5 Common Bathroom Myths, And The Truths Behind Them

Does the following sound like your typical morning? Cold tiles underfoot. A foggy mirror and a sharp chill as you step out of the shower. Rushing to get dressed before your teeth start chattering. These aren’t just everyday annoyances, they’re signs your bathroom heating isn’t working as well as it should.

Bathrooms are tricky. They’re humid, compact, and full of cold surfaces, and thousands of UK homeowners rely on underpowered heating solutions in an attempt to heat them. The result? wasted energy and a room that never quite feels warm enough.

At Trust Electric Heating, we’ve helped hundreds of people fix their cold bathroom problems, and we’ve noticed the same heating myths pop up again and again. Outdated advice, half-truths, and bad assumptions are everywhere.

It’s time to clear things up. Here are five bathroom heating myths we hear all the time, and the truth that will help you warm up faster, smarter, and more efficiently.

Myth 1: ‘A Heated Towel Rail Is All You Need For Bathroom Heating’

Potentially the most common bathroom heating myth out there!

Whilst towel rails do serve a purpose by warming towels and keeping them dry, they’re not powerful enough to be the sole heating solution for your bathroom.

Most towel rails have an output of 150 - 250 watts. A standard bathroom requires 500-700 watts to be effectively heated. This gap in power output explains why those who believe this myth feel the chill whenever they open the bathroom door!

But it’s not just about the comfort. Running an underpowered towel rail wastes energy, even if it is keeping your towels warm and dry. In terms of heating, it’s like trying to warm up your living room with a hairdryer - technically possible, but wildly inefficient!

Towel rails do have their place - just not as the only source of heat. Pairing one with an additional dedicated room heater, like our NEOS electric radiator, would provide a much more effective heating solution for your bathroom. It’d deliver the output that your bathroom actually requires AND uses smart controls to prevent any wasted energy when the bathroom’s not in use.

Myth 2: ‘Underfloor Heating Is Always The Best Bathroom Heating Solution’

Underfloor heating will always sound appealing on cold mornings when you feel like you’ve stepped straight out of bed and onto some ice. But it’s another option that sounds incredible until you look into effectiveness. Most underfloor heating (especially systems) takes around 1-3 hours to heat up. This is far too slow for a typical morning bathroom routine which lasts half an hour at the most!

The installation process also isn’t ideal, as retrofitting underfloor heating usually means raising the floor level of digging into the existing layout, both of which are messy and expensive. Underfloor heating also heats everything, including any furniture or accessories that sit directly on the floor. This means wasted energy and therefore wasted money.

There are also some regulations within the UK, which restrict homeowners from being able to choose underfloor heating. These regulations cover factors from the height of the room, to insulation and maximum flow temperature.

Underfloor heating is another bathroom heating option that can work, but may perform better in a small area of the bathroom, and in conjunction with an additional electric radiator.

Myth 3: ‘Electric Bathroom Heating Is Too Expensive To Run’

This myth originates from the days of bulky storage heaters. But modern electric heating solutions provide a totally different story. They’re smarter, more efficient, and are often cheaper than you’d think to run.

Take our NEOS electric radiator, for example. It has the following pieces of technology to run as effectively as possible, and reduce running costs compared to other electric heating models.

• Soapstone core: holds and emits heat for up to 40 minutes after electricity is switched off.

• Smart thermostats: avoid wasteful heating and can be scheduled to match the heating to your lifestyle.

• Cool wall technology: reduces up to 40% of wasted heat to the back wall. Click here to understand how.

Myth 4: ‘Bathrooms Are Too Small To Need A Proper Radiator’

This myth confuses room size with the demand for heating. Bathrooms do tend to be the smallest rooms in the house, but they’re also used the most often, so have a high demand for heat. And it’s not just frequent use, bathrooms also have unique features that make them harder to keep warm:

• Bathrooms lose heat faster: Tiled walls and floors are highly conductive, so pull warmth out of the air much quicker than carpets, for example.

• Moisture: Hot showers create a humid environment, and as the steam cools and condenses, it draws heat out of the air.

Myth 5: ‘You Can’t Have Smart Heating Controls In A Bathroom’

Considerations for safety are the starting point for this myth, which is totally understandable. Bathrooms and electrics need to be handled carefully, but modern systems are designed with that in mind.

There are some UK regulations restricting where certain electrical components can go in bathrooms, but these rules apply to switches and sockets, not the actual heating units. Models like our NEOS are designed with this in mind, since they’re wall mounted, with fully enclosed integrated thermostats. At Trust, we do still recommend keeping radiators 60cm away from a water source.

Smart controls are a perfect option for bathroom heating. This is because you can set your heating to come on before you need to go in the bathroom, meaning it’ll nice and toasty for your morning shower, but doesn’t need to be switched on and waste energy overnight.

So no, you don’t need to sacrifice control just because it’s a bathroom. In fact, it’s one of the rooms that benefits most from smart tech.

Ready to make your bathroom work smarter and not harder?

The right heating system can turn a cold and chilly bathroom into a warm, comfortable space that actually makes you want to get out of bed. You can only find the right solution by looking through options and finding the perfect bathroom heating for you!

That means sifting through outdated advice, and biased opinions. Our NEOS electric radiators are designed to work smartly, and in difficult spaces, so they’re a great place to start looking.

Got questions? Or are you ready to start exploring your options, get in touch via email or phone. Alternatively, click here to book a free consultationwith one of our heating advisors, and they’ll be able to calculate how power you actually need, specifically for your bathroom and lifestyle!

Tags: Bathroom Heating, Tips.