How to pick the right infrared heater for your bathroom
Nobody likes stepping out of a hot shower into a freezing bathroom. But here’s the thing: if you pick the wrong wattage for your infrared lamp, you’re either going to be shivering in a cold spot or throwing money away on electricity you don’t need. Unlike a space heater that just warms up the air, these lamps send heat directly to you. It’s a different feeling—more like standing in the sun. To get that feeling just right, you have to look at how much space you’re actually working with. Finding your number If you’ve got a tiny bathroom (under 4m²), keep it simple. A 250W to 400W lamp is usually plenty. Any more than that and you’ll probably overheat the room. For those medium-sized spaces (between 4m² and 8m²), you’re looking at 600W to 800W. Now, if you have one of those massive luxury baths over 10m², a single lamp won’t cut it. You’ll want a few 1000W+ lamps spread across the ceiling. That way, you don’t end up with one scorching hot spot and a bunch of freezing corners. And a quick heads-up: don’t overdo it. Putting a massive heater in a tiny room makes the lamp click on and off constantly. It’s annoying, and it wears out the parts faster. Where to put the lamp Distance matters. A lot. The further away the lamp is from you, the less heat you’ll actually feel. If you have really high ceilings, you’ll need to bump up the wattage just to make up for that extra gap. We use quartz glass for our lamps because it helps the heat punch through the air without losing its strength. But the real secret is placement. Put the lamp directly above where you actually stand—like right by the towel rack or the shower exit. If you offset it, you’ll end up in a “dead zone” where the lamp is blasting away, but you’re still cold. The trade-off It really comes down to speed versus stability. High wattage means you’re warm the second you flip the switch. It’s instant. But it also pulls a lot more power. Just make sure your wiring can handle it so you aren’t tripping your breakers every time you take a bath. Lower wattage lamps are a bit more patient. They take a minute longer to get your skin warm, but they run cooler and generally last longer.