ᐅ Electric underfloor heating for a 6 m² bathroom with counter battens

Hello,

I have a bathroom of 6 m² (65 ft²), fairly well insulated, with one exterior wall and otherwise only interior walls. There is a small window measuring 1.5 x 0.5 meters (5 x 1.6 feet).

The floor indoors consists of cross battens with OSB boards on top, followed possibly by tiles or laminate flooring, etc.

My question is: what kind of heating do I need? How much would it cost including a temperature controller, and how is it installed? Is the heating mounted above or below the OSB board? And is it possible to install it without screed or similar, meaning the heating is placed directly on the boards with the floor covering on top?

Can any electrician connect the heating system? What approximate costs should be expected, and is there anything specific to watch out for regarding moisture?

Best regards

Far too little information...
What type of house is it? What kind of heating does the house have? How and where is the bathroom located? What exactly does "relatively well insulated" mean? How warm should the bathroom be? And so on... suw...

Take a look at some freely available explanatory videos about how underfloor heating works. This will make many things clearer, such as why OSB above a heating element is not ideal. Also, combining it with laminate flooring is at least unusual, especially in a bathroom.

For a rather small bathroom, an infrared mirror heater can also be a good solution.

Hello, thanks, I did that. I did a bit of research and wrote the following post in another forum:

Hello everyone,

thanks for your info! I have what’s called tropical disturbances—meaning cold spots on walls, drafts, or radiant heat or cold that cause tissue damage for me. Therefore, I need a constant room temperature without radiant heat, cold, or drafts. The floor should only be heated enough so that it "radiates cold," which might also be achievable with sufficient insulation. Tiles tend to feel cold, so they are not ideal. It’s not about creating a dream bathroom like many here want, but a practical bathroom with no mold and a stable room temperature.

I am considering heaters, possibly additional ones on the walls. Ideally, these would be regular radiators connected to a continuous flow water heater, so I could also use cooling in the summer. I have a wind-free system, but it’s not completely draft-free, like the split air conditioner. Alternatively, a temporary solution for winter and cold days with an electric heater would also be fine. I don’t mind the electricity costs—I’d rather pay more for electricity than suffer lasting damage, which I’ve had enough of. I’ll have a bigger budget next winter and time during the summer to do things properly, preferably installing under-plaster wall heating/cooling.

Would it be helpful to run pipes in the walls that both heat and cool, then cover them with plaster—basically thin tubing like underfloor heating systems? Or as a last resort, large oil-filled radiators? But those heat up quickly with 1-2 kW, right? So slow heating is less likely with those. For ventilation, I’m thinking about extract fans like Halmburger or Bayerlüfter.

What do you think?

Pictures will follow. Maybe you can help me a bit; I just need a quick solution to reduce the tropical disturbances and ease my skin burning pain so I can calmly plan better. Comfortable living starts with well-being, and in my case that means avoiding skin damage and pain so I have peace and time to redo things properly. Money is secondary for now, aside from the material costs. Instead of tiles, maybe a PVC floor? Or PVC with tile look? The same on the walls, or a special insulating plastic coating—I can’t recall the product name.

The roof also needs sealing; it’s a metal roof leaking onto the wooden beams, but that’s another topic. The roof is rusty and will have to be redone during the year.

Do you have any ideas? Wall heating appeals to me the most. I think I won’t need floor heating if I don’t lay cold tiles. Maybe just PVC tiles with insulation underneath—the floor has a counter battens system and OSB boards, so I can stuff glass wool insulation there, which should provide good insulation. Below that is a heated room, so I don’t expect much cold to rise.

I will take pictures tomorrow. Then maybe more can be said.

Thanks again for the tips so far! I have now ordered a bathtub, a toilet, a vanity cabinet, and a faucet for the bathroom. As a layperson, I think I could install these normally... but my muscle strength isn’t the best, so I’ll have to think about that.

See you tomorrow!

What do you think about something like this?



How do I imagine an infrared heater? Does it radiate a strong heat? A normal radiator doesn’t get that hot but heats continuously, right? That’s how I would like the electric heater. Not heating up once, letting the room drop 3°C (5°F), and heating again—that’s not good. I want a constant room temperature, preferably with a large heating surface, like a radiator measuring 2 by 1 meter (6.6 by 3.3 feet), maybe even a second one, so I can have a small amount of warmth comfortably without burning much oxygen.

Are there such products? I understand infrared radiation is quite strong?

Best regards

Find out where the cold in the walls is coming from. You can generally heat well with infrared and warm up the objects in the surroundings. However, a) this is expensive if the insulation is not proper (electricity costs, as you yourself mentioned), and b) it does not solve a structural issue. It is better to address the cause directly rather than just the symptom, as you plan to do in the upcoming winter.

Hello hampshire,

thanks, yes I definitely need to do that. I have a regular infrared thermometer somewhere, would that be sufficient?

Regarding insulation: do you think cork is suitable for the wall, even in the bathroom? So, cork first, then PVC tiles or something similar on top. And for one wall—I don’t want tiles in the bathroom, just a water-resistant paint.

Do you have an infrared heating device yourself? I think there’s nothing better available right now? I’m just wondering if there are ones that warm up slowly. An oil-filled radiator, for example, heats up very quickly and then cools down quickly—is it the same with these heaters? A radiator heats at a low temperature, which I would also prefer. Maybe with some kind of electricity control?