As the weather starts to get worse and temperatures start to drop across the country, our homes can start to become a little bit uncomfortable unless they are properly prepared for colder weather. There is little worse than having to get up to a cold house on dark autumn and winter mornings when you try and prepare for the day ahead.

It is possible to make a few home improvements to make getting up on winter mornings more pleasant. Your focus really ought to be on the rooms that you use straight away when you get up. For most people this is likely to be the bathroom.

The best way you can improve your bathroom for comfort in colder climates is to sort of the heating in the room. Naturally, you will already have central heating options, but you can bolster these with extra items. Underfloor heating is perhaps the cleverest way of enhancing the comfort of your bathroom.

Underfloor heating heats the tiles of the bathroom floor directly. The floor is rarely affected by the warmth from your central heating, so underfloor heating represents a real boost. No longer will you have to deal with freezing cold floors when you venture for your morning shower.

Over the last two articles, we have discussed the benefits of electric showers and power showers. In the last part of our three part article we will discuss the benefits of the increasingly popular thermostatically controlled shower.

Thermostatically controlled showers

Thermostatically controlled bathroom showers are an excellent choice if you have a combination boiler. The shower takes the already heated water from your boiler and cold water from the mains and mixes it using a thermostatically controlled mixer valve. The thermostat in the shower will make sure that if any hot or cold water is drawn elsewhere from the system, the water from the shower head will remain at the same chosen temperature, and will not scald the person having the shower.

A thermostatically controlled bathroom shower is a great cost-effective choice if you have already got a combination boiler, as the only components you will have to buy are the shower itself and the piping between the nearest hot and cold water points and the shower.

All the showers we have covered in this three part article are available in many different styles to complement your bathroom design.

In the last article we discussed the benefits of electric showers. In this article we will discuss power showers and in which situations you can use them.

Power showers

The thing that both power showers and thermostatically controlled showers have in common is they need water to be heated by another source to work. In the case of a power shower, the shower needs to take hot and cold water from respective storage tanks. The PSI rating of power showers means that water cannot be heated as quickly as is needed by your boiler to supply the hot water. And the cold mains supply may also not be at a pressure that is not high enough for a power shower. It is for this sole reason that most people are now getting rid of hot water tanks and opting for combination boilers that power showers are not more common. However if you have a combination boiler, there is nothing to stop you installing a separate hot water storage tank and using this to supply the shower pump.

In the next article we will discuss thermostatically controlled showers.

With most people in the UK preferring a shower instead of a bath choosing the right bathroom shower can be a little tricky. We thought we would give you a three part guide on what the main differences between the different types of showers are, and give you some advice in which situations they can be used.

Electric bathroom showers

Electric showers are the most common type of shower in the UK. Their popularity is most likely down to the fact that they only need a cold water supply and an electrical connection to work. This means that people who are not connected to mains gas, which can be common in rural areas, and people who have no other means of heating the water can enjoy a warm shower.

Electric showers need to be fitted by a Part P registered engineer. There are many types available and are graded by their Kilowatt output. For example, a 10kW shower will be able to heat the cold water from the mains at a faster rate than a 7.2kW so the flow rate will be inherently faster which is great news if you like a powerful shower. The increased energy needed by a 10kW shower will however mean larger sized cabling needing to be used and of course more energy used when you have a shower. The choice in this regard is up to you.

In the next article we will discuss power showers.

Shopping for a bathroom suite is something you can do online as well as by going round showrooms. If anything it is easier to use the internet to do your research and shop around for styles, simply because it involves a great deal less legwork. You can look at what several different retailers offer without having to set aside hours for visits.

When you shop for a suitable bathroom suite, the last thing you want to have to do is draw the process out over several weekends. This is often the case when you are determined to do all of your shopping in person. Instead, shopping online for these items relieves you of this sort of pressure and stops the job taking all your free time.

You may also be able to take advantage of discounts and special offers online that aren’t always available when you drop by at showroom after showroom. Cheap bathroom suites are available from online retailers that don’t compromise on quality. If you are looking to kit your bathroom out cheaply and you want to be able to sift through all sorts of different designs as quickly as possible, then online shopping is your best option.

