heat pump running costs and noise

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#643760 20-Jun-2012 13:09

Some of you seem to love spending money to fix symptoms when you should be solving the source problem.

If your bathroom gets damp you need to deal with the source, mostly likely the shower. When I bought my house it had an extractor over the shower, but the bathroom still got quite damp. I put a second extractor in over the shower, I never get steam any more. The bathroom is super dry, and we only run the extractor for a few minutes after each shower.

A better solution could be a shower dome, which prevents condensation. Some information here. You might still need a small extractor, but maybe not.

Spending money every day to remove water seems silly, even if you do get heat as a byproduct. You'd be better off preventing the moisture, then letting a more efficient heat pump heat that room.

When I redo my bathroom I'll probably have a shower dome, a small ceiling extractor, double glazing, and maybe under floor heating if we go with tiles.

keewee01

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#643798 20-Jun-2012 13:55

timmmay: Some of you seem to love spending money to fix symptoms when you should be solving the source problem.

If your bathroom gets damp you need to deal with the source, mostly likely the shower. When I bought my house it had an extractor over the shower, but the bathroom still got quite damp. I put a second extractor in over the shower, I never get steam any more. The bathroom is super dry, and we only run the extractor for a few minutes after each shower.

A better solution could be a shower dome, which prevents condensation. Some information here. You might still need a small extractor, but maybe not.

Spending money every day to remove water seems silly, even if you do get heat as a byproduct. You'd be better off preventing the moisture, then letting a more efficient heat pump heat that room.

When I redo my bathroom I'll probably have a shower dome, a small ceiling extractor, double glazing, and maybe under floor heating if we go with tiles.

Our neighbours had a shower dome in their house and I've seen one elsewhere also. They are brilliant at eliminating the steam and condensation problem. Keeps it all in the shower space where it belongs.

NonprayingMantis

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#643803 20-Jun-2012 14:01

Old houses with wooden floors and exposed earth under the house get a huge amount of moisture coming from the ground too.
Laying plastic sheeting on the ground the floor will massively improve that.

I saw an episode of Target or Fair go last year (I forget which) that showed how much moisture came from different sources ? shower, cooking, human respiration, the ground etc. The biggest amount came from the ground by far. (about 3-4 x more than any other source)

timmmay

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#643807 20-Jun-2012 14:05

My experiences matches that. The ground sheets made the place warmer, drier, and smell better.

Clothes dryers that aren't vented put a massive amount of moister into the air. No-one should do that.

NonprayingMantis

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#643842 20-Jun-2012 14:58

It?s also one of the cheapest things to fix. You can easily do it yourself for less than $200. You just buy the p;lastic sheeting for bunnings for about $60 a roll, a couple of rolls of duct tape and you are set. I did 80sqm for about $150 in about 3 hours. (quote from insulation company was over $1000)

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#643880 20-Jun-2012 16:17

timmmay: My experiences matches that. The ground sheets made the place warmer, drier, and smell better.

Clothes dryers that aren't vented put a massive amount of moister into the air. No-one should do that.

Worst is probably the portable (unvented) gas heaters

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richms

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#643884 20-Jun-2012 16:35

I have showered in a shower with a shower dome and it was one of the worst experiences ever.

Plus they only seem to make them for the budget corner acrylic shower stalls. I have the shower over the bath at the moment and when I redo the bathroom will have a tiled walk in shower. Those plastic things with the door are too small even before you cap them with a dome.

Richard rich.ms

timmmay

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#643918 20-Jun-2012 17:00

Why didn't you like the shower dome?

richms

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#643919 20-Jun-2012 17:03

Cramped, not enough head room and it really got humid in it.

Richard rich.ms

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#643923 20-Jun-2012 17:18

Interesting. Humid I would expect, something to try before someone buys one. Unless you're 7 feet tall not sure how the headroom is important, maybe it just feels more closed in?

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#644003 20-Jun-2012 20:25

got the info I was looking for from you guys, cheers

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#644063 20-Jun-2012 22:36

I've used a shower dome several times in hotels. Yes - it did give a slight feeling of claustrophobia, but keeping the heat and steam in the shower cubicle was fantastic.

alasta

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#644124 21-Jun-2012 08:19

keewee01: I've used a shower dome several times in hotels. Yes - it did give a slight feeling of claustrophobia, but keeping the heat and steam in the shower cubicle was fantastic.

I'm not sure whether I could handle that. Water combined with an enclosed space tends to freak me out. :(

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#644126 21-Jun-2012 08:26

timmmay: Why didn't you like the shower dome?

In IMO they are incredibly ugly. If you've spent serious money to install an attractive bathroom with a tiled shower with frameless glass there's no way I'd be putting a big lump of plastic on top of it.

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#644127 21-Jun-2012 08:33

alasta:
keewee01: I've used a shower dome several times in hotels. Yes - it did give a slight feeling of claustrophobia, but keeping the heat and steam in the shower cubicle was fantastic.

I'm not sure whether I could handle that. Water combined with an enclosed space tends to freak me out. :(

Make sure the door's not watertight and you should be ok! ;)

Handle9:
timmmay: Why didn't you like the shower dome?

In IMO they are incredibly ugly. If you've spent serious money to install an attractive bathroom with a tiled shower with frameless glass there's no way I'd be putting a big lump of plastic on top of it.

Good point. There are probably nicer ways of doing it that integrate with nice showers. Not sure if I'd bother or just install a decent exhaust fan.

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