Radiant Bathrooms

Hear it from homeowners...

Read the real-life stories about homeowners adding radiant heating to their bathrooms.


Radiant Heat Advice For Bathrooms

The bathroom is a prime candidate for installing radiant heating products, below we investigate all of the options available to the homeowner:

  • Floor warming under tile & stone
  • Radiant heat in the shower
  • Towel Warmers
  • Mirror Defoggers

Floor warming under tile & stone

Bathroom floor warming systems

Cold ceramic tile or stone floors can be at their most unforgiving early in the morning, which often will coincide with the exact time that you wish to use your bathroom. Most people have been through having to tip toe through their bathroom in order to reach the safety of the shower without experiencing too much of the searing pain brought on by the cold floor. Installing floor warming can change that and can replace the pain and irritation with luxury and comfort. Whether you choose to use either an electric or water based system (see our Electric vs Hydronic section in order to find which method is the most suited to your needs) floor warming systems are an excellent way both to add comfort for yourself while simultaneously adding value to the resale of your property.

A great addition to every heated floor is a programmable thermostat, having one of these will allow you to set the time that you wish the floor to begin heating and the time for it to turn itself off, saving both money and energy usage. As the average tile floor will take anywhere from 40 minutes to 1 hour to heat thoroughly it's recommended that you program your thermostat to switch on an hour before you are due to wake up, perhaps switching off while you are at work, and then on again an hour before you get home. Depending on the model of your thermostat, floor warming systems can give you the ability to choose the heat that suits you best to the exact degree.

While hydronic floor warming will consist of heated water in pipes below your floor, and should you wish for a more in depth explanation try visiting our hydronic section, electric floor warming will typically come in easy to install mesh rolls. The mesh acts as a guide as woven into it is the heating element and it travels along the mesh looping in an 's' shape always maintaining a 2" gap from itself to ensure the most even distribution possible with no hot spots. If you are interested in purchasing electric floor heating or would like a free quote to help you understand the pricing options available to you then visit the WarmlyYours Pricing Area.


Radiant Heat in the Shower

Radiant Heat In The ShowerThe technology behind floor heating systems can actually be adapted to heat your shower, rather than using the 120 volt or 240 volt systems, it's now possible to run on 24 volts and still enjoy the luxury of warm tile in your shower. These are particularly effective if you have a seated shower or a large area to warm. Again, like its floor warming counterparts, many different types of thermostats can be purchased which will control your heating levels anywhere from a general on or off motion to being able to specify the precise temperature that you require.

These low voltage shower systems can also be added to saunas, spas or tub surrounds and generally come in smaller sized rolls to allow for a more precise coverage.


Towel warmers

Riviera Towel Warmer Towel warmers are great for heating your cold towel so that it's nice and warm when you get out of the shower, but they also have a more practical use in that they dry your towels much quicker than they would normally air dry.

Towel Warmers, as is the case with floor heating systems, are available to purchase using either water heating (hydronic) solutions or electric heating solutions. The installation process for the hydronic towel racks should be fairly straight forward as they can be installed into your existing hot water heating system. For towel warmers running off electricity there are two main options, simply plugging in into your nearest electrical outlet or by 'Hardwiring' it. If you wish to hardwire it, meaning physically wiring it to your home's main electric wiring, we recommend having a certified electrician do the job. If you do wish to try it yourself, we strongly suggest that you consult your state's electrical code beforehand. Towel warmers such as the one to the left (Riviera) will cost around $500 - $550, however be prepared to pay several thousand for top of the range models.


Mirror defoggers

Bathroom Mirror Defogger Mirror defoggers can be useful regardless of age or gender, every man knows the frustration of attempting to shave in a steamed up mirror and every woman knows the impracticalities of trying to apply her makeup in front of one. Electric mirror defoggers are the perfect solution for both problems, they're easy to install, come in a multitude of shapes and sizes, and are relatively inexpensive.

Most mirror defoggers are thin layers of sheeting that can be attached to the back of your mirror. From there you can either plug it in to your nearest electrical outlet or wire it into your main electric wiring, perhaps using a light switch to operate. Most mirror defoggers retail at under $100. View a selection here.


