Underfloor Heating in Showers and Wet Rooms

Wet Rooms are an increasingly popular trend, greatly improving on the functionality of a typical bathroom. Warming the cold tiles of a wet room with floor heating enhances the sense of luxury and cleanliness of the room.

In this guide, we’ll explain all you need to know about heating a wet room, including:

• • The benefits of using floor heating in a wet room
  • The best way to install underfloor heating
  • If you can use underfloor heating with a shower tray
  • How to waterproof your wet room
  • The perfect wet room accessories
  • The best heating systems to use

Benefits of Underfloor Heating in a Wet Room

Wet rooms are a contemporary take on the domestic bathroom, with an ‘open-plan’, unconfined shower that drains directly into the floor. Due to their open, spacious nature, wet rooms are ideal to be heated with an underfloor heating system.

Floor heating provides an ‘invisible’ heating solution meaning you no longer have to design your wet room around a bulky, cumbersome heater. Heating your wet room’s floors also provides a greater sense of comfort and wellness to the room. Wet rooms are almost always designed with tiled floor and walls which even in warmup areas, tend to be cold to the touch. With underfloor heating, cold tiles under your feet are a thing of the past.

Floor heaters are also much more energy-efficient than central heating systems. Especially when used a system with one of our Smart Thermostats, underfloor heating can help homeowners cut energy costs.

Heating a Tiled Floor

Wet rooms are typically tiled from floor to ceiling with fully waterproofed sealant and grouting to maintain a non-permeable surface, which keep the water from penetrating the subfloor and walls. The most common types of floor tiling to use in a bathroom are ceramic and porcelain, to find out more about the differences between these two finishes read our blog Porcelain vs. Ceramic Tiles for Underfloor Heating.

Tiles have a high thermal conductivity which makes tiled floors perfect to be heated by an underfloor heating system. Tiles heat up quickly and retain this heat, meaning a fully tiled wet room can be efficiently transformed into a warm, cozy environment in which to relax.

Installing Underfloor Heating in a Wet Room

Whether you are renovating and adding underfloor heating into an existing wet room, converting a bathroom into a wet room or creating a wet room as part of a new-build construction project, Warmup provides a range of suitable heating options.

A Warmup system can be quickly installed in your wet room by a qualified installer in as little as one day. Whilst installation can be simple and hassle-free, due to the nature of wet rooms, we advise speaking to an expert for more information on how to achieve a successful first-time wet room installation.

• Speak to an expert

Installing a Heated Shower Floor

A warm shower tray underfoot as you take a relaxing shower is a wonderful experience and with Warmup’s floor heat, you can bring this touch of luxury to your wet room.

There are some things to consider if you are pursuing this heating solution. When using an electric system, you will need a build-up of at least 12mm of leveler and floor finish above the system to be able to conduct the heat safely and efficiently – installing a shower tray directly on top of the system would mean the heat cannot escape, resulting in the system burning out. Get in touch with us if you have any queries or concerns.

Waterproofing Your Wet Room

An important step during wet room construction is proper waterproofing. The Warmup waterproof membrane is highly recommended for wet rooms. The membrane, sold in a kit to cover a standard wet room, has a 3-ply buildup designed to protect against substrate cracks and moisture migration.

 

Secondary Heat Sources for a Wet Room