Running cost of thermostatic heated towel rail

roseview

We've got a thermostatically controlled electric heated towel rail in our shower room. It states on the label that it is 100w to 2000w so not really much to go on. Can anybody give me an idea on how much this is going to be costing us to use?
Is it using just 100w when it's up to temperature perhaps?

System

roseview wrote: »

We've got a thermostatically controlled electric heated towel rail in our shower room. It states on the label that it is 100w to 2000w so not really much to go on. Can anybody give me an idea on how much this is going to be costing us to use?
Is it using just 100w when it's up to temperature perhaps?

This is an impossible question to answer as you may have a very poorly insulated bathroom, and the towel rail may be contributing to the temperature of the room but will never reach the temperature you have set on the thermostat. In other words, the towel rail would be on continuously. Worst case then, is 2kW/hour (2 units) of electricity per hour or about 24p/hour depending on your tariff. I confess that I am not sure why any heating device would use 100 watts when it is up to temperature (you will need to look at the instruction manual). If it is sitting at 100 watts, then this would equate to 0.1kW/hour or about 1.2p/hour.

Edit:

Others may well be better placed to advise but I suspect that the label refers to the wattage of elements that can be fitted NOT the element that is actually fitted. Most towel rails at Screwfix etc have elements in the wattage range 100 to 250 watts and are either on or off.

Cardew

What temperature setting is there on the HTR?

Asking how much it is going to cost is a 'how long is a piece of string' question; it depends on temperature required, insulation of bathroom etc etc.

firefox1956

@roseview........are you sure you have read the label correctly ???
100w to 2000w ??
Should that be 200w ??

Cardew

firefox1956 wrote: »

@roseview........are you sure you have read the label correctly ???
100w to 2000w ??
Should that be 200w ??

That was exactly my first thought as I have not seen an electrical heated insert above 250watts.

Then on second thoughts could it be a 'normal' hot water towel rail, for the central heating,with an electrical heater insert - this is what I have in a bathroom. The output of these are normally expressed as Xwatts/YBTu @ zzC(delta)

This towel rail is 2.463kW output(using hot water)

https://hotinteriors.co.uk/collections/high-btu-towel-rail/products/1269-furnace-designer-towel-rail0

roseview

It's a towel rail with an electrical heater insert.

matelodave

So if it's just got a 200w element. The cost of running it will depend on what tariff you are on and how cold it is in the room where it's situated.

200w isn't really enough to heat a room so it could probably be on nearly all the time unless it's covered in towels.

If you pay 15p/kwh for leccy and it's rated at 200w (O.2kw) then it could cost you 15 x0.2 = 3p an hour or 15p for every five hours, 72p a day or £5 a week if it's on all the time.

Have a look at the element insert which will probably have a rating label on it and you can do your own sums.

However if it's thermostatically controlled then it could be a bit less depending on what temperature it's been set to.

Anthorn

roseview wrote: »

We've got a thermostatically controlled electric heated towel rail in our shower room. It states on the label that it is 100w to 2000w so not really much to go on. Can anybody give me an idea on how much this is going to be costing us to use?
Is it using just 100w when it's up to temperature perhaps?

100W to 2000W either relates to the low and high setting of the towel rail itself or the room temperature.

Cost relates to your electricity tariff: Set at 100W and run continuously for 10 hours will be 1 kWh.

Cardew

Anthorn wrote: »

100W to 2000W either relates to the low and high setting of the towel rail itself or the room temperature.

Really? A 2000watt(2kW) electrical heater on high i.e. 20 times more than the low setting.

A towel rail must be capable of dissipating the heat provided by the electrical heater if the valves are closed. A 2kW heater is normally capable of boiling water. However in this case the towel rail is a closed vessel. Look up what happens when you keep adding heat to water in a closed vessel - but don't try it at home!

Anthorn

Cardew wrote: »

Really? A 2000watt(2kW) electrical heater on high i.e. 20 times more than the low setting.

A towel rail must be capable of dissipating the heat provided by the electrical heater if the valves are closed. A 2kW heater is normally capable of boiling water. However in this case the towel rail is a closed vessel. Look up what happens when you keep adding heat to water in a closed vessel - but don't try it at home!

It wasn't me who posted it. It was the OP. The OP posted 100W to 2000W. Why blame me? In any case the OP reported that the towel rail in question is thermostatically controlled so heat will be continually added. Much the same as my oil-filled radiator which is thermostatically controlled from off to 2KW.

However I do find it curious that you know all about the towel rail without even seeing it.

Jonesya

Because it's thermostatically controlled the power consumption varies so it isn't possible to give you an accurate answer.

The best case, the minimum, if it was 100W and running all the time, which at that power it would need to run all the time to keep it warm:

0.1 kW/hr *24 = 2.4KWh per day, or 876kWh per year.
At around 12p/kWh, that amounts to £105.20 per year in electricity.

Which is why it makes sense to have it controlled using a hard-wired timer switch, so it's running for the parts of the day you need it and not 24/7.

This sort of thing:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Timeguard-NTT03-Electronic-Immersion-Timeswitch/dp/B00BJIB97K/

Or this one - with the timer built into a fused spur:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Timeguard-FST24-Timeswitch-Storage-Immersion/dp/B01E9R2SZO