NZ Bathroom Blog

Wet Rooms – the Ultimate in Style and Luxury

Wet rooms are increasingly popular and the current vogue for bathrooms.  It’s easy to see why – with their sleek contemporary designs and level access showering they create an instant sense of style, luxury and space.  A professionally installed wet room can transform the look and practicality of any bathroom, and is particularly practical where space is at a premium.

Typical example of Wet Room

What is a wet room?  A wet room bathroom is a totally waterproof room where the shower area can be level with the surrounding floor and the floors are gently graded for drainage.
By installing one in your home, you will add a touch of decadent design that has practical applications.  Wet rooms are safer as they have a shower area that is level with the floor and so there is no shower tray to trip over.  They are easier to clean than the traditional bathroom as all the drainage is in place.  As wet rooms are 100% water proof, a properly installed wet room has less likelihood of water or moisture seeping through and damaging the rest of your home.

Installing a wet room in your home will also add value to your property.  As any real estate agent will tell you upgrading your bathroom or kitchen is the best way to increase the value of your home.

For a truly luxurious bathroom, install underfloor heating to your wet room to prevent your feet suffering that initial cold tile shock.  Underfloor heating has the added benefit of drying the bathroom floor faster after a shower.

Beautiful example of modern Wet Room shower drain

For most people, the bathroom is where we start our day and end our night. However, up until recently, it was simply a small room in the home where one would spend minimal time washing them self and scrub their pearly whites.

Our perceptions of a bathroom have altered significantly over the years. Gone are the days where bathrooms simply existed of a basic shower and a sink. In many of today’s homes, the bathroom is now considered to among the most stylish and accessory-filled rooms of the home. It’s commonly regarded as an area to retreat, unwind and relax.

Stylish Bathroom

Whether home owners are building a new bathroom or remodelling an existing one, it’s common for them to spend months deliberating over the design and make-up of their bathrooms. Some people even subscribe to monthly bathroom magazines, which reiterates just how much time and money people invest in their bathrooms.

There are several things to consider when designing a bathroom to ensure that all of its users are satisfied. Some of today’s bathroom features include mirrors with in-built lights and demisters, undertile heating, various shower head styles, spa baths, vanity cabinets, featured shelves and heated towel rails.

Of all of these popular bathroom features, the heated towel rail is possibly the one that offers the most functions and benefits. Their obvious function is to dry and warm your towel so that you can open the shower door with a sense of satisfaction. Having a warm towel waiting for you is enough to make you want to get out of bed on a cold winter’s morning. They also prise you away from extended showers, thus reducing your energy consumption and costs.

The heated towel rail provides comfort as well as convenience. Not only do they help warm your room but they also reduce condensation, meaning less mould and mildew. Another great function they offer is being able to drape small items of clothing on them.

Many fixtures and fittings in the bathroom, including heated towel rails and under tile heating come with timers. This feature offers great convenience as well as cost-efficiency and energy savings.

With so many bathroom accessories, features and luxuries at one’s disposal, it’s of little surprise that this room of self-pampering is often occupied. As a result, more and more people are opting for bedroom on-suites, which provide more time and privacy to soak up the bathroom serenity.

Bathrooms have come a long way in the past 20 years and one can only imagine just what we’ll see in another 20 years.

The history

The standard of underfloor heating has come a long way since the ‘hypocaust’ era in ancient Rome, but whilst systems have become more advanced, the actual concept is as sound as it ever was.

The hypocaust is one of the most ancient forms of heating and much like many other great inventions, it was created by the Romans over 2000 years ago.

Bathroom Blog Hypocaust image

This ancient underfloor heating system involved burning sticks and branches in underfloor open fire furnaces, made from brick and mortar. This produced heat which flowed through the space in the raised floor, thus heating the floor. Once cooled, the air escaped through flues in the wall and out of vents in the roof. This was particularly popular in Roman villas and public bathhouses.

This ancient innovation, along with modern technology, has helped produce what is now regarded as the most energy-efficient and cost-effective method for heating homes.

The bathroom in particular has since become a focal point for underfloor heating in many homes today. Rather than to heat baths like they did during the Roman era, underfloor heating warms up the bathroom tiles, providing great comfort for bare feet as well as removing dampness and condensation.

Radiant heating v conventional heating

Both ancient and today’s methods relied on the use of radiant heat. Radiant heating consists of “radiant energy” being emitted from a heat source. From the floor, the heat energy rises evenly to warm people and other objects in the room.

Underfloor or Radiant Heating

In a radiant heated home, feet warm up first which provides improved body circulation. This isn’t the case with conventional heating, which warms a room by intensely heating the air towards the ceiling, before cooling and falling back to a height where it can be felt. Physiologically, our bodies prefer warm feet with the temperature around our head being slightly cooler.

The presence of convection heat in a room circulates dust which can be less than beneficial to those suffering from respiratory ailments or allergies.

Typical Central Heating

Energy efficient and cost effective

The process of heating a home from the ground up has proved as energy efficient and cost-effective today as it did during the Roman era. Underfloor heating warms people and objects, rather than the air around the ceiling. This means greater energy efficiency and less costs.

With today’s system, the heater runs at full power until the floor has reached its set temperature. After this period, the heater needs to run at only half-power to maintain the set temperature. Simply put, the faster the floor heats-up, the cheaper the system is to run.

Underfloor heating requires less energy to heat a space than traditional radiators, reducing energy costs on average between 15% and 40%.

Sustainability and cleaner energy

As a result of climate change there have been several changes in political, social and economic circles. Builders and architects are now required to build and design homes that are highly insulated and require less energy.

The technology behind electric underfloor heating is ideally suited to take advantage of the shift to cleaner energy. It not only makes ecological sense, but economical sense to prepare for a new era of clean, renewable fuel by installing electric floor heating.

Whether you’re building a new home or in the midst of renovations, there’s one essential feature you must not overlook – undertile heating.

The bathroom is one of the rooms in our home where we spend most of our time. It’s also the room that can provide us with a lot of frustration and discomfort. Dampness, condensation and coldness are usually at the heart of these.

While most people either combat or tolerate these problem areas, there’s one feature of the bathroom that is often overlooked – the bathroom tiles.

There’s nothing worse than the shock of cold bathroom tiles under your feet as you head in for your morning shower, nor is the transition back onto the tiles once you’ve finished.

Thankfully technology and quality craftsmanship has provided an effective and economical solution. Undertile heating has become the ultimate addition and necessity for bathrooms and kitchens in both new and existing homes. They not only ensure your feet remain at the optimum temperature, but they also remove dampness and condensation.

Undertile heating is energy efficient and provides a safe, even distribution of radiant floor heat. It’s also a cost-effective heating solution. Once the floor tiles heat up, they continue emitting heat long after the radiant elements have shut off.

Undertile heating has hidden benefits as well. With no ugly hardware in sight, the look, feel and atmosphere of your bathroom is totally enhanced.

With a growing awareness of sustainability and healthy living, more people are leaning towards this environmentally-friendly heating solution. It’s also a popular choice among asthmatics. Under tile heating does not blow around dust or emit volatile organic compounds typically found with gas heating. Not only do you enjoy luxury warm floors, your homes air quality improves too.

What’s more – undertile heating is also easy to install. In today’s economic climate, more people are following the simple DIY steps to luxurious warmth. It only takes a few hours. There’s no need to dig up the floor and no messy concrete work – best of all you won’t need specialised tools or skills.

Just tape the underfloor heating element to the floor.  Tile over it and you’re done – you have heated floors.  It’s as simple as that.