joined GN.

varian Thu 07-Jan-16 14:33:13

We have electric underfloor heating under a ceramic tiled floor in our bathroom which we just switch on about ten minutes before we want to have a bath or shower then turn it off afterwards so it doesn't cost much. It can be programmed in advance. It is lovely to have a warm floor to step onto.

We also have a heated towel rail which runs off the CH system but the disadvantage of that is that we don't have the luxury of a warm towel in the summer when the heating is not on.