Hello everyone,
I currently have a small problem in my apartment. We usually don’t heat the entire 130 m² (1400 sq ft), especially not at night, but only the rooms where we spend time.
However, this means that our towels in the unheated bathroom dry very poorly and quickly start to smell musty.
We usually shower in the evening and don’t heat the bathroom at night.
One option would be to heat the bathroom at night just to dry the towels. The towels hang about 3 m (10 ft) away from the radiator on the wall, so the room would need to be heated well for quite a while to dry the towels properly.
A second option would be to install a second radiator. However, the connection would have to be done by the landlord (or their plumbing contractor), and an energy meter from ista would need to be installed. This would involve significant additional costs.
The third option would be an electric bathroom heater that is only turned on in the evenings to dry the towels.
Option 3 actually seems like the simplest and, at first glance, potentially the most efficient solution. But I’m curious how efficient these actually are. The model would be about 1600 x 700 mm (63 x 28 inches) with 900 W. If the heater would only need to run for 10 minutes to generate enough heat to dry the towels, it could be cheaper/more efficient than heating the entire room via district heating.
But if the heater has to run for an hour or longer, consuming more than 1 kWh per day just for towel drying, it might be less attractive.
Does anyone have experience with electric heaters or maybe even advice on this specific issue?
Thanks a lot for your opinions
AleXSR700
I currently have a small problem in my apartment. We usually don’t heat the entire 130 m² (1400 sq ft), especially not at night, but only the rooms where we spend time.
However, this means that our towels in the unheated bathroom dry very poorly and quickly start to smell musty.
We usually shower in the evening and don’t heat the bathroom at night.
One option would be to heat the bathroom at night just to dry the towels. The towels hang about 3 m (10 ft) away from the radiator on the wall, so the room would need to be heated well for quite a while to dry the towels properly.
A second option would be to install a second radiator. However, the connection would have to be done by the landlord (or their plumbing contractor), and an energy meter from ista would need to be installed. This would involve significant additional costs.
The third option would be an electric bathroom heater that is only turned on in the evenings to dry the towels.
Option 3 actually seems like the simplest and, at first glance, potentially the most efficient solution. But I’m curious how efficient these actually are. The model would be about 1600 x 700 mm (63 x 28 inches) with 900 W. If the heater would only need to run for 10 minutes to generate enough heat to dry the towels, it could be cheaper/more efficient than heating the entire room via district heating.
But if the heater has to run for an hour or longer, consuming more than 1 kWh per day just for towel drying, it might be less attractive.
Does anyone have experience with electric heaters or maybe even advice on this specific issue?
Thanks a lot for your opinions
AleXSR700
A
AleXSR70015 Nov 2021 19:14kbt09 schrieb:
Sorry, but this is really hard to read.
After showering, ventilate properly, keep the bathroom door closed, then you can set the radiator to level 3 and the towels will dry. Of course, you’re entitled to find it hard to read, but the point here is different—namely, what is more efficient.
If I close the door after ventilating and set the heating to 20°C (68°F), I still have quite high humidity and end up heating for about 8 hours just to dry a few towels.
In contrast, with a dedicated towel dryer (regardless of its operating mode), I would dry the towels for at most 1 hour and then leave the door open during or after drying. This significantly reduces humidity and could be more energy-efficient because it heats the target object (the towels) directly rather than heating the entire room, where the air is supposed to dry the towels.
Do you see what I mean? The issue here is how to dry towels most efficiently. It’s not about whether the bathroom should always be kept comfortably warm.
Benutzer200 schrieb:
That temperature is actually sufficient for mold growth. It doesn’t appear immediately, but very slowly and imperceptibly. No signs of mold for 3 years. The bathroom is relatively small, so when the door is open, humidity quickly spreads through the apartment.
Since all doors in the whole apartment are always open, this leads to just a very slight increase in humidity and so far no mold has been detected.
R
RotorMotor15 Nov 2021 19:36How about a programmable thermostat for the existing radiator?
Then you could raise the temperature a bit before and after using the bathroom.
I don't think buying an additional radiator is worthwhile, neither for your budget nor the environment.
Then you could raise the temperature a bit before and after using the bathroom.
I don't think buying an additional radiator is worthwhile, neither for your budget nor the environment.
A
AleXSR70015 Nov 2021 19:51RotorMotor schrieb:
How about a programmable thermostat for the existing radiator?
That way, you could heat the room more before and after using the bathroom.
I don’t think buying an additional radiator is worthwhile—neither financially nor environmentally. That was also a consideration (I’m upgrading to BLE thermostats everywhere anyway to control via Home Assistant), but due to the radiator’s position and the towels, you really have to heat well with the door closed. This causes the humidity to get quite high. With the door open, the humidity is much lower, but drying towels would only really be possible with a dedicated radiator.
P.S.: Regarding the environmental aspect, I had planned never to build without photovoltaic panels anyway, which makes every electric solution interesting again and the radiator would continue to be used in a single-family home. I want to avoid a disposable solution, as much as possible.
Heating so little may seem economical at first, but in an apartment, it ultimately is not. Your neighbors are heating for you. In the end, this kind of behavior is actually not very considerate.
I can’t calculate it myself, but someone else here worked out that running an electric radiator with high-temperature heat for just 1 hour a day raises consumption by about 20%.
It might even be cheaper to keep the temperature at 20°C (68°F) continuously.
I can’t calculate it myself, but someone else here worked out that running an electric radiator with high-temperature heat for just 1 hour a day raises consumption by about 20%.
It might even be cheaper to keep the temperature at 20°C (68°F) continuously.
Was it already mentioned whether this is a new build or an existing building?
How is the apartment heated? Radiators or underfloor heating? ... The situation isn’t entirely clear!
How large is the bathroom?
If, for example, it is underfloor heating, then the usage time (6:00 pm–6:30 am) plays a minor role, since there is a base temperature maintained.
Then the question is how much “towel load” is involved, for two or four people?! Our shower towel, for example, dries even over the shower tray or on a chair...
How is the apartment heated? Radiators or underfloor heating? ... The situation isn’t entirely clear!
How large is the bathroom?
If, for example, it is underfloor heating, then the usage time (6:00 pm–6:30 am) plays a minor role, since there is a base temperature maintained.
Then the question is how much “towel load” is involved, for two or four people?! Our shower towel, for example, dries even over the shower tray or on a chair...
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