Electric Bathroom Heaters    
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Electric Bathroom Heater Buying Guide

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

 If you are planning to buy an electric heater, you will need to consider a few factors. 

  1.  How big is the room your trying to heat / How Much Heat Do I Need
  2.  Is this supplemental heat, or is this the sole source of heat
  3. Are you going to heat the room all day, or are  you going to only heat the room in the morning while you shower
  4. Do you plan on using  120 volts or 240 volts
  5. What type of heater are you thinking about
    • Radiant Floor Heat
    • Bulbs Heaters 
    • Ceiling Heater
    • Fan Forced Wall Heaters
    • Baseboard Heaters
    • Bathroom Exhaust Fans with a Room Heater
    • Towel Heaters
  6. What will it cost to operate?
  7. Where do I install the heater?  
  8. How do you control the heater? 
  9. How safe or electric heaters?
  10. Consulting your town's local codes and a licensed electrician

 How Much Heat Do I Need

 When sizing a heater to heat your bathroom, you have two variables

  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….

 Do you plan on using 120 volts or 240 volts?

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   

  • 120 volt can only work on smaller heaters 500,750, 1000 or 1500 watts,

  • wattage greater then 2000 watts will have to be bumped up to the  240 volt versions…

  • A 240 Volt heater can  uses wattages of 1,000, up to 10,000

  • If you wire a 240 volt heater to a 120 volt circuit, you will only get about ¼ or 25% of the wattage the heater was designed to deliver
  • If you wire a 120 volt heater to a 240 volt circuit the heater will overheat and self destruct! The heater will try to deliver four times its rated wattage, causing the element & motor permanent damage.
  • (110 volts, 115 volts,  125 volts it’s the  same as 120 volts  &
  • (  220, 230, 250  ) is the  same as 240 volts
  • Over the years the power companies have been raising the voltage to your home)
  • 208 volts is NOT the same as 240 volts it’s a total different voltage,
  •  If you have 208 voltage please call or email us, we will work with you in purchasing the correct model  

 Different Types of Electric Bathroom Heaters

 Fan Forced Wall 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 

 Fan Forced Ceiling Heater

  No other heating unit has been as successful in solving installation problems when wall space is a premium

 Pros:

·        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

 Baseboard Convection Heater

 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

            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

·        Scone noise level is louder then 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

  Consulting your town's local codes and a licensed electrician

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.