radiator v towel rail ?

eliza64

Any one any experience with replacing a bathroom radiator with a fancy towel rail. I want to know if the heat will be the same.My plumber is recomending it.Thanks for the advice.

crosstownk

A radiator will be much better at heating the bathroom than a towel rail.

wasim21k

i agree with that but towel rail looks nice.
i m going to replace mine in one next month.

GreeBo

just figure out what BTU's you need for the room and get an appropriate towel rail...

311

You won't get a towel rail to heat your bathroom ,without buying a large and expensive one.

ircoha

_Brian_ wrote:

You won't get a towel rail to heat your bathroom ,without buying a large and expensive one.

Agreed 100%. but they do look well.

OP: just also be aware that a chrome finished towel rail gives out substantially less heat [ c 40% less] than an equivalent 'ordinary' towel rail.

[there is a long detailed discussion on this from last year somewhere on this forum so we dont need to go there again]

While they can be expensive , they are coming down in price so where are u located?

311

Just a heads up ,that quinn radiators have some lovely rads at the moment.

I installed a 6FT high ,2FT wide panel radiator last week and it looked brilliant.

I'm sure they would have something stylish for bathrooms ,that give out nice heat aswell.

http://www.quinn-radiators.co.uk/

crosstownk

Just an idea, but is it not possible to have both? I know there's a small bit of plumbing involved or maybe space is an issue, but if the best of both worlds is available then why not.

I agree with others - towel rails do look well. If it's possible I'd like to know as I'd consider it myself.

311

Both is what a lot of people do . There are electrical ones available also ,that can be installed in a bathroom with a normal radiator.

crosstownk

Cheers, Brian! I'm going to look into adding a rail - I reckon one that is run off the GFCH would probably be more economical than electric. Should I run it off the CH circuit or the DHW circuit? I'll probably put the rail on a wall that has the hot press on the other side.

(Sorry if I hijacked the thread:( )

ircoha

crosstownk wrote:

Just an idea, but is it not possible to have both? I know there's a small bit of plumbing involved or maybe space is an issue, but if the best of both worlds is available then why not.

I agree with others - towel rails do look well. If it's possible I'd like to know as I'd consider it myself.

I prefer to add a wall mounted electric fan heater for the boost after the shower; it also acts as a fixed hairdryer so herself cant lose it!

IMO, unless u have a HRV system, when u have n extractor fan in the broom most of the heat is lost : hence the chrome towel rail and the fan heater

GreeBo

crosstownk wrote:

Should I run it off the CH circuit or the DHW circuit?

How would you run it off the DHW?
And even if you could that water would end up pretty tasty after going through that rad...

ircoha

GreeBo wrote:

How would you run it off the DHW?
And even if you could that water would end up pretty tasty after going through that rad...

dont think he meant DHW: hope not:eek:

crosstownk

GreeBo wrote:

How would you run it off the DHW?
And even if you could that water would end up pretty tasty after going through that rad...

Sorry - what I mean is the DHW heating circuit - the feed from the boiler that heats the water in the HWC.

311

crosstownk wrote:

Cheers, Brian! I'm going to look into adding a rail - I reckon one that is run off the GFCH would probably be more economical than electric. Should I run it off the CH circuit or the DHW circuit? I'll probably put the rail on a wall that has the hot press on the other side.

I was thinking that myself ,I'd run it on the hot water circuit if it was mine tbh.

Nice in the summer when the bath is filling ,the towel rail is warm aswell:)

gillylilly

Electric Towel Warmers tend to give out much less heat than your standard towel rad. If you look carefully you'll find some towel warmers which don't cost the earth which give out great heat. An old fashioned one with a white radiator in the middle.
Multiply the length by the width of your bathroom, and multiply that answer again by about 44 or 45, that will give you your BTUs needed to cover the bathroom.

coolerhash

_Brian_ wrote:

I was thinking that myself ,I'd run it on the hot water circuit if it was mine tbh.

Nice in the summer when the bath is filling ,the towel rail is warm aswell:)

You cant run a rad on your hot water circuit it will cause contamination in your hot water supply also it will kept draining down when you use you hot water and cause it to get air locked all the time.

311

coolerhash wrote:

You cant run a rad on your hot water circuit it will cause contamination in your hot water supply also it will kept draining down when you use you hot water and cause it to get air locked all the time.

Hot water circuit of the heating system.
Not the hot water system.

They are both two different things . Hot water circuit is the pipework that comes from your boiler and heats your hot water cylinder.

Modern cylinders are known as indirect cylinders ,this is because their is a coil inside the cylinder that heats the water.

I know a bit about it ,I install about 30 cylinders a year and about 70 gas boilers a year.

