The days of having a so-called normal floor-mounted radiator in the bathroom are long gone. Heating has moved up the wall, under the floor, and taken on new forms.
Materials have changed too. Painted panel radiators have given way to chrome, stainless steel, glass, mirror, stone, wood and ceramic. And while the classic ladder towel rail has become the most popular heating fixture in the British bathroom, designers are experimenting with shape and colour. So, budgets permitting, it’s possible to have a radiator that is also a work of art.
Do The Maths
But as always, practicalities must come first, and when refurbishing or fitting a new bathroom, it’s vital to work out how much heat will be needed to keep the room warm in winter. Only then can you choose appropriate products. Heat requirements are measured in Btu (British themal unit) and there is a formula to work out how many Btus should be generated for a room. Bathroom designers will work this out for you, of course, or you can use heat loss calculators on many company websites.
At the risk of boring you to death, a bathroom that’s 3mx3m with a height of 2.5m will require about 4752 Btu, and for those who relate to watts, one watt equates to 3.413Btu. So rulers and long multiplication skills to the ready… Patrick Heaphy, senior designer at Ripples Bathrooms in the UK, says it’s better to over than underestimate the amount of heat needed, as a radiator can always be turned down, but it can’t generate more heat than it was built to produce.
Towel Rails
Sums out of the way, there are three product types for bathroom heating; towel rails, radiators and underfloor heating. If a room is small, it makes sense to have a petite towel rail and underfloor heating. In a spacious room, a large ladder towel rail may well emit sufficient heat to act as the radiator for the room, but it will take up most of a wall, so make sure it’s a stylish design.
Patrick says towel rails can be connected to the central heating system, used on their own or best of all, be fitted for both, so that you can have warm towels in summer when the heating is off. Ladder rails in chrome or stainless steel look very smart and contemporary, or choose a white ladder for a traditional style bathroom. Not that towel rails have to be ladders, they also come in the shape of coat hangers, paper clips and cubes, not to mention trees. High-end manufacturers include Zehnder, Dimplex, Aeon, Aestus and Vogue.
Statement or Designer Radiators
When it comes to designer radiators, Bisque has led the way over the past 30 years with its inspiring, innovative designs. But Jackie Kilgallon at Bisque in London notes that dramatic, sculptural radiators look best in large bathrooms where they can act as a centrepiece, while they can look out of place in a small room.
She suggests choosing a coloured radiator to liven up a plain white room, while having a radiator the same colour as the walls can make a bathroom look larger. Bisque offers a colour-matching service for this purpose. If you have a symmetrical room, you could choose two identical radiators or towel rails to emphasise the symmetry, while for awkward-shaped rooms, look out for space-saving radiators which can fit into otherwise unusable areas. Vertical panel radiators, for example, are great behind doors, while low-level horizontal products can fit under basins or windows.
The designer radiator market is growing, and you’ll find inspiring products at UK company Eskimo Design, Spanish giant Porcelanosa, and Italian brands Hotech Design and Tubes Radiatori. Consider also radiators in the form of panels of marble or granite, or glass or mirror-fronted radiators, and radiators with a seat on top. Feature Radiators has a comprehensive selection of products, as does Livinghouse.
Underfloor Heating
If you’re having a stone or tiled floor, it will feel cold to the bare foot in winter, so it’s worth considering underfloor heating. It looks rather panels of electric blanket and it’s easy to fit, not expensive to run, so if your budget extends to it, then put it in and you won’t wince when you go to the loo in the middle of a freezing January night. It probably won’t be enough to heat the room on its own but will work in conjunction with a towel rail or radiator. Manufacturers include Dimplex.
There is a wealth of choice for heating your bathroom, and it’s worth spending time to ensure you choose products that will generate enough warmth, and that you’ll enjoy looking at. After all, radiators aren’t the boring guys of interior decoration they used to be.
