How do I make my bathroom warmer

[Iwantmychairback]

Without spending a fortune! So no heated towel rails, extra radiators etc.

It used to be a double bedroom, so is very big. It has a long radiator under a large (6foot ish) window. The floor is covered in Karndean.

I have velvet curtains over the window which are always kept closed. They are only as long as the window chill though because of the radiator. I also have a rug in there.
The radiator is on high at peak times ie mornings and evenings when the bathroom is in use. But it is always freezing in there. I always have a shower because there is no way I’d want to stay in long enough to have a bath.
Any tips for keeping it warmer.

do you have a hot-water cylinder in, or adjaent to, the bathroom?

How many external walls does the bathroom have, and what size is it?

how old is the house?

Does it have a flat ceiling, and is it properly insulated in the loft?

Does it have an effective extractor fan, and are the mirror and window free of condensation?

How old is the window, and is it double glazed?

is there a window blind inside the reveal?

What are the dimensions of the radiator? Single panel or double? Is it fully hot all over (top, bottom, and middle)? Too hot to hold your hand on for long? Is it as hot as the other radiators in the house, and does it warm up as quickly?

Show us a photo of the curtains in relation to the top of the radiator.

Radiator shelf?

The house was built in around 1980.. It was originally a bungalow and had a loft conversion so the bathroom is downstairs. There are three internal walls. No water tank in the house at all.
The window is double glazed around 7 years old. No internal blind - that would be a good start I think.
No extractor fan. No condensation on window or mirrors. Window is opened for around 10 minutes after shower has been used to clear the steam.
The radiators in the house are old, but the boiler is about 4 years old and is more than capable of running the number of radiators we have.
It is a single panel radiator. We have no problem with it heating up quickly or getting hot. It is around 5 ft long by 2 foot high in a room that is perhaps 10 x 12.
There is a lot of insulation between upper and lower floors, the upstairs rooms are considerably cooler than the downstairs when the log burner is being run.

OK. Without an extractor, unless it is unusually draughty, it will tend to be somewhat damp, and this will make it feel colder.

For cheap solutions, add a roller blind, in the reveal, close to the window. The frame will probably leave you with a gap of two inches or less, which is fine and will cut heat loss.

The practice of putting radiators under windows counteracts the cold draught off the glass. It was common in the days before double-glazing, and when energy was cheap. Temperature gradients mean that it results in a lot of heat going out to warm the garden.

A radiator shelf to divert the warm air forward of the curtain and the window will probably help. Photos will show more. If the curtain allows warm air to rise behind it towards the window it will waste a lot of heat.

Take off the bath panel and look for the huge gaps that allow cold air to get in. They will be where the floor was hacked about for pipes and drains, and around the edges of the floor where there is no skirting. They will be untidy because the bath panel hides them so nobody bothered.

Thanks for the great reply.
The curtain does hang away from the window so the heat will be going up behind it slightly.
I will have a look behind the bath panel too, I would never have thought of that.
So, list of things to try so far.
New curtain track to bring curtain closer to window
Thermal blind inside recess
Radiator self
Check behind bath panels.

Don't know if this is of any help OP, but in our old, cold bathroom which had a very small radiator due to space constraints, we had a bathroom-suitable, wall mounted, downflow fan heater installed.
Bathroom since been refurbished but we still kept the fan heater in place as it gives a lovely warm breeze on emerging from the shower.
Fan heater itself is fairly cheap but obviously needs a professional electrician to fit it so their cost would need consideration.

Even a couple of candles will help. Safely positioned of course.