Keeping your bathroom warm and comfortable during the cold winter months can be a challenge. Drafts, cold surfaces, and chilly air can make your bathroom an unpleasant place to spend time. However, there are several features you can incorporate to help warm up your bathroom and make it more enjoyable during winter.
Install Radiant Floor Heating
Radiant floor heating systems involve installing heating elements under the floor. The warmth radiates up through the floor, gently warming the room. Radiant floor heating is an ideal way to warm up a chilly bathroom floor and keep your feet comfortable.
How Radiant Floor Heating Works
Radiant floor heating systems consist of electric or hydronic heating elements installed beneath the floor. Electric systems have electric wires or cables embedded in the floor, while hydronic systems circulate hot water through pipes under the floor. The heat from the system radiates up through the flooring, warming the room from the bottom up.
Benefits of Radiant Floor Heating
- Provides even, comfortable warmth directly underfoot
- Doesn’t heat up the air at ceiling level
- Energy efficient – only heats occupied spaces
- Can be zoned to heat just the bathroom
- Works with any floor covering like tile, stone, or wood
Installing radiant floor heating under your bathroom floor is one of the most effective ways to warm the space from the ground up. The gentle radiant heat keeps the floor nice and toasty without uncomfortably heating the rest of the room.
Install Heated Floors
Heated bathroom floors help warm feet and raise the overall temperature. There are easy-to-install heated floor mats or tiles to upgrade existing floors.
Heated Floor Mats
Heated floor mats are thin, electric mats that you place under flooring materials like tile or linoleum. They have an integrated wire heating element that warms up when powered on. Many mats have adjustable temperature controls. Just roll the mat out under your flooring and wire to an electrical outlet to enjoy heated floors.
Heated Floor Tiles
There are now special tile products that come with built-in heating elements to warm the floor. These tiles often include a thin heating mat bonded to the underside of the tile. Lay the tiles as you would regular tiles, connecting them to an electrical source. Heated floor tiles make it easy to add warmth directly underfoot.
With heated bathroom floors, you’ll never have to dread a barefoot trip across a frigid bathroom again! Just flip on the floor heat for toasty comfort.
Install In-Floor Heating
In-floor heating systems involve installing heating pipes or electric cables into the floor itself. They heat the floor from the inside out.
Water-Based In-Floor Heating
With hydronic, water-based systems, plastic pipes are laid in the floor and hot water is circulated through them from a water heater. The heat transfers to the floor.
Electric Cable In-Floor Heating
Electric systems involve laying electric heating cables in a zig-zag or grid pattern below the floor. The cables heat up when powered on and gently warm the floor.
In-floor heating provides all-over warmth underfoot. It can be installed under nearly any flooring material. The floor itself becomes a large radiant heating panel.
Use a Cozy Bath Mat
A plush bath mat, rug, or bathroom floor rug helps warm up bare feet on chilly mornings. Look for soft, absorbent bath mats made from materials like cotton, bamboo, or microfiber. Materials like memory foam also provide comfortable cushioning. Place bath mats in front of sinks, tubs, and toilets for instant warmth.
Tip: Choose Heated Bath Mats
For an even cozier option, choose an electric heated bath mat. These plug-in mats have hidden internal heating wires to gently warm your feet. They provide soothing comfort when stepping out of the shower or tub.
Cozy bath mats provide literal comfort underfoot while also giving your bathroom a welcoming look and feel. Place a few in key areas to warm up your winter bathroom.
Install Heated Towel Racks
Heated towel racks help warm bath towels and also provide ambient heat to the bathroom. Choose electric or hydronic models that either plug in or connect to your home’s hot water supply. Install racks near sinks, tubs, and showers for convenient access to toasty towels.
Electric Heated Towel Racks
Electric heated racks have internal heating elements that gently warm rolled towels. They have adjustable temperature settings and are easy to install by plugging into a nearby outlet.
Hydronic Heated Towel Racks
Hydronic towel racks circulate heated water from your home’s hot water system through the rack pipes. The warmed pipes heat and dry hanging towels. Hydronic racks don’t require a separate electric connection.
Nothing beats wrapping up in a fresh, warm towel on a cold winter morning. Heated towel racks help make that luxury possible while adding a touch of warmth to the room.
Add a Wall-Mounted Heater
A wall-mounted electric heater provides directed warmth right where you need it. Small heaters can be installed on bathroom walls near sinks, tubs, or toilets to provide a boost of heat.
Types of Wall-Mounted Bathroom Heaters
- Electric convection heaters – Use a fan to blow out warmed air
- Electric radiant heaters – Emit infrared warmth directly into the room
- Ceramic wall heaters – Feature ceramic heating plates housed in a metal case
Look for water-resistant or waterproof models designed for bathrooms. Include safety features like auto shut-off timers. Position heaters 7-8 feet above floors out of shower spray zones.
Strategically placed wall-mounted heaters let you add heat just where it’s wanted, creating a cozy ambient warmth in your bathroom.
