Heated towel rail

dl8860

dl8860

dl8860

Soldato
Joined
25 Jul 2010
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Location
Worcestershire
Looking to put a heated towel rail in the bathroom to make the bathroom a bit warmer for winter and keep towels toasty and dry. We've got a small central heating radiator in there now but it's too small to hang towels off.

My question is, should I go for electric or off central heating? It'd be nice to be able to program it to come on independently at times when the central heating isn't on (electric) but my guess is that a central heating linked one would be barely any additional load on the boiler, and also installation would be cheaper as it could be plonked onto the existing radiator outlet.

Any thoughts?
 
We have ours plumbed into the central heating and like that way. Generally when the bathroom is in use it coincides with when the heating is on in cold weather (first thing and evening). We replaced an existing radiator. Depending on the size of the radiator and how many fins etc you may need quite a large towel rail to match the heat output though, especially if you’re insulating it in lots of towels. Our rail is almost floor to ceiling and seems to match a very small radiator we had there previously.
 
Replacing a radiator with a towel rail isn't going to make the bathroom warmer, unless it's a lot bigger than the rad was. They have a worse heat output than a radiator because the design is compromised to allow the towel hanging.

To be honest, you're better off with a better radiator and a normal towel rail over the top of it.
 
My bathroom is 2m x3m and I have fitted the largest rad I can get in -1200x450 double single convector and that doesn't get the bathroom to what I would call warm.
Also it only comes on when heating is on and sometimes you need to use bathroom at different times to heating.
In the end I fitted a bathroom fan heater -Dimplex 1/2kw -just set output when installing it - best thing I have done.
If you need a quick shower and it's freezing just pull the cord before you start undressing and room is nice and warm - We turn it off when getting in shower and very rarely have to switch it back on after the shower.
I did have wall space in zone one (safe zone) and it's right up on wall at ceiling level - it's just like a body drier if you put it on when you get out of shower and stand under it.
 
dl8860 said:
My question is, should I go for electric or off central heating? It'd be nice to be able to program it to come on independently at times when the central heating isn't on (electric) but my guess is that a central heating linked one would be barely any additional load on the boiler, and also installation would be cheaper as it could be plonked onto the existing radiator outlet.

Any thoughts?
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You can buy ones that do both CH and run off electric.
 
My towel radiator warms the bathroom up lovely. Bathroom is only 2x2m thougth so relatively small to others. Does a good job of drying the towels when the Mrs leaves them on the floor and warms the bathroom up :)
 
Felix said:
You can buy ones that do both CH and run off electric.
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These are the best approach. Dual fuel towel rails, as they usually called, will allow the best flexibility all year and running costs.

However as mentioned in other posts the heat output of towel rails isn't great compared to radiators and don't forget that any quoted output figure won't include when covered with towels which makes a significant difference.
 
bazzabear said:
Replacing a radiator with a towel rail isn't going to make the bathroom warmer, unless it's a lot bigger than the rad was. They have a worse heat output than a radiator because the design is compromised to allow the towel hanging.

To be honest, you're better off with a better radiator and a normal towel rail over the top of it.
Click to expand...

Yup and because their surface area is so small, water bolts through it without depositing its heat, so you basically have a bypass in your system, which is deeply inefficient.
 
Mercenary Keyboard Warrior said:
Something like this is what I was referring to, you can get bigger but unless you have a lot of towels it should be fine, most of the heat its blocked from rising

https://www.victorianplumbing.co.uk...nal-wall-hung-towel-rail-radiator-742-x-492mm
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They do look nice but a bit expensive really, and only room for one towel. Want room for 3 ideally.

Probably going to go for a ladder style central heating only one. Leaves the question, is this the sort of job I can do myself, provided I replace with valves in the same places? I'd call myself a decent amateur at DIY. Or if not, rough guide on how much I should look to pay? Can't be more than 1.5 hours work for someone who knows what their doing, no more than say 70 quid? (southeast).
 
It’s a straightforward job if the valves don’t need to be moved, shut them off, take old rad off and fit new one... turn back on. Easy. But they rarely end up with the valves fitting perfectly (and looking for an exact fit with the old valves limits your choice when looking for a new towel rail), moving the valves is also easy but involves draining the central heating system and some basic plumbing. If your decent at DIY it should be an easy job.
 
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The valves are 580mm apart, if it wasn't for the slight kink in the one on the left they're 550mm which is spot on for a nice 600mm wide towel rad, so that's annoying.

Draining the system and taking on plumbing is really not something I want to do, am I looking at half a day's labour for a plumber I guess?

Probably 250 quid labour and 100 quid parts all told?

Wife is heavily unconvinced by a 'rail above the existing radiator' solution, which is probably fair as we have 3 towels to hang and there just wouldn't be the room.
 
dl8860 said:
Draining the system and taking on plumbing is really not something I want to do, am I looking at half a day's labour for a plumber I guess?

Probably 250 quid labour and 100 quid parts all told?
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I had 2 radiators fitted on Sunday by a plumber, both needed mounting to the wall and a small amount of pipe adjustment like yours does and he charged £130 for the pair and was here about 2.5 hours. I did drain the system beforehand but only because it takes a few hours to be fully empty so that would have been wasted time.

I asked him about another radiator that'll need to go up soon (big unit - 1.8m long and a type 22) and he said his standard charge is £80 a radiator + materials. My two were only £130 as both were fairly easy and done at the same time.

Edit: This was in Woking, Surrey.
 
Peerzy said:
I had 2 radiators fitted on Sunday by a plumber, both needed mounting to the wall and a small amount of pipe adjustment like yours does and he charged £130 for the pair and was here about 2.5 hours. I did drain the system beforehand but only because it takes a few hours to be fully empty so that would have been wasted time.

I asked him about another radiator that'll need to go up soon (big unit - 1.8m long and a type 22) and he said his standard charge is £80 a radiator + materials. My two were only £130 as both were fairly easy and done at the same time.

Edit: This was in Woking, Surrey.
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That's funny, I'm in Woking too. That sounds like a very reasonable rate so if you're happy to recommend him would you mind Trusting me his contact details? Cheers
 
dl8860 said:
That's funny, I'm in Woking too. That sounds like a very reasonable rate so if you're happy to recommend him would you mind Trusting me his contact details? Cheers
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First time we've used him but he came highly recommended and I'm very pleased with the work. I'll get the details from my wife and send them to you via trust.
 
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