Keeping warm in bathrooms

Underfloor heating will help you stay warm when you step out of the shower on a chilly
morning. It requires sub-floors to be laid, made up of 20mm of chipboard or plywood to
provide an even level and insulation, and then the heating is laid with a screed over the
top. If you’re not having floor tiles and choose lino or carpet instead you will need thicker
screed before laying the final floor finish, this will allow for the build up and even spread
of heat. A wall-mounted thermostat will need to be positioned where water can’t splash
and will generally be linked to a heat-sensing probe situated within the floor. It’s best to
choose a thermostat with a timer, so you can set when the heating comes on. This type
of system requires RCD protection.

All electric heaters and water heaters in a bathroom must be fixed and permanently wired
into the wall. Hot water central heating or underfloor heating is the safest way of keeping
a bathroom warm, but if you do have an electric room heater it must be out of the reach
of someone in the bath or shower – fixed at a greater distance than 0.6m. Electric heaters
should be controlled by a pull-cord inside the bathroom or by a switch located outside.