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| Electric Bathroom Heater Buying Guide |
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How to heat the coldest room in your house with an electric bathroom heater so it will provides warmth to keep you from catching a cold when you are undressed or wet from bathing or taking a shower
1 ) you are some other form of heat in there currently ie hot water baseboard, forced hot air or radiant floor heat 2 you have no heat
in your bathroom currently
When heating a bathroom with NO current heat , I like to oversize the heater more then I would any other room because you want to get the room up to 80 + degrees and you want to do it at a fairly quick rate…… The standard sizing rule of thumb To size the heater to your room use the following formula: 1 square foot equals 10W, so a 100 square foot would require a 1000W heater. I like to go with 12-15 watts per sq ft…. based on if it’s a house older then 1980 and if you are in a Northern or Southern climate...Base on the 15 watts per Sq Ft this is how to size it 15 watts per sq ft (example 10’x 10’+ 100 Sq Ft) 100 sq X 15 watts = 1500 Watts….. Heating your bathroom room as supplemental heat.... I find the 12 - 15 watts sill works well because you will have the advantage of heating the room even quicker.... Are you going to heat the room all
day, or are you going to only heat the room in the morning while
you’re in the shower I find this is a very important question ask, because
this will reduce your selection of heaters depending on if you
just want to roll out of bed and turn the heater on in the
morning and shut it off when the last person using the bathroom
in the morning is done…Or if you plan on heating the room all
day….. The reason is how quickly you want to bring the room to a
warm 80 + degrees…… If you just want to heat the room in the
morning and get to heat up quickly you are going to need a fan
forced wall heater or Fan forced ceiling heater, because the
will move the air quicker….. A baseboard heater, convector
heater, radiant cove heater all have no moving parts so while
the will heat the room, it will take a while to heat….Baseboard,
convector and radiant heaters will work if you are planning on
heating the room through out the day…. Knowing your voltage is the most important
thing when buying an electric heater. U S residential
household’s use an electrical current of 120 and 240 volts, it’s
very important that you have right voltage in purchasing
electrical equipment
Different Types of Electric Bathroom
Heaters Fan Forced Wall Heater– Needs a fan
to move the heat are available in 120 volts and 240 volts Pros: ·
Compact design, can be recessed into the
wall ·
Fan moves the air faster, which heats the
room quicker Cons:
·
Blower Noise, because it has moving parts
they do make noise, noise lever will be based on price ( less
expensive heaters will be louder ) ·
If your room is really same, installation
can be difficult because you have to be three feet from a water
source, eight inches” from adjacent wall
No other heating unit has been as successful in
solving installation problems when wall space is a premium ·
Perfect when wall space is a premium · Blends in w/ the ceiling Cons: ·
Have to run a second wire to in stall wall
mounted timer or timer ·
Only work on ceilings 9” and lower Electric baseboard heaters are heaters designed
to line the wall and provide heat for the entire room by using
convection heat to circulate the air…..Baseboard heat only
recommended in the bathroom if you plan on heating the bathroom
all day Pros: ·
Quiet ·
Hydronic Electric Convection Heaters are
more energy efficient then traditional electric heaters
Cons: ·
Slow to heat the room from power off, up to 80
degrees ·
Needs a lot of wall space to heat
room adequately Infrared Bulb Heater are perfect for source of heat while you are toweling off after your morning shower.. Pros: · Very warm while you stand underneath the bulbs Cons ·
Does not heat the bathroom, only the person
underneath the bulb, once you stand away from the bulbs light,
you will be cold again Exhaust Fan with built in Heater
Combinations exhaust fan with heater and light are ideal for smaller bathrooms and perfect for getting three needed items for the price of one Pros: ·
Kills two birds with one stone, exhaust
humidity of room and heats the space Cons: ·
Larger foot print then a traditional
bathroom fan ·
·
Item exhaust and heats at same time,
unfortunately not as efficient as a separate heater and exhaust
fan would be What will it cost to operate? Depending on the outside weather, house construction, insulation desired indoor room temp and most importantly cost of electricity will make it really tough to judge to operating cost because its tough to say how long is your heater going to run per day….Electric Heaters are 100 % efficient, therefore every kilowatt of electricity used will be converted into heat your local electricity / utility company maybe able to provide you with an estimated cost per use sheet Where do I install the heater? best place for installing a baseboard is on an outside wall under the window, this will allow the natural convective currents from the baseboard to provide a curtain of warm air against the cool wall. Thermostat placemat should be on the opposite wall from the baseboard heater, with a fan forced electric wall heaters should be placed on an inside wall How do you control the heater? a wall mounted thermostat is preferred for maximum comfort and with digital programmable thermostats now available it allows for better temperature control and the ability to lower and rise the temperature on demand by setting the time and temp you want through out the day……The other options is built in thermostat you use this type there are space constraints, or if the heater is only use a hour or so a day …A built in thermostat works the same way as a wall mounted thermostat the you turn it to the right power goes on, and then you adjust the temperature from there and you can kill the power too… One thermostat per heater is preferred but it’s all going to be dependent on your amp load that the thermostat can take. Look on the box or the user manual for the max amp aloud next take your heaters wattage and divide it by the voltage for example 2000 watts divided by 240 volts 8.3 amps so if you need two heaters to run on the same thermostat you have to figure your amp load and look at the thermostat you want to see if the max amp load will work or not How safe or electric heaters? Electric heaters should come with a thermal cutout as protection against overheating. The cutout will shut down the heater I case there is accidental blockage. Make sure the heater is either U.L, ETA or C.S.A listed and conforms to the required safety specifications Once you find a safe way to heat your
bathroom, you will also want to check with local building codes
or rules, to make sure that yours complies with any regulations
regarding how bathroom heaters should be installed or work. It's
always advisable to consult a professional to get it installed,
as most heaters involve either electricity, which interacts
dangerously with water, or with gas or other rather hazardous
chemicals that need to be properly ventilated for good safe use.
Talk to an electrician and or contractor to make sure your new
heaters are installed safely and correctly. Be it cold nights or
chilly winter mornings, you can't beat a good bathroom heater
when it comes to enhancing your bathroom experience. |