Power sockets in bathrooms are forbidden? How are you supposed to run hair dryers and the like? American electrical code does require GFI protection on bathroom outlets, so it isn’t that dangerous, although an electric heater by a bathtub still isn’t a good idea.
Yeah, when I take a little heater into the bathroom, I’m not putting it right beside the tub.
If clawfoot tubs are so big and comfortable for taking a bath, why doesn’t someone just make a regular tub with the same size and shape on the inside?
Damn if I know - seems makers keep producing smaller and smaller bathtubs every year.
All of the major manufacturers make regular tubs that are bigger and better than clawfoot tubs. Here’s one by Jason or example (it’s shown as a jetted model but it’s available without it). It’s 72" x 36" and is 20.5" deep. It has a molded lower back support and handles for ease of exiting. No need for dangerous space heaters or pre-warming. Another big plus besides being lighter is there is no hard-to-clean space behind it.
Blame smaller tubs on builders not tub manufacturers.
Really? How do you use an electric shaver? You’re not even allowed a GFI outlet on the wall next to the sink?
Especially since you’re supposed to throw it into the tub with you when “White Rabbit” peaks…
I used to have one (same sort of set-up as the OP, with a shower head above it and an oval curtain around it) and I loved it so much I was tempted to steal it when we moved from that rental house.
All been noted, but again:
GREAT for baths. Modern tubs are designed mainly for showering…wide, flat bottoms, sharp angles that make it damn near impossible to lie comfortably and/or get anywhere near fully submerged, and, to disagree with what someone said above, in my experience, they require so much water to fill that the hot water runs out at half full. :mad:
Clawfoots are narrower but deeper and take LESS water to fill enough to get a nice, deep, HOT bath.
Their curves conform to the reclining human body.
And in my opinion, they are FAR more aesthetially pleasing than the modern square, fiberglass monstrosities. Also easier to clean and don’t hold soap scum etc. as much.
Yeah, I miss having one. 
Haven’t had a really satisfying bath in years.
I gotta say, looking at that tub, the first thing I notice is the rather sharp edge around the top…you know, right where you rest your neck. SO not the same as the smooth, gentle curve around the top of a clawfoot that fits perfectly into that particular crook.
You want to keep the tub warm so it won’t rob heat from the water?
How about a magnetic engine block heater? Heck, it may even keep the water warm so you don’t have to keep adding hot water!
In Western culture, especially mainstream American culture, old things are usually perceived as rare and special, and automatically acquire desirability on that basis. On the other hand, the shape of most older bathtubs I’ve seen does look a good deal more comfortable for taking a bath in. With that slanting back at the shallow end, I could really relax.
The tub in my current apartment has sides that are completely perpendicular, even at the shallow end. I can’t lie back at all. OTOH, if we had four small children we needed to bathe at the same time, say a three-year-old set of quadruplets, it would be a great tub for that. But for an adult to bathe alone and lean back lengthwise not so much.
Everybody I know has a space heater in the bathroom. Because it’s cold in there! Amazingly, we don’t burn the house down or electrocute ourselves. The heaters are built to high safety standards and the outlets are whatchamacallits.
NZer here. Up till a few years ago, you could only have a so-called shaver outlet in the bathroom. It had an isolating transformer that was tapped so you could get 230 or 110 volts, but only about 500 vA capacity.
Since the widespread availability of RCD outlets, you can now have a socket that can supply a hair dryer, heater, what have you.
Also, the bathroom heaters and heated towel rails are permanently wired so are permitted even without an RCD.
As for bath tubs. We had our bathroom renovated this year. I had the cast iron tub removed as its surface was rust marked and also somewhat dull all over. It was not a claw foot one though, rather, a standard looking shape. It had a great sloping end to lie back on and was a good length. The replacement is an acrylic tub with a bit of contouring for arm rests, but generally has the same or similar sloping end for your back rest and is the same length (1700 mm).
The workmen had to break the old tub up with a sledge hammer to be able to carry it out. I moved some of the bits around, looking for a misplaced basin mixer, and I was surprised how heavy it was. Even a small piece, about dinner plate size, was several pounds.
We’re happy with our new acrylic tub. I imagine it won’t last as long as a well cared for cast iron one, but I don’t think I’ll worry about that.
That’s not a clawfoot tub vs a new style tub, I think, but rather an issue with that particular tub. Do they make water-proof headrests that you can add onto a tub? I suppose a towel folded a couple of times would do pretty well at covering edges and such, though it might get cold and clammy as it absorbs water out of the tub.
You do realize that small electric heaters are [looking at the one in the bedroom] 6 inches by 5 inches by roughly 10 inches tall? And the last clawfoot tub I had sat some 6 inches OFF the floor? I had to aim the heater upwards at the limit of its cute little base?
Not sure how anybody could drop a floor sitting heater accidentally upwards by about two and a half feet to get it over the edge of the tub, unless a gravity anomaly was somehow involved.
And when the house was built in 1919 they were much less concerned where the powerpoints were located.
It’s generally a lot more common to drop water from the tub, which due to a fairly consistent trait of gravity causes to fall all the way to the floor, unless it is stopped by something midway (in this case, an electric space heater)
Stockholm reporting in to say you have a poor grasp of the facts. My bathroom has an outlet in the wall right above the sink. And who in the hell would go around patrolling to check if you’ve got an extension lead into the bathroom?
I think the only danger of taking my space heater into the bathroom while I have a bath is that I’ll splash water on it and blow out the appliance, not that I’ll electrocute myself (which is why I keep it far away from the tub). It’s not like I have it teetering on a shelf right above the tub.
I don’t suppose one might just have the space heater pre-heat the bathroom for an hour or so before the bath to make sure everything is nice and toasty in there?
Or you could use your space heater in total safety because you’re not a total idiot, I suppose. There’s always that option.
When I use a space heater, I do usually put it in there before I plan to hop in the tub. You don’t need it heated for an hour first; just five minutes or so to take the chill out of the air (it’s usually a very small room we’re talking about here).