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Bathroom towel rail and/or radiator

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I have a radiator on the left hand side wall of the bathroom as you enter.

The design I've been given has cupboards on this wall and a heated towel rail on the back wall facing as you go in.

I'd prefer to keep the radiator which is warm and cosy and the bungalow is a little short on heating.

Is it the same plumbing to move the radiator to the position as it would be to put in a heated towel rail if the towel rail was part of the central heating system or am I completely off track that towel rails can be part of the heating system?

This is the one suggested and reading the specs it seems to me it is electrically heated as it refers to 'heating elements'

I'd be grateful for any info on either as it depends on whether I can just place this design in someones hands or spend longer trying to get all the elements together myself for a free standing bathroom. Harder than you may expect post pandemic.

I can rise and shine - just not at the same time!

viral kindness .....kindness is contageous pass it on

The only normal people you know are the ones you don’t know very well


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Comments

  • twopenny said:
    I have a radiator on the left hand side wall of the bathroom as you enter.

    The design I've been given has cupboards on this wall and a heated towel rail on the back wall facing as you go in.

    I'd prefer to keep the radiator which is warm and cosy and the bungalow is a little short on heating.

    Is it the same plumbing to move the radiator to the position as it would be to put in a heated towel rail if the towel rail was part of the central heating system or am I completely off track that towel rails can be part of the heating system?

    This is the one suggested and reading the specs it seems to me it is electrically heated as it refers to 'heating elements'


    I'd be grateful for any info on either as it depends on whether I can just place this design in someones hands or spend longer trying to get all the elements together myself for a free standing bathroom. Harder than you may expect post pandemic.
    Yes, it's the same work moving the pipes for the towel rail. 

    You can have an electric element element in the towel rail so it can dry when the main heating is off. 


  • diystarter7
    diystarter7 Posts: 5,202 Forumite
    1,000 Posts First Anniversary Name Dropper
    OP
    You can have towel rail/s off your central heating. The boiler needs to have the capacity to mange your radiaotirs inc towe rail. Most poeple have  central heating towel rails
  • born_again
    born_again Posts: 20,519 Forumite
    10,000 Posts Fifth Anniversary Name Dropper
    Heated rail will not give as much heat as radiator. 
    Yest heated towel rails can use the same heating system as radiator.
    Life in the slow lane
  • twopenny
    twopenny Posts: 7,608 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    Excellent! Thanks.
    I thought that was the case but purely guess work.

    I'm fighting beauty over comfort with anyone suggesting fitting the darn tiny bathroom - and myself to be honest.

    I will ask the company if this towelrail is electric. I have a suspicion it is.

    I can rise and shine - just not at the same time!

    viral kindness .....kindness is contageous pass it on

    The only normal people you know are the ones you don’t know very well


  • ka7e
    ka7e Posts: 3,130 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Photogenic
    I  have an electric towel rail in my largish (180 x 250cm) shower room and it certainly can't heat the whole space on it's own. OK for warming towels, but that actually absorbs the heat and feeds back to the thermostat so it switches off. I have an electric convector as the main heat source, but it is only switched on if the shower is in use. My Mum also replaced a CH towel rail with a proper radiator as it wasn't warm enough.
    "Cheap", "Fast", "Right" -- pick two.
  • OP
    You can have towel rail/s off your central heating. The boiler needs to have the capacity to mange your radiaotirs inc towe rail. Most poeple have  central heating towel rails
    If it manages with the radiator then a towel rail shouldn't be an issue if used as a replacement. 
  • twopenny said:

    This is the one suggested and reading the specs it seems to me it is electrically heated as it refers to 'heating elements'


    That link shows a wet radiator with options for "optional dual fuel heating elements". The spec talks about delta (that's water in/out temperature) and then you've got the electrical element to add.
    Signature on holiday for two weeks
  • My heated towel rail was run from the central heating. It was a small bathroom so a towel rail made sense, but in hindsight, I wish I'd just installed a radiator. The towel rail just didn't provide the warmth I'd hoped for.
  • twopenny
    twopenny Posts: 7,608 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
     ka7e that's a good comparison. Very welcome and reflects what I've heard and experienced.
    That the towel rads do look more lovely but need some assistance.

    I'm trying to keep practicality ie being warm v beauty but it's a struggle as I've never had a nice bathroom in my long life. However I would rather the indulgence of being really warm to a pretty room that only I see on the whole.

    I can rise and shine - just not at the same time!

    viral kindness .....kindness is contageous pass it on

    The only normal people you know are the ones you don’t know very well


  • twopenny
    twopenny Posts: 7,608 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    edited 30 November 2022 at 9:00PM
    Thanks folks.
    Good to have personal experience Boatn.
     I think it's showed that for me, the choice I wanted is right. I'll go for the vintage look ;)
    Really helpful .

    Mutton_Geoff, that sound fancy. I'd love something fancy but frankly being simply warm and money for other things is the end result.
    If I have an electric bathroom fan and a radiator run on gas that covers a couple of bases. And you still get the heat from the radiator with towels drying in front as the rads also have top convection.

    I can rise and shine - just not at the same time!

    viral kindness .....kindness is contageous pass it on

    The only normal people you know are the ones you don’t know very well


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