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Looking at installing a towel radiator in the bathroom. There's a radiator in our spare room on the other side of the stud wall so connection is no problem BUT in some ways I'd prefer electric so we can have dry towels in the summer too
Are electric ones worth bothering with? Seems to be a wide range of power options from 80w to 500w. Is there a minimum power to look for?
I presume timer switches etc make it a bit more complicated?
get a central heating one but add a separate Electric heater so you can have a hot rail int he summer too;
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Get it plumbed into the CH and get the plumber to fit an electrical element into on side. Best of both worlds.
You'll just need a sparky to wire the element up to a fused spur and fit a manual timer clock
[i]You'll just need a sparky to wire the element up to a fused spur and fit a manual timer clock [/i]
We ran the cable for ours through the wall behind the rad and it plugs into a 13amp socket that was conveneintly on the other side of the wall.
I might be making an ass of myself but I think my bathroom radiator is plumbed into the hot water cylinder somehow .. i.e. it heats up when the water is heating not when the CH is on. That's how it works but my 'how' may well be flawed. It works out nicely for us though, dirs the towels out in the hour or so twice a day it's on.
Any plumbers care to straighten that out for me?
Mine are like that too brassneck and it is very convenient as the towel rails get heated all year even when the heating is off. They do not have to be plumbed in that way though & for the original poster a plumbed in rail with an electric element for the summer would be a good solution. Or just an electric if the disruption of connecting to the CH system is a bit much, getting power there may be just as bad though?
We ran the cable for ours through the wall behind the rad and it plugs into a 13amp socket that was conveneintly on the other side of the wall.
I'm sure that works perfectly well but in our house it'd get left on all the time if it wasn't on a clock timer.
Not uncommon to have the bathroom radiation T'ed off before the CH solenoid, so it comes on with the HW or on the same circuit as the HW - depending on how many solenoids / circuits your system has.
+1 on the hot water + electric element although I do like the idea of running it off the hot water for all year use. Although not if you have a combi boiler for obvious reasons 😀
Ta, makes a bit more sense.
I agree for the OP an electric one is probably the easiest option, but then my Dad's a sparky so the electric way is always easiest for me 😉
Smaller holes to drill, a timer to make it work when you want for as long as you want - but I'd certainly get it on a fused spur as suggested.
You'll just need a sparky to wire the element up to a fused spur and fit a manual timer clock
Or even better - wire the electrical element up to one of [url= http://www.tlc-direct.co.uk/Products/EK320A.html ]these[/url]
That way you can just switch it on when you hang your towel up rather than running it twice a day whether you need to or not.
Ta folks 😀
Condenser boiler so can't having it coming on with HW unfortunately. Can I have a [i]switched[/i] fused spur in the bathroom to turn the element on/off or is that against regs (sparky will be fitting it)?
but then my Dad's a sparky so the electric way is always easiest for me
That's my problem - I ask a plumber they say connect to CH, I ask a sparky they say electric rad!
Combined rad seems best option but will add £120 or so I reckon 😕
Still, what price warm, crisp towels after a winter bike ride?!
We've got a combined one. You can dry towels without the CH being on. Also the bathroom is often a room I like slightly warmer so we can have it running electrically when the rest of the CH is off.