Change to a Warmer Lighting Color
The color temperature of lighting can impact how warm or cool a space feels. Swapping out harsh, blue-toned white lights for warmer lighting hues can make a bathroom feel cozier.
Warmer Color Temperatures
- Incandescents – 2700K-3000K – Warm yellow/orange tone
- Warm white LEDs – 2700K-3200K – Slight yellow tone
- Halogens – 3000K – Warm bright white
Avoid cool white lighting over 5000K. Instead choose bulbs or fixtures with a warm white, soft white, or yellow/amber color temperature around 2700K-3000K. The warmer tones create a cozy, welcoming bathroom atmosphere.
Add Portable Heaters
Small portable heaters can be moved wherever needed to provide a boost of warmth. Use portable models with safety features in bathrooms.
Useful Portable Heater Types
- Ceramic space heaters – Provide radiant and convection heat
- Infrared quartz bulb heaters – Emit warming infrared heat
- Oil-filled radiator heaters – Radiate heat from an oil-filled internal chamber
Select portable heaters with tip-over and overheat auto shut-off protection. Place out of shower spray zones. Fully research safety before buying. With precautions, portable bathroom heaters offer flexible supplemental warmth.
Install Heated Mirrors
Heated bathroom mirrors help reduce fogging while adding ambient warmth. Integrated heating elements behind the mirror glass gently warm the mirror surface.
Benefits of Heated Mirrors
- Prevents mirror fogging after baths and showers
- Provides radiant warmth right at the sink/vanity
- Multiple wattage options for different heat levels
- Improves visibility and bathroom comfort
Heated mirrors are available in a range of shapes and sizes to match your bathroom. Hardwired electric models offer even heating and are less prone to hot spots.
Add a Warming Drawer
Warming drawers provide a heated space to pre-heat towels, robes, or even slippers during winter. Install a drawer near sinks or tubs for convenient access to warmed linens straight from the warming drawer.
Tip for Use
Set towels in the warming drawer 30 minutes before a bath or shower. The pre-heated towels will feel particularly welcoming when stepping out of the cold.
Warming drawers provide a simple way to warm linens and help make your bathroom more comfortable in winter. Their ambient warmth also adds heat to the room.
Change to Double Windowpanes
Single pane windows offer almost no insulation. Upgrading to double pane windows with an air gap in between helps better insulate your bathroom and retain warmth.
Benefits of Double Pane Windows
- Added layer helps insulate and reduce heat loss
- Reduces condensation, frost, and sweating on glass
- Helps block cold drafts from windows
- Can lower energy costs for heating
Sealing window gaps and adding storm windows also improves insulation. But for best results, invest in upgrading to energy efficient double pane glass. Your bathroom will stay warmer in winter.
Add a Warm Bathroom Floor Cleaner
Warming your floors while cleaning them is an easy way to infuse warmth into a bathroom. There are liquid floor cleaners designed to safely heat up on contact with floors. As you mop, the warmth releases into the air.
How Warming Floor Cleaners Work
Water-based warming floor cleaners contain plant-based ingredients that create heat through an exothermic chemical reaction. Simply wet-mop floors with the cleaner and allow it to air dry to release inviting warmth. Avoid using on heat-sensitive flooring.
Warming floor cleaners add comfort underfoot while freshening up your floors. The warmth they emit supplements your bathroom heating.
FAQ About Warming Up a Bathroom in Winter
Here are answers to some frequently asked questions about keeping a bathroom comfortably warm in winter:
What is the best way to heat a small bathroom?
For a small bathroom, a wall-mounted electric heater or portable space heater work well. Focus the heat right where needed without overheating the room. Radiant in-floor heating under tile floors is also great for warming a small space.
Which is better for heating a bathroom – electric or hydronic radiant heat?
Both can effectively warm a bathroom. Electric systems involve installing thin heating cables or mesh under floors. Hydronic uses hot water circulated through pipes. Hydronic provides more even heat but electric is simpler to install and control.
Should I leave the bathroom door open or closed to keep it warm?
Leave it open. An open door allows warm air to freely circulate in from other heated areas of your home. This helps prevent the chilly, isolated feeling of a closed-off bathroom. Just be sure to have good bathroom ventilation to prevent excess moisture.
How can I warm up my feet in the bathroom?
Use heated floors, bath mats or rugs to warm feet. You can also keep slippers in a warming drawer set on low to gently heat them before use. Point a portable space heater toward areas where you stand barefoot.
What temperature should I set my bathroom floor heating?
Between 70-85°F is comfortable. Start lower and increase slowly to find the right temperature. Set a floor probe thermostat to the desired temperature instead of maxing out the heat. Never exceed 85°F for tile floors or follow the manufacturer’s limits.
Conclusion
There are many great options for warming up a cold bathroom during winter. Radiant floor heating, heated floors and towels, and wall-mounted heaters can introduce ambient warmth. Small space heaters, warm lighting, and improved insulation provide supplemental heat. Use these tips and products to make your bathroom a more comfortable place even on the coldest winter day. Focus on safely adding heat where you need it most to create a warm, welcoming bathroom environment all season long.
