Towel Rail Wifi Controller

Gadgee

We have an Airbnb apartment which is attached to one end of the house. For historical reasons the apartment is heated via radiators using the boiler in the main house so when we have guests, we need to remember to have the heating in case they are not as used to Highland temperatures as we are!

At the moment I am considering replacing the centrally heated towel rail in the apartment's bathroom with one which is heated by electricity and fitting a WIFI remote control to the element which could then be controlled via an app on a phone.

In theory that would work as I could set up a schedule on the app to switch it on for a couple of hours in the morning as opposed to the current situation where it is heated whenever the CH is on. Ideally I would want a controller whose settings could only be altered via the app rather than have our guests decide on temperature and on/off times. (The bathroom has a heated floor so the heat from the rail is superflous.

Has anybody experience of anything similar? Does a controller exist which in effect disables any changes made on the actual controller.

Hope some of this makes sense.

QrizB

Something like a Shelly smart switch could be used. There are no physical controls and the "switch" itself would be hidden inside a wiring box somewhere, so nothing for the guests to fiddle with.

https://shellystore.co.uk/product/shelly-1-gen4/

Be aware that home automation can be a slippery slope - don't blame me if in 12 months' time you've automated everything from the lights to the catflap, and are wondering how to integrate the cat 😆

flaneurs_lobster

Be aware that home automation can be a slippery slope - don't blame me if in 12 months' time you've automated everything from the lights to the catflap, and are wondering how to integrate the cat 😆

True this - caught myself looking at the spec sheet of a smart kettle only last week….

And having to get off one's backside to twiddle a stick to close the blinds is quite onerous.

Gadgee

Hello QrizB and thank you for the post.

As a septuagenarian, I am looking for something a bit friendlier than the Shelly device - something that holds my hand as I fumble around with the setting up.

Although at first sight the device is a bit 'DIY', I will look into it just in case I have misjudged it.

Rodders53

Many hotels we frequent use a manual switch for the user to operate to suit themselves (and feel in control) https://www.tlc-direct.co.uk/Products/SMTGBT4N.html

One apartment we stayed in recently had all controls locked away - which meant a cold bathroom when we wanted to shower. We won't return.

Gadgee

Thanks for the note Rodders53.

The bathroom has underfloor heating which is user controlled and its standard setting keeps the chill off the room. GIving users control over the rail would inevitably result in it being left on at some point for the duration of a stay which can be up to 7 days. At present we just tell clients that the rail will be on for two hours in the morning to allow them to dry their towels. That 2 hour period can only be provided by us turning on the CH to the whole house and relies on us remembering in the summer when it would notnormally be on.

sheenas

Tado smart valves would do the job. Schedules and temp can be set. They use WiFi and when the heats on the guests can adjust the heat. You via the app can disable when they leave to keep running on a cooler schedule

bob_a_builder

Since you are thinking of replacing the radiator anyway ……
https://www.electricradiatorsdirect.co.uk/wifi-controlled-electric-towel-rails/

unforeseen

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82140264#Comment_82140264

That's definitely a deal breaker for me and probably a lot of other people.

I assume that you mention it in your ad that the ability to dry bathroom towels is limited and subject to you remembering to switch it on.

Rodders53

The timer I linked to has a max setting of four hours and requires user to press 5 times to get there… So worst case is a 100-200 Watt towel rail on for four hours on departure… Yes some may keep switching it on (if the room is cold); but run the wet CH towel rail via a smart TRV instead that can call for the heat remotely (and scheduled in your app)…

"Taking chill off" when wet and naked and damp towels from last use won't cut it for us… We don't return if the bathroom can't be made warm when we want (and I have a compact fan heater plus extension cable that will sort that for us in a bag). We used in in our touring caravan for the same purpose.

FreeBear

Be aware that home automation can be a slippery slope - don't blame me if in 12 months' time you've automated everything from the lights to the catflap, and are wondering how to integrate the cat 😆

Not done the catflap (yet), but Home Assistant manages light switches and the boiler schedules & temperatures. It also records temperature & humidity throughout the house and also collects data on electricity consumption as well as heat output from the boiler.

Have recently finished off wiring up a modbus network for temperature/humidity sensors and a dedicated wifi connection for the light switches to connect to. One of the light switches is a smart LCD panel that doubles up as a virtual thermostat control. At some point, I need to get it to display energy usage in realtime - Already have graphs I can access via a web browser…

A couple of things that are useful is the ability to schedule the hall light to switch on a few minutes before I'm due to get home in the dark. Then there is a light in a lobby that would often get left on overnight. That light now switches off automatically when the kitchen lights are turned off.

This home automation lark is indeed a very slippery slope.