Hear It From Homeowners... A Weekend Warrior's Tale


DIY hero warms up a Chicago bathroom

My name is Eric, and I’m a member of the tech support team at WarmlyYours, I recently decided it was time to try out the do-it-yourself radiant floor heating system installation that WarmlyYours is so well known for. My brother was happy to let me install the system in his bathroom, especially since I offered to complete the entire job myself. It was my first experience performing a WarmlyYours installation and I’d like to share my experience and some tips with other do-it-yourselfers and first-time installers.

DIY Homeowner install I started by laying down subflooring in the bathroom, using Hardi Backer Board. I used cement to attach the boards to the plywood subflooring and then used screws at 8” intervals. I was glad I chose the Hardi Backer Board because it comes with markings that show where to drive in the screws. Once the boards were cemented and screwed, I made the seams secure with thinset cement and joint seam tape. When this part of the process was done, the subfloor was as solid as a rock. Now that I had a secure subfloor, it was time to lay out the heating mat. I followed the custom installation plan that the WarmlyYours engineers provided. Everything went without a hitch, with only one small problem. I forgot to tell WarmlyYours about a floor vent in the bathroom near the toilet, but this was really no problem at all because I was able to simply cut the mat and fit it around the vent. I appreciated at that point the flexibility of the WarmlyYours heating mat (and promised myself that I’d take better measurements on my next project).

When it came to securing the heating mat to the subfloor, I went with a hot glue gun. I initially tried a stapler, but wasn’t able to pierce the Hardi Backer board. A generous application of glue every few inches was all it took to hold the mat in place. Since it was hot glue, it dried almost instantly and I was soon ready to apply the first coat of thinset cement. Before laying the heating mat on the floor, I tested the ohms on the mat just to make sure it was operating correctly. I tested again after cutting the mat and one more time after applying the thinset. Each time, I was happy to see that the ohms were within the specs stated on the white label on the mat.

DIY Homeowner install With the flat side of a trowel, I mixed some thinset with plenty of water so that it had a thin consistency. Self-leveling cement would have also worked, but I still had plenty of thinset so I used that instead. The thinset went on smoothly and the mat went down nice and flat. There were areas of the bathroom floor that wouldn’t be covered by the floor heater, such as under the sink, so I applied thinset and then used a spare 2 x 4 to level out those areas so they would be even with the mat. That initial layer of thinset was about the same thickness as the mat itself; the pattern of the mesh was visible after the thinset dried.

I got some help from my uncle for the next part of the job. He’s a licensed electrician and was able to install the electrical line. I was able to wire the thermostat myself once the bathroom floor was installed. I’ve done some basic wiring of light switches and outlets, so the thermostat wasn’t too difficult. Reducing the amount of cold lead wire coming out of the box made things neater without affecting the mat’s heating function.

My sister-in-law and brother are adding an addition to their house that includes the new bathroom with the electric radiant floor system. We tested the floor when it was finished and found that after about 30-45 minutes the floor is toasty and warm to the touch. We compared the heated floor to one of the uninstalled, unheated tiles and the difference was amazing. It’s still summer, so they haven’t had a chance to use the floor yet. By winter, the new addition will be finished and they’ll start using the new floor heater every day. They’re actually looking forward to winter and their brand-new electric radiant heated bathroom floor. Thank you, WarmlyYours, for making me the hero!

Floor Warming Company In National Press


WarmlyYours featured in NY times article on bathroom floor heating

New Times Floor Heating Recently the staff of WarmlyYours was pleased to discover that the New York Times published a full-page story about a WarmlyYours floor heating system. The news story focused on installation of a WarmlyYours under-tile electric floor heating system. It’s gratifying to know that the WarmlyYours concept of “Making Comfort Easy” is getting the wide exposure it deserves.

The Times article illustrates that using WarmlyYours radiant electric floor heating mats is a simple and economical way to heat cold bathroom floor tiles. The story highlighted the streamlined WarmlyYours turn-around process. Once a customer submits a floor plan, a free quote and installation plan are provided within 1 business day. The personalized installation plan shows the layout of the radiant floor system, which is tailored to fit around bathroom fixtures and focus heat on the area of the floor that receives the most foot traffic. The plan is guaranteed to bring heat to every part of the room.

These pictures show a WarmlyYours electric floor heating system under a tile floor in the bathroom of a home in Canada.


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