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The importance of the WC


AliG

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Silly, but serious topic.

 

When the heating designers drew up the plans for our house, they put the WC on the same circuit as the hall. We have 25 heating thermostats, one for every en suite and spare room where the heating is never on, yet not for the WC, a room multiple people use multiple times a day. The WC sticks out from the main house so has more exposed wall/roof area than any other room in the house and it would not be quite warm enough when the hall thermostat turned the heating off. This had my wife complaining.

 

Luckily the hall has 3 UFH circuits one of which is mainly the WC and a cupboard beside it, so we fitted a wireless Heatmiser today so that we can keep it warmer than the hall. The hall is way way bigger and I wouldn't want to heat it up to the 21-22 we may want in the WC.

 

Anyway this got me to thinking, I often comment on house designs where the WC seems forgotten. There was a lovely design the other day for a nice spacious house with the WC basically stuck in a cupboard under the stairs.

 

I don't know about other people, but after the kitchen, our bedroom and en suite and the TV room the WC is probably the room people spend the most time in. More time than we spend in the formal lounge, dining room or main bathroom often.

 

So why do people think it is acceptable for this room to not have a window, double up as a cloak cupboard etc. It is also a room that every visitor to your house may use and it is a room that will give them an impression about how well built your house is.

 

So don't skimp on the WC!

Edited by AliG
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Our thermostat for the bathroom is also in the hall just outside the bathroom door, we have it set at 18 degrees because as you say you don’t want to be heating a big hall up to 22 degrees, BUT, the bathroom is the warmest room in the house! Can’t understand why, only thing we thought it might be is because it’s fully tiled in quartz tiles and maybe they hold the heat better, as for our wc it’s for our use only and it’s very warm too but that’s because it also houses the thermal store 

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You will probably hate our house then. We have the unconventional layout of the downstairs WC in the same room as the utility room.

 

So alongside one wall there is tumble dryer, washing machine, sink, a cupboard, then the loo.  the other side has cupboards and the "pulley" for clothes drying in winter.

 

We did it this way because there was no easy alternative.

 

Plus sides, the combine function room is large and spacious, nothing at all cramped about it.

 

Oh and building control are happy with it.

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I have a Heatmiser system which is excellent for setting up the heating as it charts the temperature at every thermostat over the course of a week.

 

I have four rooms where the heating never has to go on, three of these have the UFH manifolds in them and one has all the AV equipment in it. The waste heat from these is enough to warm the rooms.

 

Sometimes you get funny issues due to the specific place the thermostat sits, if it is on a tiled wall the temperature may be a little lower and if it is on an outside wall also, so you may need to set the temperature lower than the room temperature otherwise you will heat the room to a higher level than you expected.

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5 minutes ago, ProDave said:

You will probably hate our house then. We have the unconventional layout of the downstairs WC in the same room as the utility room.

 

So alongside one wall there is tumble dryer, washing machine, sink, a cupboard, then the loo.  the other side has cupboards and the "pulley" for clothes drying in winter.

 

We did it this way because there was no easy alternative.

 

Plus sides, the combine function room is large and spacious, nothing at all cramped about it.

 

Oh and building control are happy with it.

 

 

Fair point, sometimes compromises have to be made. I don't know your layout @ProDave but maybe you use the main bathroom for guests.

 

The main things is when people design large open plan 2500sq foot plus houses then relegate the WC to a tiny cupboard. This is probably due to not thinking enough about which spaces get used and how.

Edited by AliG
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You @ProDaveseem to have gone along the same lines as us! Once the thermal store was in there wasn’t a lot of room left for the wc  and sink however I had got quite a compact wc (short projection) and a tiny vanity unit and was happy that it would fit, the plumber however had other ideas because he was by this time looking for short cuts so he suggested I forget about the wc! No way, my better half would then walk from the garden right through the house to the main bathroom with his outdoor shoes on!

As it is when we’re sitting in the lounge at night the main bathroom is nearer but we also have an ensuite in one of the downstairs bedrooms which I tend to use, and the reason for this being hubby again as he always leaves the seat up and it’s one of these soft close things which I hate having to wait on it going down ?

Edited by Christine Walker
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We have a WC in the middle section of the upstairs. 

 

Because our house is 1 1/2 storey we have utilised a top hung U04 velux which is across the length of the WC. It also provides extra height and should make the space feel light as often a wee wc can feel like a dark spot in the house.

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Another train of thought is why have a wc in the main bathroom at all?  I personally hate having a 'bog' in the room where I want to have a relaxing bath.  Equally I hate that when people use it they don't always put the lid down so God knows what crap is projecting into the air and settling on the bath, the sink, toothbrushes etc.  Most houses nowadays have loads of ensuites and a downstairs toilet - no need for one in the bathroom aswell?  I don't I tend to do so, but maybe that's just me ?  

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Not a bad idea, I certainly feel that I prefer the downstairs toilet not to be a bathroom. You could certainly go all the way and eliminate the toilet in the bathroom, especially if space is an issue. This is how houses were often built in the past.

 

We designed my parent's house on one floor to have 2 en suites and a WC which we though was better than a bathroom and en suite.

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1 hour ago, Christine Walker said:

 No way, my better half would then walk from the garden right through the house to the main bathroom with his outdoor shoes on!

 

Part of our thinking, is the utility / wc links through to the garage. So if you are working in the garden, enter via the garage and the WC is 2 steps away in the house.

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I have a downstairs WC / wet room rather than just a loo. Originally that was the only completed bathroom when we moved in as there was nothing finished upstairs and we had envisaged that the shower would just be used to shower the dogs occasionally eventually. Never did we imagine that the downstairs shower would become essential when my hubby became too sick to climb the stairs so it was very good fortune as the original plan just had a loo and a cupboard next door, but we dispensed with the cupboard to make the larger wet room. It also has a separate thermostat with floor probe. 

 

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But if there is no loo in the shower room, whether en-suite or downstairs, some people pee in the shower.

 

That is one that I personally find offensive, but I am not sure that I am in a minority or majority.

 

I am also not sure whether it is a generational thing ... perhaps conditioned by experience for some living in tiny flats or rooms I shared houses in cities. Or even by experiences of some when in the armed or uniformed services. 

 

Ferdinand

Edited by Ferdinand
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We're going with a downstairs bathroom (OK shower room) that has jack &jill doors to a room which will likely be dining or study for now but easily utilised as an elderly parent's bedroom  (or indeed a master for us if our knees go...). The shed will have a loo in it when built so no need for one "in the house" that's accessible with dirty feet.

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Slightly off topic ...... Living in the remote wilds and leading a very outside lifestyle I find that The bathroom upstairs in this house just means people traipse In with there boots through the hall up the stairs and into the bathroom........ it’s a boots on house as that’s the only thing that works. In my last place I build an outside loo   It was round ! and it was great and I will be doing the same here when I get the time... this time I’m thinking Tardis or really small horse box conversion..... I personally love an outside quirky loo with a view !  

 

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Another feature of our house is we have nice views and no neighbours in front. So it would be such a shame to block that view with frosted glass, so we didn't.

 

Eventually we will have vertical blinds so you can angle them if you feel you need some privacy.

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cold  WC 

my solution was to fit more UFH in  the wc  than the hall

--then let hall thermostat sort it out 

my guess is most put less UFh to dodge round things -

I closed the pipe runs up as much as I could 

did same in bathroom as well
works fine -bog is nice and warm +probably the window in there is open more than  any other  due to noxious smells 

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