Replacing a radiator for a towel rail

netman

Hi folks,

I'm doing up my bathroom and I will be removing the existing radiator to tile the walls and I was thinking of replacing it with a more practical towel rail.

There's two problems that I have, my pipes that are coming off the floor are spaced at 67cm and the towel rail rads I've seen seem to be spaced at 40cm or 60cm. There's not enough give in the pipes to bend them 7cm I don't think.
Can I fit another elbow or some flexi piping or what's the best way to deal with this? Feel free to say "call a plumber", I'd only chance doing it myself if it's something simple.

I've also been told that if I was replacing a radiator I'd have to drain the whole system. Is that true? Seems a bit extreme to me but then again I'm no plumber. I was thinking of closing off the valves, removing the radiator, and once the tiles are set replace it and just top up the system with some more water.

Once again, help is required and much appreciated

stapeler

You could add some fittings or qualplex but it might not be too pleasing to the eye. There is a flexible copper pipe you could try to give a nicer finish. Turning off the rad valves only stops water one side of the valve so ideally you should drain the heating system, that can add problems like air locks and takes time.
That said, I recently used a product called Artic spray (from B&Q). It's an aerosol spray that freezed the pipe creating an ice plug and stops water for around 30mins. Excellent product and a real time saver.

youtheman

You can shutdown the two valves and this means you don't have to drain down the complete system. But be warned, the water you'll get out is the nearest thing you'll get to black dye and it is makes a right mess. So make sure you protect the flooring. You'll also have to try break a connection and drain the water into a suitable container, not that easily done.

I installed a new towel radiator, and the connections were facing downwards, (not like the existing radiator where they were horizontal, on the side). This will dictate what type of fittings you use, and how it will look.

I still think it would look prettier if you install new 'straigh through' isolation valves, amd maybe an elbow to reduce the dimension from 67 cm to 60 cm. If you do this you'll have to drain down the complete system. If you do this make sure you put inhibitor in the water when you re-fill (will cost you approx 25 euros).

Micky Dolenz

One important thing to remember is that a towel rail is designed to heat a towel and not to heat a room. To get a towel rail with enough BTU output to heat a room, it would be massive. I would always recommend putting towel rail on primary circuit and having another radiator to heat bathroom that would be on the heating system.

You could also go for an electric blow heater etc.