When you have heard that word-heated towel rails, what comes to your mind? Luxurious, stylish appealing, cosy, warmer, modern heater... The heated towel rails deserve all these definitions because of the additions to our lives.
At the beginning a towel rail radiator was only designed to heat towels for many years in luxurious hotels. Europeans hotels have used them as a dryer of the towels. The towel warmer have been a bathroom heater suitable for both drying and heating towels and also the environment. After people’s needs have increased, the heated towel rail went into British homes. What does a heated towel rail include and how does it work? Let’s have a look at some points that will help you purchase the right heated towel rail for you.
HOW TO BUY THE HEATED TOWEL RAIL FOR YOUR HOME
Before buying a heated towel rail, you have to decide where you will use it. So you will get a rail that is enough powerful to heat the room as well as your towels. You should know to learn the power output by calculating BTU. (you can learn details of BTU in our website.)
When will you use it? If you use your heated towel rail on cold days, you can choose an electric or dual fuel model or central heating radiator.
Decide to choose the available towel radiator according to the size of your bathroom. Maybe smaller rails can be mounted on the wall at convenient height, so your bathroom will have an appealing appearance as well as sufficient heat for your bathroom.
As you know there are many variety of designs out. Believe us, your bathroom or place where you will use the heated towel rail will be the focal point by choosing curved or spiral designs.
As well as the designs you choose, you should decide the correct best finish for your towel radiator. What we mean is that you will find out many choices from matt and polished metal to shiny chrome or stainless steel rails. To your traditional or modern preferences, you can choose one of these finishes that will really change the look of your bathroom and enhance the beauty of it.
DO TOWEL RADIATORS HEAT THE BATHROOM?
A bathroom can really be humid after a bath. After that, the bathroom, itself can be wet as well as your towels. To solve this problem, the heated towel rail emerged as an useful and a great invention? Maybe at the beginning of this invention, its importance was less than today. Today it is no longer a luxury, but a necessity with a variety of beautiful designs that change the style in your bathroom. Besides their elegant appearance, the main benefit of them to your bathroom is that they give impressive and efficient heat output. What we mean is that they have sufficient power to heat the bathroom. For that, you should know the different designs of the heated towel rail and how they work. We will mention below the different types of them; electric heated towel rail, central heating heated towel rail or dual fuel heated towel rail?
WHICH HEATED TOWEL RAIL IS RIGHT FOR YOUR BATHROOM?
Electric heated towel rails can be brilliant choice for you if you have only electricity powered because some homes cannot have a central heating system. The electric towel radiators give stylish look and great performance in terms of heating. At the end, you will see no dampness in your towels. Of course, this type of towel rail can be used and suitable if you do not have central heating system. An electric heated towel rail has the mixture of 85% and anti corrosion inhibitor 15%. The electric heated towel rails work with the electricity independently from central heating system. This type of heated towel rail offers the benefit of not being connected to heating system. So İt connects to the electric mains. It will be ready to heat bathroom when you need to use it by turning it on. Here we have to remind you that it can be a good choice if you have a good electricity supply.
Central heating towel rails are the towel rails which connect to central heating system and can not work without it. A central heating system is powered by gas boiler connected to a thermostat. If you have a central heating system, you need a standard heated towel rail. They work by heating hot water. The heated and pumped hot water travels through your pipe line, comes into the towel radiator, goes through all the pipes and tubes in your towel rail radiator.
Dual fuel heated towel rails can run at both of the systems. It means that you can use your towel rail with the central heating system or mains electricity. The feature of the dual fuel towel rail is that it can be connected to electricity and it can heat up just then even if the rest of the house is heated with central heating system. So, it makes a strong choice for customers who thinks of buying a heated towel rail. Because on summer days you can use it alone, with electricity- independently of central heating when you want to come across with dry towels after a relaxing bath. Dual fuel towel rails give the opportunity to use the central heating in winter and use the electricity in the summer months.
Of course, these types of the towel rails have many benefits or disadvantageous over each other. The radiator you will choose depends on your decisions. It means it depends on whether the towel rail you will buy meets the needs of your bathroom. In the end, you definitely get what you want.
WHICH MATERIAL /COLOUR/FINISH CAN BE MORE APPROPRIATE?
The most common material used in the heated towel rails is mild steel with a chrome or powder coat finish. The towel rails that are very popular can be more economical. Of course, it is possible to see different materials; some of which are durable or some of them have high quality. Let’s have a glance at them.
*Heated towel rail with anthracite: They are very popular because of their sparking silver.
*Heated towel rail with white: They are classic ones that will brighten your walls. The white and black models give out 20% more heat output than the chrome version.
*Heated towel rail with black: They give a different contrast to your bathroom. In fact, besides they give a luxurious look, they also a impressive character to your bathroom. As we have mentioned above, the black heated towel rail can give a high performance too.
*Heated towel rail with silver: This colour enhances the beauty of your bathroom. Silver is a sophisticated colour that provides a familiar feel. In addition to its stylish look, that towel rail is with buying in terms of its function and form.
*Chrome heated towel rail: It is more popular because they are designed to be corrosion –resistant as well as being stylish and functional.
*Satin heated towel rails: It looks more muted when comparing to chrome.
The majority of towel rails are made from stainless steel or chrome; some are made from aluminium.
