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We've got a 60x120 towel rail that's on the central heating. Mrs RBIT has decided she'd like to redo the bathroom. Am I right in thinking it's possible to retrofit an electric booster element?
Yeah, they normally screw into one of the valve holes
I would say so yes (some towel rails may not be compatible). We were advised to almost close off the valves (but not completely, there needs to be room for some expansion) so when it is being used on the electric element in the summer, it is only trying to heat the water in the towel rail, not the rest of the system. We were also advised to switch off the electric element when the central heating is on.
Most towel rails will take a t piece adapter to allow the element in the bottom and the valve out the side, some oddly shaped ones don’t, but they’re rare. Only get the biggest element you need rather than bigger is better, they’ll overheat and burn out otherwise.
You can get them with either a fixed thermostat or adjustable. Set and forget, I don’t bother half closing valves all the heat goes upwards anyway, or turning them off when CH running, that’s what the thermostat is for.