Go to Forum Home › Building Refurbishment and Retrofit › Steam Free Mirrors
- This topic has 6 replies, 5 voices, and was last updated 13 years ago by Alex Hunt.
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17 February 2011 at 7:56 am #31457
We are in the middle of an eco renovation in Brighton – see our blog – http://www.brightgreenhomes.co.uk/wp/?page_id=244 – for more details.
We have a very committed client who is interested in the principles of environmental design, but they do also want some of the creature comforts of modern living – and one of these is a large steam free mirror in the main bathroom downstairs. My issue is that the only way of doing this as I am aware is with an electrical heating pad. As we are trying to reduce electricity use to a bare minimum in the property (more natural light, LEDs, low energy appliances etc.) it seems incongruous to then use electricity to get rid of steam on a mirror?
Are there any alternatives?
Thanks – Alex
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17 February 2011 at 5:03 pm #37844
Alex
Do mirrors steam up in well insulated bathrooms?In a well insulated house the walls will tend to be at a steady room temperature and the mirror will be at the same temperature as the walls.
In my own ( warm ) bathroom the mirror which is on an internal wall never steams up, the wc cistern on the other hand is sopping wet after every shower.Peter
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17 February 2011 at 10:30 pm #37845Anonymous
Alex — just to point out that Paul Marriott has posted a reply as well, on the general public board, see https://aecb.net/forum/index.php/topic,2890.0.html
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20 February 2011 at 5:33 pm #37846
Paul's idea is ingenious and I was about to chip it then thought, has our mirror ever steamed up? I don't think it has.
Perhaps smaller bathroom might be more of a problem, thinking of cheap hotels with tiny bathroom- warm but steam up easy.
Obviously 'steaming up' can happen above the assumed dew point as when we breathe onto glasses to clean them.
Nick
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23 February 2011 at 3:51 pm #37847
Howard Liddle (see his book Ecominimalism) contends that using clay plaster in a bathroom will prevent mirror steaming. I haven't tried it yet, but it might be worth a punt – clay is also an absorber of pollutants so can't be bad.
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23 February 2011 at 6:57 pm #37848
Don't see to get it in this cob farmhouse's bathroom without ex fan – tho gappy window
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29 March 2011 at 4:16 pm #37849
thanks all!
As it turned out with a little gentle persuasion the client was convinced not to go down the electricity route – I'll let you know if they have a problem with steam after our 3 months retention.
Thanks again for your input and I will think about the clever idea of pipes behind the mirror for the next job!
Alex
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