Retro bath heaters

Automatic Washer - The world's coolest Washing Machines, Dryers and Dishwashers

Help Support :

cornutt

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 24, 2009
Messages
543
Location
Huntsville, AL USA
Does anyone know of a source for a retro-styled, forced-air, ceiling mount bath heater? I'm looking for something to put in our master bath, and the generic heater/fan/light combos aren't doing anything for me. I'm not really particular if it's actually old or retro-style new; the look is what I'm going for.
 
I would suggest you visit an electric supplies distributor, rather than someplace like Lowes or Home Depot. You will find a larger selection there.

NuTone has one model combination which is round, the deluxe Heat-A-Ventlite. They've made it since at least the mid-60's, though the grille is slightly different from the originals.

 
What about one of those cool wall mounted electric heaters with the fancy stainless or chrome grills? They pop up on ebay.
 
<span style="font-family: georgia,palatino; font-size: medium;">I have seen some NIB on Ebay from time to time.  </span>

<span style="font-family: georgia,palatino; font-size: medium;">Brent</span>
 
I grew up with the one Bob posted, but it had a single blower that either heated or vented (now there is a solenoid to hear when you switched modes!). The new ones have 2 blowers so you can heat and vent at the same time, and they are MUCH QUIETER. Get the chrome one for a true (heart stopping) retro look.
 
The house in which we lived when I was between two and five years old was brand new (built c. 1958) and had an electric wall heater in each of two bathrooms, so I know they were made at least through mid-century.

When I was five, we moved to an older (1930s) home in a fancier neighborhood. It had a "jack and jill" bathroom to serve the two kids' bedrooms. This bathroom had two doors, one leading to each of the bedrooms, which took up a lot of wall space. Basically, the bathtub with shower enclosure occupied one wall, the door to my sister's room and the toilet occupied the next wall, the vanity/sink occupied the wall opposite the bath, and then there was the wall with the door to my room. Basically, there was no room to place a wall heater. My parents remodelled the bathroom a few years after we moved in, updating the bathtub and vanity/sink (changed bathtub to a newer one with glass shower doors and up to date Kohler fixtures), but there was no wall heater and probably no room for one.

Our neighbors around the corner had a large but poorly heated 1930s mansion. It used to get cold in the bathrooms, and I remember there was a wall heater (electric) in the kids' bathroom; this bathroom was original 1930s, never remodeled. I'm not sure if a wall heater was standard issue for the 1930s, or whether it was high-end and only seen in more ornate homes from that era. I used to switch on the heater in my neighbor's bathroom because it reminded me of the heater we'd had in our former (brand new) home. I wonder how many watts those things sucked up?
 

Latest posts

Back
Top