Power showers make wonderful additions to your bathroom setup. It is often the case that people don’t quite know what it is that sets power showers apart from regular showers until they actually try one. Naturally, these bathroom showers represent slightly more of an expense than regular models, but they do have a number of benefits that can help you to make the most of your bathroom.

Pressure

To start with, power showers solve problems to do with system pressure in the home. If you find that a regular shower fails to deliver a sustained and powerful stream of water then it may be that your system suffers a lack of pressure. Power showers are engineered to deliver a good volume of water at high pressure at all times. This increases the quality of your shower both in terms of comfort and in terms of hygiene.

Hot water

Many power showers feature direct heating units that act independently of your hot water system. This means that all the water you use when showering is heated by the shower itself, thereby preserving the hot water in your system. This is ideal if the members of your household are likely to use the shower at similar times.

Before you undertake a thorough modification of your bathroom, it is wise to try and plan out your bathroom storage properly. The solutions you take into account when it comes to storage will ensure that your bathroom is as convenient and practical as possible once it is ready to be used.

One of the best ways of planning for bathroom storage is to spend a little time considering exactly what items you would keep inside your bathroom at all times if possible. After figuring this out you can then shop around for bathroom cabinets, washstands and so on.

Cosmetics

Many bathroom cabinets are specifically designed for cosmetics. You will need room for bottles of things you use to wash and to prepare you for your day, as well as make-up and luxury items.

Cleaning products

Your bathroom will need cleaning regularly and it is best to keep bathroom products in the room so that you can clean up whenever the urge takes you. These items don’t need to be directly to hand as cosmetics do.

Bathroom essentials

Bathroom essentials may take up more room. Coming under this category are things like towels and toilet rolls that you cannot do without.

Bathrooms are often among the very smallest rooms in the house. This is especially true of en suite bathrooms as they sometimes represent a luxury that have to be fit in where they isn’t a great deal of space. Since en suite bathrooms are often very small, it is a good idea to try and make them feel as large and airy as possible when you decorate them.

One of the best ways of making a bathroom feel more spacious is to increase the light in the room. A brighter bathroom will always feel a little larger and more comfortable. Decorate with light colours, perhaps dressing the walls and floor with glossy white tiles to reflect light. It is also a good idea to limit any obstructions in front of your bathroom window.

In terms of bathroom furniture, you can use things like bathroom cabinets to your advantage. If you select cabinets with mirrored doors then you will be able to reflect even more light in the room, thereby making it appear even more spacious.

Try and limit how much bathroom furniture you try and squeeze into the room. Only install that which is completely essential and your bathroom will stay comfortable and attractive.

Heating is a very important element in the bathroom that should never be overlooked. Entering a cold bathroom in the morning is the wrong way to start your day. It is uncomfortable and adds to the difficulty that you may find in getting up and starting your daily routine.

A warm bathroom is also much more hospitable when it comes to entertaining guests. Cold bathrooms create the wrong sort of impression and detract from the rest of the room, no matter how visually stunning you have designed it to be in terms of you bathroom furniture and suite.

Underfloor heating is one of the ways you can improve your heating options in the bathroom. Tiled floors benefit especially from direct underfloor heating that takes the chill away from the tiles. Although this is of particular benefit in winter, it is also pleasant all year round for early mornings.

Designer radiators look fantastic in your bathroom. These are excellent ways of supplying adequate heating without detracting from the aesthetics of the room. You can also install heated towel rails as a way of combining heating and storage. A warm towel is a real luxury when you step out of the bath or shower.

Home furnishings and technology have not always enjoyed the best of relationships. It can sometimes be a pretty tough task to enjoy all of the technological pieces of equipment that you want around the house without compromising your interior design.

The problem arises because some electronic items are simply a touch unattractive, although modern electronics companies are now managing to give us TVs and stereos and so on that actually add a bit of contemporary style to our homes. Unfortunately, they still come along with all the unsightly wires and cables that give them power.

The living room is probably the room that is affected most of all by electronic equipment. We use this room to sit and relax, which means having a television, stereo, DVD player, set top box and so on. These are distractions that few people are willing to go without.

Investing in an attractive TV stand is a really nice way of bringing these electrical items into the home and making them work in your favour. Instead of detracting from the room, TVs placed on these attractive bits of furniture become a more pleasant feature. Cables are dealt with neatly through a series of holes and peripherals sit smartly on additional shelves.