Mellor

gillylilly wrote:

Electric Towel Warmers tend to give out much less heat than your standard towel rad. If you look carefully you'll find some towel warmers which don't cost the earth which give out great heat. An old fashioned one with a white radiator in the middle.
Multiply the length by the width of your bathroom, and multiply that answer again by about 44 or 45, that will give you your BTUs needed to cover the bathroom.

Dangerous statement about the BTUs. Two bathrooms of the same area could have completly different requirements. It comes down to externally exposed areas and U-Values of the walls.

coolerhash

_Brian_ wrote:

Hot water circuit of the heating system.
Not the hot water system.

They are both two different things . Hot water circuit is the pipework that comes from your boiler and heats your hot water cylinder.

Modern cylinders are known as indirect cylinders ,this is because their is a coil inside the cylinder that heats the water.

I know a bit about it ,I install about 30 cylinders a year and about 70 gas boilers a year.

The pipe work that comes from your boiler is known as your flow and return which is part of your CH circuit not the hot water circuit. Your hot water circuit is the circuit that supplys your home with hot water to all your bathrooms and kitchen from your hot water cylinder which in turn can be heated from you CH circuit by means of a coil inside your hot water cylinder.

Mellor

coolerhash wrote:

The pipe work that comes from your boiler is known as your flow and return which is part of your CH circuit not the hot water circuit. Your hot water circuit is the circuit that supplys your home with hot water to all your bathrooms and kitchen from your hot water cylinder which in turn can be heated from you CH circuit by means of a coil inside your hot water cylinder.

You have the system separated into 2 circuits.
The hot water supply and
The central heating system


It is possible, and far better, to have it in three circuits
The hot water supply,
The central heating system and
A hot water system

The extra system is a second coil that is direct to the cylinder from the boiler. It is still a closed system. This only heats water and not all the rads. So in summer you only heat what you need and save energy and money.
To bring it back to the original point, if the towel rail in the bathroom was also fed of this system, when you heat water for a bath/shower, the towel rail also gets heated.

eliza64

Thanks for your advice i will have to look into it more and get the stats on the rail.

crosstownk

coolerhash wrote:

The pipe work that comes from your boiler is known as your flow and return which is part of your CH circuit not the hot water circuit.

On a boiler set up with two zones there are obviously 2 circuits (2 flows, 2 returns). One circuit for the radiators and one for the coil in the hot water cylinder. Both systems work independent of each other but share a common boiler. So the towel rail could easily be heated of the hot water heating circuit without any need to heat the rest of the house - perfect if you require a bath at a time when there is no need to heat the radiators.

oleras

_Brian_ wrote:

Both is what a lot of people do . There are electrical ones available also ,that can be installed in a bathroom with a normal radiator.

Why not the best of both worlds, dual control, CH for the winter and electric for the summer, all in one unit !

edit: added link http://www.sonasbathrooms.com/pdf/sonasheatedtowelrails.pdf#zoom=50[, 0, 0]&view=FitV&toolbar=1&navpanes=0&menubar=0&pagemode=none&statusbar=0

311

It's really down to the budget Vs benefit of it.

If someone has a radiator already installed as they do ,they could easily place an electrical towel rail anywhere.

Electrical towel rails are more for heating towels as opposed to bathrooms (100Watt) . But for the sake of beauty as mentioned before ,they provide the best of both worlds:)

Mellor

_Brian_ wrote:

It's really down to the budget Vs benefit of it.

If someone has a radiator already installed as they do ,they could easily place an electrical towel rail anywhere.

Electrical towel rails are more for heating towels as opposed to bathrooms (100Watt) . But for the sake of beauty as mentioned before ,they provide the best of both worlds:)

But they are incredibly wasteful,
chrome towel rails are poor are giving out heat, but the lost heat is self contained, electric heating burns it all, with no saving,

when will the country ever cop on and sort out electricty, but alas, not in our life time

eliza64

How do i work out the BTu of my existing radiator? I have found guides on the internet for working out what is needed for a room but i want to know what i have at the moment? my radiator is a 60x50cm single rad.
Thanks for all the advice. I want it working off the central heating not electric.

coolerhash

2256 btu for that size rad

311

eliza64 wrote:

How do i work out the BTu of my existing radiator? I have found guides on the internet for working out what is needed for a room but i want to know what i have at the moment? my radiator is a 60x50cm single rad.
Thanks for all the advice. I want it working off the central heating not electric.

It would probably be about 1000-1200 ,depending on the type of rad.

EDIT : Something important to think about is ,a lot of plumbers install radiators in bathrooms that give the most heat .
The radiator you have might be oversized ,don't buy a towel rail based on the previous radiator.

GreeBo

could be anything depends on make/model/age
If you know the make and its not too old you can probably look it up on the manufactureres website.