A heated mirror is a great way to warm your bathroom, but standard mirrors can encourage humidity, leading to damp problems down the line. This is because bathrooms are often inadequately ventilated, so heating can lead to condensation. We have found an efficient, space-saving alternative which gets around this problem.
Infrared: the modern heated mirror
Mirror-finish infrared heating panels are a great option for the bathroom. They look great, sit almost flat against the wall and emit powerful warmth soon after being switched on. They do not fog up when exposed to steam, so they are perfect for bathrooms.
These infrared panels look exactly like a standard mirror. The units are slim and frameless, and the untrained eye won’t even notice it’s a heater once it’s been wired into the mains. Much better than ugly, bulky radiators!
Infrared heating is practical in damp areas
Because they don’t fog up, they are perfect for humid areas. Unlike standard mirrors, these allow you to shave or do your makeup straight after a shower.
Infrared heating is efficient
Contrary to their name, radiators work through convection, not radiation. They work by heating the air around them. They are less efficient than infrared heating because they work by heating the air around you. This means the heat is easily lost through draughts and through the walls of a building.
What makes infrared heating different is that it works through radiation, not convection. Infrared panels emit radiant heat, warming objects (and people) directly, rather than space. This means you will benefit even after you have turned the heating off.
Infrared panels are cheap to run
The way infrared panels work means they are cheap to run, because they require less energy input to achieve the same heat output as other forms of heating. Depending on how they are operated, infrared can use just 30 – 60% of the energy consumption of traditional heating solutions.
Infrared heating prevents mould
With infrared, furniture, walls and floors absorb heat and release it slowly back into the room over time. This means infrared heating helps prevent damp by drying out walls and preventing the conditions which encourage condensation.
As well as looking ugly and potentially causing structural problems, damp and mould can cause health issues such as allergic reactions and asthma attacks. It should therefore not be taken lightly.
As long as you have treated the root cause of a damp problem, an infrared heated mirror can dry out your walls and stop it coming back.
Infrared heating is 100% safe
Infrared radiation is natural and completely safe – it is the reason we feel warm in the sun, even when the air temperature is low. All panels have been rigorously tested and are made from mirror safety glass.
Before spending money on a new bathroom mirror, consider the efficient, multipurpose option! Below, James gives a quick introduction to the technology:
Installing infrared heating
Are you thinking about installing infrared heating in your home? We have scoured the country for the best tradespeople, so that we can make sure we only recommend those we really trust.
If you would like us to find you a local installer to help install infrared heating in your home, just fill in the form below and we will be in touch shortly!
If you buy a mirror lit by fluorescent tubes, you will not need a heated mirror.
Hi Rodger, I assume the tubes are then giving out some heat? Otherwise the mirror would still fog up??
They will give out some won’t they, presumably for Roger’s bathroom they give out enough.
Hi, how is this more energy efficient? I have a towel rail in my bathroom that uses gas heater water from our central heating system. The gas I get from British Gas at 3.39p / kWh. Electricity I get from British gas is 14.27p / kWh. It doesn’t make a lot of sense to me that a heated mirror would be energy saving. Happy to be proven wrong, but as far as I can see the numbers don’t add up?
Hi AshDevel2020, I think the article is alluding to people with out central heating systems – you are quite right that a gas central heating system is cheaper to run than electric heating on the whole (exception maybe a GSHP) but the reasoning here is that infrared is very efficient electric heating since you are heating solid objects rather than convection heating. Likewise electric heating does have some clear advantage over wet central heating systems. For example, electric heating can be very localised (i.e. the heated mirror can be switched on independently of the rest of the heating in the house). Also it is very maintenance light, another reason lots of people plump for electric heating (and these heated mirrors!) rather than radiators and towel rails.
I have a mirror “demisting pads’ in my bathroom from TLC electrical, it is only around 30w so doesn’t noticeable warm the room but as someone who shaves in the bathroom after a shower most mornings it has been amazing. I recommend them to everyone.