Stainless steel / powdercoated radiator for bathroom?

JustAnotherSaver

I don't know what radiator we have in there currently as we inherited it but it's painted white whatever it is & it's got rust on it in sections.



We're trying to price up a new bathroom and one of the things i was interested in was a new radiator but a stainless steel one. We currently have a 1700x480 towel radiator in there.



While out at some local bathroom places i saw some radiators that looked quite nice but they looked and felt different to any radiator i'd seen previously & when i looked at the description it said that it was a powdercoated finish.


My only experience of powdercoating comes from reading about it on car forums where some members were sending off their brakes, subframes etc for powdercoating. Supposed to be good against corrosion if i remember correctly, although surely you can only powdercoat the exterior of a radiator and not the internals, whereas stainless steel would be stainless steel, inside & out, surely.


I'm aware that stainless steel can still rust, although it is better protected than chrome. I know you're not supposed to leave your sopping wet towel on the radiator & they're more towel warmers than towel driers, which is why i liked some rads i saw that had an attachment which you could hang a towel on but it kept it away from the radiator itself.



Just wondering which would be the better option really?

thegasmon

most chrome towel rads are steel painted/coated in chrome paint. Stainless steel is a better material but more expensive. Stainless should be rust resistant, give a better heat output and last you alot longer. chrome painted rads give off less heat than even white painted as the paint insulates somewhat.


you get what you pay for of course.

JustAnotherSaver

What about stainless vs powdercoated though, in terms of like-for-like cost and anti-rusting?

keith969

JustAnotherSaver wrote: »

What about stainless vs powdercoated though, in terms of like-for-like cost and anti-rusting?

I have 2 ensuites and a shower room. The first one to be updated had a normal radiator - it started rusting at the bottom after a year or so; false economy.

The second had a white powder coated towel rail. It's still rust free after over 2 years, although to be fair it doesn't get used a lot.

The shower room I went and splashed out on a stainless steel towel rail. Stainless won't rust but is a bit more expensive. It looks great, and I'll be sticking to s/s in the future.

Beware chrome plated towel rails - they most certainly do rust (had one in previous house).

JustAnotherSaver

Thanks. Went to a bathroom place today and the chap said that powder coated towel rads are cheaper than stainless but so long as you don't put sopping wet towels on them when the heating is off then they wont really rust.



Still, i do like the stainless look. I'll have to quote like for like measurements.

Our current rad is 480mm wide and 1700mm high. We can go higher but really no wider. Maybe even a tad narrower would be better.

keith969

JustAnotherSaver wrote: »

Our current rad is 480mm wide and 1700mm high. We can go higher but really no wider. Maybe even a tad narrower would be better.

This is what I went for:

https://www.sussexrange.co.uk/heated-towel-rails/adur-range/

Like I said not the cheapest but it should last. It's also nice and toasty warm.

andyhop

Best stainless towel rads by far are the Reina Luna, not that many sizes but the quality is good

Reina also do a Reina Lima, these are being reduced by a good margin from selected online retailers. Quality still good

Myson also do a Pico

Anything that’s plated or painted will eventually rust and fail. You will find even the Reina brand on plated items offers no warranty on surface finish