How to heat a cold ladies too

[Valiant]

At the town hall, we have a ladies toilets which is on an 70s extension. It's unheated and in the winter months can be a tad cold. So I'm looking nice and simple ways to heat it until a full redevelopment can happen. At the moment I have a wall mounted fan blower which is over but at 1000w it's not something that wants to be on all the time. I was thinking of maybe replacing it with a heated towel rail thats on while the lights are on. But this would take a while to warm up the room which is two cubicles and measures about 6m x 3m on average but with a massive double height void above. I could stick the a light sensor on the fan heater so it's only on when the lights are.

Another option was one of those radiant panels heaters with thermostatic controls and sticking a minimum and max temp on it. But have trouble finding one with good reviews.



What other options do I have?

[Torslanda]

There's no heating in the shop and the cellar is cold & damp.

I tried radiant heaters but they were about as effective as a chocolate teapot!

I use a 2kw industrial fan heater on a timer by the front door, at floor level. Comes on around 8.30 for an hour then off for an hour and so on until around 7pm. It hasn't bankrupted me. Could you do something similar linked to the lights? Or on a door opener like an extractor fan . . . ?

ETA Upgrade the insulation too?

[Wowbagger]

A cold lady? Or a cold too belonging to a lady?

And what is a lady's too and why might it be cold?

 

[mrcharly-YHT]

Radiant heaters set to turn on when people enter.

Proper radiant heaters heat the occupants, not the air, so they work fairly quickly. That's why they are used in big draughty spaces like gyms.

Only trouble is, they won't heat people hidden behind doors (like in the loo cubicles) unless they can be ceiling mounted and pointing down. They also usually pull big current.

You need insulation above and proper rads I think

[Kim]

Put your fan heater on a PIR?

[Quisling]

Radiant heaters set to turn on when people enter.

Proper radiant heaters heat the occupants, not the air, so they work fairly quickly. That's why they are used in big draughty spaces like gyms.

Only trouble is, they won't heat people hidden behind doors (like in the loo cubicles) unless they can be ceiling mounted and pointing down. They also usually pull big current.

You need insulation above and proper rads I think

Infrared radiant heaters are very efficient and effective at heating people but not surfaces like cold toilet seats so you're probably better off with something that heats the space.

The size of the space to heat and the anticipated occupancy rather sets a limit on investment in a solution.  Fan heaters are dirt cheap to buy but costly to run.  The alternative would be a heat pump based split system which at least is more electrically efficient but may be overkill if the loo is pretty small.

As you point out, a towel rail will take ages to make the room feel warm whereas at least a fan heater blasts some warm air round and mixes the air.  If occupancy is low then fitting the fan heater with a timer or occupancy control like a PIR might be the best solution pending major investment.

[MikeFromLFE]

Storage heater? - assuming you don't need a lot of heat in the evening

[Moleman76]

Perhaps a fitting like this:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/WS-100-Warm-Continuously-Toilet-Seat-Cover-220V-Electric-Heat-Warmer-Controller-/152797726696

if what you want is to heat the seat itself

[Canardly]

Quartz radiants with sensors as suggested above. They do tend to heat your head and not your feet tho but. However much better than nothing.

[hellymedic]

I've only just notice the typo in the title...

I'm not really happy with the idea of radiant heat from above.

Depending on the clothing choice, some women will need to strip nearly naked to use a toilet and need warm, preferably static, air round their middle and lower parts.

There are REASONS why I won't wear anything which includes shoulders, waist and crotch in a single garment...

[Kim]

I'm not really happy with the idea of radiant heat from above.

Or worse, radiant heat from high on the wall over there, where it's neatly blocked by the cubicle wall/door.  I've come across that in public toilets a couple of times, and it might be lovely if you're hanging around the sinks doing makeup or something, but it's useless for the primary purpose.

[Polar Bear]

The solution it seems is hot air ...   

IGMC.