*Stainless steel: They are common types because of their efficiency in keeping the heat well.
*Chrome: They are suitable for modern rooms. Despite of the though material used, it can not be durable to continuous heat.
*Aluminium: These type of towel rails are the ones which heat up quickly and have a strong conductivity. They are also durable to corrosion.
WHERE SHOULD YOU INSTALL YOUR HEATED TOWEL RAIL?
With the right preparation and tools, installing a heated towel rail is simply project that you can do it in a few hours. Well, how? After finding the necessary tools like tape measure, pencil, drill driver, spirit level and stud finder, your job of installing will be easier for you.
- Mark the position of the towel rail on your wall. The important point that you need to be careful is that you should settle the space between the ground and your towel.
- Mark around the legs of your towel on the wall with a pencil. Be careful again whether you put the correct level that you have wanted.
- Find the stud. (STUD means boards that function as framing elements in your home, supporting the walls) When you want to mount something on the wall, you have to find where the studs are. To do this, you can use a stud finder. Therefore you are not going to hit wiring or plumbing. If you do not have that tool, you can do it with manual method.
- Prepare the wall after you have found the studs. Use screws that come with the towel rail. Use your screwdriver or drill to screw in each anchor at the minimated point, until each one is in alignment with the plaster.
- Screw in the mushroom screw. Do it by using your screwdriver. Be careful about doing the right sized screwdriver.
- Hang the towel rail.
And in front of you, you will find the perfect towel rail for your bathroom
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
If you will buy or choose a towel radiator many questions should be answered. So we will help you by responding some issues.
WHAT ARE THE USES OF TOWEL RADIATOR VALVES?
They control the flow of water through the pipes. So they provide the radiators heat up when you need. There are two valves in the towel radiators; one that provides the hot water to enter the radiator; the other one organises how much heat the radiator gives off. All valves are not the same. According to your desire there are available choices. Thera are two types of valves; Straight radiator valves connect your radiator to the pipework without a bend. Angled radiator valves connect the radiator with the central heating pipework at a 90 degree angle. The second one is more common radiator valve in the U.K.
WHAT ARE THE TOWEL RADIATOR BRACKETS USED FOR?
The towel radiators are the parts when you get the towel radiator. When it is necessary to fit to the wall, you will use the brackets.
ARE THE TOWEL RADIATORS STANDARD SIZE?
Of course not. The size of the heated towel rail will depend on the heat output that your room will need. The dimensions of them are generally between 600-1800 mm in height and 400-1000mm in width. 400mm wide radiators are designed to fit smaller bathroom.
WHAT IS A TOWEL RADIATOR ELEMENT?
Towel radiator elements give you the possibility of running radiators with electricity and you don’t need to use central heating system. So this element provides to use the dual fuel preference.
DOES THE BLACK HEATED TOWEL RAIL MAKE A DIFFERENCE?
Black heated towel rails are perfect way if you want to change or renovate your towel rails. Black radiators give a modern appearance to your home. Black towel rails emit radiation better than the white ones.
DOES THE ANTHRACITE TOWEL RADIATOR MAKE THE PERFECT ADDITION TO YOUR SPACE?
It enhances the beauty in your place. Absolutely, it will be the focal point when you use the anthracite towel rail in your home. In addition to keeping towel warm and dry, the contrast colour against wall will create a stylish way. If you want something different you can consider the anthracite towel rails.
WHAT ARE THE TOWEL RADIATOR ACCESSSORIES?
Accessories for your heating appliances can help you control your energy usage more closely and reduce the amount you use. They cause your energy bills to go down and offer superior control options. Support brackets, valves and lock shields, electric resistors, t-pieces( for dual fuel radiators) will assist in getting the most efficient and high quality from your new radiator.
WHAT SHOULD I DO IF TOWEL RADIATOR IS NOT WORKING?
If your heated towel rail is not working properly, it is easy to fix it. You can bleed the heated towel rail to get rid of the air. Bleeding the air means that the air in towel radiator prevents the water from travelling all the parts of the towel rail. Since this will force the central heating system and affect your bills negatively, you can get rid of this problem by draining the air.
IS IT POSSIBLE TO PUT TOWEL RADIATOR ABOVE BATH?
You can put a heated towel rail above bath. Your heated towel rail, itself, does not have electricity on it and especially the materials used in heated towel rail like powder coated finishes are durable to corrosion or rust. In short, heated towel rails are completely safe for use in the bathroom.
IS FITTING A TOWEL RADIATOR EASY?
The easiest way to fit your new towel radiator is to replace a radiator of the same width. So, you do not need to drain your system, to take up your flooring and skirting boards.
Your new towel radiator will be connected to the existing pipework. However, if you choose a much wider radiators, you can provide with the modern plumbing fittings. If you do not do or have a problem, you can get help from a qualified expert.
WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS OF RADIATOR DESIGNER?
These are very stylish for wet towels. As you know, it is not a solution to dry your towels by spreading them over the towel rail. As a result, it will block the heat. Instead, you can hook on a vertical wall-mounted towel rail and take it to wrap around yourself after bath. Bear in mind that there is no bad choice whatever you choose to buy; horizontal or vertical; traditional or modern. The shelves in heated towel rails are not only decorative but also functional.
What matters at this point is what you want.