Stainless steel or chrome towel radiators

Annie1960

Apart from the price, is there any other difference between stainless steel and chrome towel rads?

I need one for my new shower room, and would like it to last for many years.

Also, if they were the same size, would ss or chrome have a higher BTU?

stator

BTU will depend on design as well as size and material. Aluminium are most efficient.

Stainless steel is rust resistant. Something sold as 'chrome' may be chrome plated, so don't know whether the inside material is rust resistant or not. Would have to check the specifications.

Chrome is tacky these days anyway, go for brushed stainless steel or aluminium.

I like this one, but can't afford it yet
https://www.korle.co.uk/products/accuro-korle-designer-towel-warmer

Annie1960

Lovely! That' exactly the size I need (500 wide by approx 1.5m tall). 2000 btu.
However plumber said not to get one with electric as well. I'm not sure why as there is an electrician working on my project as well.

TheCyclingProgrammer

We opted for chrome, it gets small rust spots on the surface. They usually come off but in hindsight I'd rather have got stainless steel.

Doozergirl

I'm not sure why your plumber said that either. The customer is always right - you just have to guide them a little bit

andyhop

Stainless steel every time. Chrome platings are too patchy

Reina Luna or there cheaper trade Lima are about the best for the money

Phoenix Athena are also reasonable and cheaper than the above

Accruro Korle make some cracking radiators but you pay for it. There brushed items weight a tonne and there brackets alone weight as much as a standard chrome towel rad.

The link for the champagne item, we fitted one of these a few years ago and the horizontal bars are covers rather than welded parts, they dent very easily and do not match the rest of the AK Range in terms of quality

As for electrification, I avoid the off the shelf items from screwfix etc, there thread is short and always creates leaks no matter how much loctite 55 and lsx you use . Your better off paying a little extra and getting a terma element

Annie1960

Doozergirl wrote: »

I'm not sure why your plumber said that either. The customer is always right - you just have to guide them a little bit

I had a very quick conversation with him. I wasn't sure if there was a technical reason why it was better to get one or another rather than a hybrid.

Annie1960

andyhop wrote: »

Stainless steel every time. Chrome platings are too patchy

Reina Luna or there cheaper trade Lima are about the best for the money

Phoenix Athena are also reasonable and cheaper than the above

Accruro Korle make some cracking radiators but you pay for it. There brushed items weight a tonne and there brackets alone weight as much as a standard chrome towel rad.

The link for the champagne item, we fitted one of these a few years ago and the horizontal bars are covers rather than welded parts, they dent very easily and do not match the rest of the AK Range in terms of quality

As for electrification, I avoid the off the shelf items from screwfix etc, there thread is short and always creates leaks no matter how much loctite 55 and lsx you use . Your better off paying a little extra and getting a terma element

Thanks.

I wish I understood what your final paragraph means.

Samsonite1

Stainless steel every time. I find it strange that products designed to be used with water are not really water resistant (e.g. they rust). I have stainless steel towel rails in my bathrooms, but had a leak because of the copper junction on the pipe. The plumber replaced the copper junction with a stainless steel one (free of charge because they came to do something else and I had paid for the hour) and problem solved.

Annie1960

https://www.heatandplumb.com/acatalog/reina-lima-straight-heated-towel-rail-rns-lm5154

Following advice from this forum, I'm thinking about this one.

I know i need inline valves, but am not sure what other items I need to make it dual fuel.

Le_Kirk

Presumably by dual fuel you mean feeding it with water from your heating system and having it electrically controlled (for summer use). In which case you will need an element. Follow your link and click on the tab "You may need" and you will see a selection of elements and a dual fuel Tee piece.