Advice needed: Radiator / Towel Rail in Bathroom off HW circuit

DettaWalker

Hi,

we're just having our bathroom redone and as our (towel rail) radiator had to move positions, the plumber asked us if we wanted him to hook it up to the HW circuit, so it heats up towels even when the heating is off. We thought it was a good idea (I still think it is) but my father in law has strong objections to it. Does anybody know if:

1) heating your bathroom on the hot water is less efficient than with the heating cycle?
2) will the bathroom get overly hot in summer?
3) will we have problems with a bathroom too cold in winter?

About our system: We have a boiler with a gravity fed hot water tank (which resides in the bathroom in an airing cupboard).

We program the boiler to heat the hot water before my DH gets up for a shower (and stops at 8 am) to then come on again in the evening for a few hours.

I don't mind the room being colder during daytime as we wouldn't be home or using it.

Any help is appreciated as its still cheap to change it back to the old ways...

jayyar66

An alternative would be to add an electric element to the towel rail. This would probably be cheaper to install than your suggestion but could well be more expensive to run. But in answer to your questions . . .
1. No. (Assuming the hot water is heated from the same boiler)
2. No, not if you have a TRV fitted if there isn't already one fitted.
3. No reason why it should, just keep the hot water on longer to ensure the bathroom is warm enough. (This will use FRACTIONALLY more fuel than having the hot water coming on for briefly at each end of the day)
HTH

WestonDave

I don't see any major objection to what is suggested given your system set up. We've got a combi boiler so it wouldn't work for us (which maybe behind some of the objections) - ours is on the heating circuit but with an electric element in as well for summer to ensure the towels dry when the heating is off - it runs off an immersion heater timer so that it doesn't get left on!

27col

I modified my bathroom towel rail supply, so that it was fed from the HW rather than the CH. I had found that the bathroom towel rail was always cold in the summer. Much better arrangement I thought.
Now there is a warm towel in the bathroom all the year round. It certainly does not overheat the bathroom in summer. If it was likely to overheat, then that is what the control valve is for. But I have never found the need to turn down the heat to the rail.Summer or winter. When you use hot water the system heats the towel rail. When you are using the hot water for bath or shower, it means that that is the time that you need the rail to be warm.
I can't say that I've noticed any problems with the change at all.

EssexExile

The rad in one of our bathrooms is run off the hot water, the others are off the heating. The problem with the one run off the hot water is that if you haven't used any lately & the tank hasn't needed to be topped up, the rad will be cold when you first go in. It will come on eventually as you use hot water but you'll be leaving by then.

Hoploz

I have recently moved to a house with a water fed radiator. I think it's a fantastic idea! I have asked the plumber to do the same when we refit the other bathroom here.

Even in summer you normally want some heat in morning or evening when you're in the shower, it's rare to be too hot early or late in the day I think. On the timer it is only on for a couple of hours a day. If necessary you could turn the radiator itself down, but always have hot dry towels all year round

ariba10

I think it is a first class idea.

(You can always turn it off if you don't think you need it.)

Johnandabby

Are you 100% sure that your existing towel radiator is brass? If not, then it'll corrode from the inside pretty quickly running hot water through it constantly.

And if it's the only heat source in the bathroom then it'll be cold in the winter, unless you have a pumped secondary return on the hot water - and then you're paying to run a pump to get a warm towel in summer, which isn't money saving...


Edit: I've seen both ways, but are you saying to run the actual hot water that's coming out your shower through the towel radiator, OR running the closed heating circuit from the boiler to hot water cylinder through the towel radiator. Two completely different options, each with their own problems...

Seronera

I'm a heating engineer and have my bathroom towel rail linked into the system before the three port, so its on provided either the heating or hot water is on. I have a TRV thermostat on the radiator in the bathroom to control it effectively as its own zone.

Its a brilliant idea and keeps towels aired, keeps the room warm and helps drive off condensation (with ventilation of course).

I can't understand your father in laws attitude. After all, if you don't need it you can turn it off on the TRV an/or regulate the room temp from it. Its still controlled by the timer after all.

Do it! you won't regret it I guarantee.

southcoastrgi

above is the right way to do it, but unless the op doesn't understand the plumber he is suggesting just connecting to port b & not the primaries

Tedious

Hi! Hoping this is related ...
We have 3 towel rails (2 ensuite and 1 family bathroom). All are fitted with thermostatic valves, all are currently in the 5 position and none of them are working ...
I've tried bleeding them all (water comes out straight away), I've checked the valves are open (thermo and the LHS as well) on at least 1 but can't see anything.
I assume I'm missing something obvious?!
Looking in the airing cupboard, I can see three pipes "in parallel" that seem to be leading to the CH system. 2 are controlled by Honeywells and see to be working fine. The third has a red gate valve on it, in the off position ... The optimist in me would like to think that's to shut off the towel rails in the summer?! But I don't want to open it in case it's some kind of relief valve which will then go on to flood the downstairs ...
Any help very much appreciated!!
Cheers,
Tim