I get to sazsall the old steel bathtub in two and make an entire new shower and tub. I have seen two articles suggesting a low thermal mass shower will stay warmer and decrease the amount of hot water expended. Some even go so far as to suggest a ceiling enclosure to keep it warm. My water is from a cistern so any way of decreasing the showertime is a winner.
I have seen low mass tiles out of plastic advertised in Britain but don’t know what they are called Stateside. I hoped to use some similar tile or maybe acrylic panels to do the walls/floor. I am long on plumbing expertise ( neighbor) and have set tile with mastic and even into concrete and sand mixture ( old style mallet setting). Really need to save on water heating and water.
We will retire to this house in Central Texas from the German Alps soon.
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One word - Kerdi. Use their foam base & drywall walls. That's about as low mass as you can get. Then, it pretty much doesn't matter what tile you use, 'cause what's behind it is absolutely waterproof.
Mike Hennessy
Pittsburgh, PA
Everything fits, until you put glue on it.
Edited 4/30/2009 9:53 am ET by MikeHennessy
BTW, a 10-lb sledge and some ear plugs & eye protection will work a whole lot quicker than a sawsall
on a steel tub?
DOH! My brain ain't connected to my eyes today. Was thinking "cast".
I better take that out - don't want the OP to spend three days ringing a bathtub gong!Mike HennessyPittsburgh, PAEverything fits, until you put glue on it.
Boy, come here!
I want you to take this hammer, and demolish that big bell over there.
he he he
Tu stultus esRebuilding my home in Cypress, CAAlso a CRX fanatic!
Look, just send me to my drawer. This whole talking-to-you thing is like double punishment.
That's funny, hehehe
Since you are in Central Texas you should consider a solar hot water system. There are new tax incentives for them. Also if your bathroom is not on a slab I would consider this:
http://gfxtechnology.com/contents.html#selection
I will also second the Shluter system.
http://www.schluter.com/index.aspx
And instal a ultra low flow toilet. This is one of the best performing out there.
http://www.toiletwarehouse.com/totoecodraketwopieceroundtoiletcst743e.aspx
And install one of these on your water heater.
http://www.aers.com/etech_residential_water_heating.html
Many thanks for your excellent URLs on greywater heat reclamation, Toilets, the tile system, the toilet and the heatpump/water heater.
The 1986 Janitrol condenser for my HVAC is just outside the insulated pump house for the 2000 water heater and 2009 cistern pump. Now I need to find the cash for that upgrade! Here is the discussion that started the whole shower question.
http://www.sunfrost.com/efficient_shower.htmlI think, after getting the floor pan in and greywater system in, an acrylic shower stall over green board or at least the wall panels of it. The goal is something that reflects all the heat ( from you and the water) right back at ya......and discourages you from cranking the temperature up. Another water saving addition, with all the social appeal of a bidet, would be a urinal...they use a half the water of a toilet. By this time you barely have room to enter the bathroom ;<}
Maybe just a big flush/little flush on the toilet tank would be better. These are a standard in new construction here in Germany.
Do not use green board behind your tile. Use either Hardie Backer
http://www.jameshardie.com/homeowner/backerboard.shtml
or Dense Shield
http://www.gp.com/build/product.aspx?pid=4684Also this is a good forum on tile
http://www.johnbridge.com/vbulletin/index.phpAnd if you want to know what temperature your shower is you could use these.
https://www.inventables.com/technologies/temperature-sensitive-glass-tilesAlso don't forget a low flow shower head. I have the Evolve and it works great.
http://www.energyfederation.org/consumer/default.php/cPath/27_53
Wow, those heat sensitive tiles look just like my Global Hypercolor sweatshirt from the '70s. Too cool......would have really matched the original color scheme from our house (Black, Purple, Burgundy and Charcol Grey high gloss paint). The experienced painter covered it in two coats; a primer and a top coat to linen white. I was totally impressed having budgeted for me to give it 2 Kills and two top coats. James Hardie owns the composite market in Texas. The big stores don't stock anything else. Strange though they all buy the HardiePlank siding in cement white and paint it. The paint stores love it, cause they have to repaint every 2 years. No one seems to know that they could buy Hardiplank in colors and eliminate painting for the life of the product. The upstairs shower has two high end Delta showerheads with the hitemp cartridge in a giant triangular jacuzzi. Will look up the Evolve for the downstairs bath. I am now trying to get Rolladen outside roller shutters here in Germany. The US prices run $600 and up probably because they seem unusual. Here they are on more then 60% of the homes. They have probably been around at least 50 years. I have used wood, vinyl and aluminum ones and they are great!