Due to the nature of the bathroom, it’s generally the coldest room in the house.
This can be a welcome relief on a hot summer’s day, but in winter it’s a whole different story. Walking onto cold tiles first thing in the morning can send the chills right through you, but there are several clever ways to warm up your bathroom efficiently and cost effectively.
Why are bathrooms so cold?
Why are bathrooms so cold?
This comes down to the layout and purpose of the room itself. There are several things going in the bathroom.
For starters, the bathroom is not like any other room in your house. Just think of it - you’re in the bathroom getting ready for a shower. You take off any of the clothes that were keeping you warm, and now you’re more completely exposed to the effect of the cold.
Then the cold gets you again. After you’ve had your bath or shower, you naturally feel toasty warm from the water, but instantly the evaporative cooling effect begins.
The temperature of your wet skin is higher than the air temperature. With the exhaust fans blowing, the air is being moved around, making you feel like you’re freezing. As the moisture evaporates from your skin, it takes the heat away from your body and you feel even colder than the air temperature actually is.
The general make up of a bathroom doesn’t help make it a warm place either. With all the hard surfaces like tiles, porcelain, the glass of any mirrors and windows, the room will feel that much colder.
Ceramic tiles are not colder than carpet
If you asked most people they would say that tiles are colder than carpet, but this is an illusion.
If you place carpet and tiles side by side in the same room, you’ll find they are at the same temperature.
Carpet feels warmer to stand on with bare feet because the fibres are poor conductors of heat. So the carpet retains the warmth from your feet. Because of this, your feet will feel warmer.
Ceramic tiles feel cold to stand on because they are excellent conductors of heat. They have a very high ability to absorb energy. When we stand on them with bare feet there is a transfer of heat. This simply means that they draw the heat from our feet and send that heat to other areas of the tile.
It’s the same with toilet seats. There’s a transfer of heat from our skin into the ceramic, porcelain, or plastic seat. Wooden toilet seats don’t transfer heat as much so they can feel warmer.
Apart from a strategically placed bathroom rug, what are the other ways to keep your bathroom warm this winter?
How can I make my bathroom warmer?
There are some very clever ways you can make your bathroom a much warmer place.
Firstly, make it look warmer. Decorate it with warm tones on the walls, on the floor, the colour of the towels hanging on the towel rack. It’s the psychology of tricking the mind into the space being warmer.
An article in Psychology Today explained that colours like yellow, red and orange and different shades of these colours can help us feel warmer.
Secondly take away anything from your windows that is preventing the natural light from flooding into the bathroom. Apart from the warmth it brings, natural light boosts our mood, and improves the way we feel in the bathroom.
If glare becomes a problem then simply swap window coverings to coverings that let the light in but keep the glare out.
Thirdly, use a heated towel rail. A warm cosy towel is our best friend when we step out of the shower or bath. There are a variety of these around like a single heated rail, a heated ladder for single towels or wider to accommodate two towels.
Another very effective way to warm the entire bathroom is installing Radiant Under Tile floor heating. With this in place, the tiles warm up, the air in the bathroom is heated, and the entire room is transformed from a traditionally cold bathroom to a warm and luxurious place to be.
You can alos consider putting plants in your bathroom. They release moisture into the air, which increases the humidity, and in turn helps to make the room appear warmer. Choose plants that are suited to tropical environments.
Those keys to how you can keep your bathroom warm this winter
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Radiant Under Tile floor heating
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A heated towel rail
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Surround yourself in warm tones in the bathroom, like yellows, reds and oranges
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Lots of beautiful and warm natural light
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Seal the windows
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Tropical bathroom plants
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