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I'm building our new bathroom and thought I may as well insulate the bath, in the hope it will keep the water warmer for longer. I'm not sure if it will make much difference, but I had some Penosil spray foam in a can I wanted to test anyway to see how well it really does spray and it was ok!

Are insulated baths a thing?

I am informed by family who live out there that in Germany this is how every bath comes. Cut outs in the insulation for the plug holes.
I did ours in the old house. Made a massive difference, and should be standard procedure as far as i am concerned.

I used the penosil spray stuff for the battery shed first insulation layer. Apart from one can exploding in my face when i opened the box as the packing people had stapled though one, i was quite impressed with the coverage. Not cheap for what it is though.

Happy bathing

NoraBatty wrote: ↑Sat Dec 21, 2024 9:38 pm I am informed by family who live out there that in Germany this is how every bath comes. Cut outs in the insulation for the plug holes.
I did ours in the old house. Made a massive difference, and should be standard procedure as far as i am concerned.

I used the penosil spray stuff for the battery shed first insulation layer. Apart from one can exploding in my face when i opened the box as the packing people had stapled though one, i was quite impressed with the coverage. Not cheap for what it is though.

Happy bathing

That's good to hear, apart from the exploding can! I used four cans for the whole bath, tbh I was thinking one or two might have been enough until I was spraying. Yes it makes sense to have an insulated bath, why aren't they more common un the UK?!

Funny, I wondered about doing the opposite!
Our heavy old vitreous enamelled cast iron bath is in almost perfect condition, but the thickness of the metal and glaze means that it takes quite a bit of heat out of the water - and as cast iron doesn't conduct heat very well it stays cold above the water line.

The bathroom radiator is close to it, so it occurred to me that I could extend the radiator circuit with a couple of loops of copper pipe supported above the floor under the bath. That way the whole bath would be pre-heated and when not in use would be an extra heating surface (and heat store) in the room. Against that would be the likelihood that the lime scale from soap would bake on before it got cleaned at the end of a soak... which might be why I haven't done it yet!

The idea of having to descale a bath is...well, I don't have the time to do it, so it reinforces the idea that showers are superior.

Fit a water softener and dont worry about it.
I find cleaning baths so much easier than showers tbh, but sadly no bath here, only a shower.

AlBargey wrote: ↑Sat Dec 21, 2024 9:55 pm

NoraBatty wrote: ↑Sat Dec 21, 2024 9:38 pm I am informed by family who live out there that in Germany this is how every bath comes. Cut outs in the insulation for the plug holes.
I did ours in the old house. Made a massive difference, and should be standard procedure as far as i am concerned.

I used the penosil spray stuff for the battery shed first insulation layer. Apart from one can exploding in my face when i opened the box as the packing people had stapled though one, i was quite impressed with the coverage. Not cheap for what it is though.

Happy bathing

That's good to hear, apart from the exploding can! I used four cans for the whole bath, tbh I was thinking one or two might have been enough until I was spraying. Yes it makes sense to have an insulated bath, why aren't they more common un the UK?!

No idea, but i would happily pay a bit more for one.
You have a good thick layer of insulation on there so should be great.

Seems like a good idea to me, although need to make sure the trap/leg adjusters are kept free and easy to access for maintenance/installation purposes.

Krill wrote: ↑Sat Dec 21, 2024 10:31 pm The idea of having to descale a bath is...well, I don't have the time to do it, so it reinforces the idea that showers are superior.

I think technically it is scum rather than scale, but it still has to be cleaned off...

I grew up in an area of very hard water but now live in an area with medium hardness. Son in Edinburgh has very soft water - and coffee tastes weird there! However my bro in London has a softener principally to make his coffee taste acceptable (to him.)

I guess I could fit a softener in the airing cupboard for the upstairs water...

I'm sure I read recently some advice to put the bubble bath in as you run the bath to get a good layer of insulating bubbles on the surface. Seems to make sense as I'd expect more heat loss from the surface than through the bath itself.

I also prefer showers, the only time my bath is used is to rinse off diving gear!