Getting the Heat Right in Your Bathroom
When you’re picking out an infrared heater for the bathroom, the instinct is usually to just grab the most powerful one on the shelf. But here’s the thing: more power isn’t always better. If you overdo it, you’re just throwing money away on your electric bill—or worse, you’re turning your bathroom into a sauna that’s actually uncomfortable to be in. It’s all about the size of the room. If you’ve just got a tiny powder room, a small lamp (somewhere between 250W and 500W) is plenty. The heat bounces off the walls almost instantly, so you’ll feel cozy in seconds. But if you’re dealing with a big master bath, you’ll need something beefier—maybe 800W to 1200W—just to make sure the warmth actually reaches you. Just be careful. Putting a 1200W heater in a tiny closet-sized bathroom is a bad move. The heat builds up too fast, and you’ll likely burn out the filament way sooner than you should. One thing to keep in mind: infrared is different from a standard space heater. It doesn’t really “heat the air.” Instead, it warms up the things it hits—like your skin or the tile. Because of that, placement is everything. You want the heater as close to where you actually stand as possible. If you have those fancy high ceilings, you’ll need a higher wattage lamp. Why? Because the further the heat has to travel, the more it fades away. It’s just physics. Then there’s the electrical side of things. Big lamps pull a lot of power. If you’re wiring up a few 1000W units on one circuit, make sure your wiring can actually handle the load. You don’t want your lights flickering every time you turn on the heat. My advice? Go with a zoned control system. It lets you keep things on a low simmer during the fall and only crank it up to full blast when it’s freezing outside. It’s way more comfortable, and it keeps your equipment from wearing out.