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Original poster

Heated towel rails in bathroom

41 replies

Twinstar29 · 27/09/2020 19:34

Hello 👋

Could anyone answer a question about heated towel rails?

Do they heat the room well when they're actually got towels on them? Or do the towels block the heat?

I'm considering getting a heated rail instead a radiator in my bathroom, but I'm worried it won't heat the room that well if it's covered.

Any input appreciated 🙂
Thanks.

OP posts:
SleepIsAThingOfThePast · 27/09/2020 20:02

Hi. I have one and love it. Mine is just short of the height of the room. But I also have a small bathroom (I can sit on the loo put my hands in the sink and dangle my feet over the bath) it heats the room that well that most of the time the room is too hot and I have to open the window. Helps with drying the room after a shower or bath as well even with 5 towels on.

Original poster
Twinstar29 · 27/09/2020 21:10

Thank you! What kind of house do you have, is it well insulated?
I'm in a Victorian terrace and the bathroom has 2 outside walls so it's not great at keeping heat in.

OP posts:
NotMeNoNo · 27/09/2020 21:13

In my experience they still heat the room. Towels dry in a short time

Plumbers advice was to buy the biggest one you can fit In the space, they need to have the same BTU as a radiator which rules out the tiny ones.

Dreamersandwishers · 27/09/2020 21:16

Plumber tells me white works better than chrome. I have a large chrome one and a small area of tiled, heated floor. It works well.
Get one that can work both with and without central heating, so you can switch it on independently in the summer.

Benjispruce2 · 27/09/2020 21:17

We have a towel radiator and a radiator in a small bathroom. I think you need both. We were advised that by plumber too.

1frenchfoodie · 27/09/2020 21:18

They heat well, we have a c. 5 foot one tgat is all we need in a large 1850s bathroom - though dry towels dont live on it, they get moved to hang on the edge of the bath or get put away.

bestbefore · 27/09/2020 21:19

Def heat the room - do you mean one plumbed in like a radiator? Part of the central heating system? We have anthracite ones and they look so good, and unlike the chrome ones you don't get water marks on them

Benjispruce2 · 27/09/2020 21:19

Though ours is smallish-holds 2 bath towels folded.

AriettyHomily · 27/09/2020 21:21

We've got a Victorian terrace, door to ceiling towel rail in the bathroom. It's a lifesaver. It looks better, I can hang a full wash load if I do it carefully and the towels dry. A rad wouldn't give enough space.

Tappering · 27/09/2020 21:21

I've got a ladder style heated towel rail in anthracite. About three quarters of the size of the wall. It heats up the bathroom beautifully. Mine is linked to the main central heating so can be switched on and off at the same time as the rest of the system. However I wanted to be able to turn it on and off independently as well, so it's fitted with a smart valve - you manually twist the dial and it automatically turns it on for an hour. The smart valve is also on our WiFi so can be operated on our phone app as well. All of our rads have them - expensive but so so handy as it means you can heat rooms individually to different temperatures.

AnnaSW1 · 27/09/2020 21:24

We have them. They do heat the room, like a radiator.

Freshprincess · 27/09/2020 21:35

I’ve got both and definitely need the extra radiator in the winter. My bathroom is fairly big. The plumber worked out something about heat output per square metre (or something like that).
I wish I’d gone for underfloor hearing instead of the extra radiator tbh

Chloemol · 27/09/2020 21:41

I have the towel rail and it doubles as a rad, it warms up the room really well, but I do have a small bathroom

mommybear1 · 27/09/2020 21:46

I'm going against the grain here they are great for heating towels but if you want to heat the room you can't put towels on. I have had them in both my properties they look nice and are great for warm towels but won't heat the room if you do warm your towels. I have a towel rail and a radiator in my bathrooms the downstairs wet room is slightly overkill as it has a towel rail and underfloor heating Blush.

sorryforswearing · 27/09/2020 22:18

We had both as advised by our plumber and he was right. I love mine. Handy for things that normally take a long time to dry like jeans. Dry towels quickly. I wish I’d chosen a bigger one.

Freshprincess · 27/09/2020 22:46

Handy for things that normally take a long time to dry like jeans

Wtf! I can’t believe I’ve never thought about doing this. Game changer!

Tappering · 28/09/2020 08:32

@mommybear1

I'm going against the grain here they are great for heating towels but if you want to heat the room you can't put towels on. I have had them in both my properties they look nice and are great for warm towels but won't heat the room if you do warm your towels. I have a towel rail and a radiator in my bathrooms the downstairs wet room is slightly overkill as it has a towel rail and underfloor heating Blush.
I've keep towels on mine and it still warms the bathroom really well. It's is quite large though.
AnotherEmma · 28/09/2020 08:38

I have a medium size bathroom with 2 external walls and it gets cold. There is a heated towel rail that's connected to the central heating but can't be turned on separately. It's not really big or powerful enough to heat the room as well as drying towels. I want to redo the bathroom with underfloor heating and a bigger heated towel rail that we can turn on even when the central heating isn't on. So that's what I'd advise you to do.

We've also had condensation and mould issues on the external walls so make sure you have a good extractor fan (ideally connected to a humidity sensor) especially if you plan to dry laundry as well as towels in the bathroom.

Original poster
Twinstar29 · 28/09/2020 08:48

Thanks everyone for you helpful replies.
Sounds like I need to carefully consider the towel rail idea and make sure I get a really powerful one if I go down that route - I'm also very taken by the underfloor heating idea.

Thank again for your help.

OP posts:
MJMG2015 · 28/09/2020 08:50

Mine is quite large. About 800x1500 I think. It is on the wall at the end of the fitted bath it heats the room really well. Because it's off the floor (above the bath) the towels hang about half way up it and so the top is exposed. IF I go in & the towels are dry, I fold them in half & put them on the lower rail.

It's always cosy in there.

When I had it put in, I could have had one which ran on electricity too, but it meant running wiring to it & id just had the bathroom plastered and it's at the end of the bath so I didn't really want that anyway.

If I was doing it now I'd look at the other thermostats & see how they work

However, there's only a couple/few times a year I think 'it would be nice to be able to turn that on' (without going around & turning all the other rads off, which I could do, but can't be bothered - so clearly not that bothered!!)

Pashazade · 28/09/2020 08:52

I have this one. We have a Victorian house and the bathroom has two external walls and does get nippy. This is a brilliant piece of kit and really heats the room well. The room is roughly 10' x 7'. Oh and I got the upgrade so I can run it independently of the heating system should we need a boost in the summer.

www.wickes.co.uk/Wickes-Haven-Flat-Panel-Designer-Towel-Radiator---Anthracite-1500-x-500-mm/p/120904

NothingTraLaLa · 28/09/2020 08:56

I'd get a radiator and a heated towel rail if you can. Our towel rail comes on with the heating or I can switch it on separately - good for spring and autumn when the heating isn't on but the weather isn't warm enough to dry the towels.

PigletJohn · 28/09/2020 14:20

If you have a towel rail with a nominal output of, say, 800W, it will give out considerably less when it is wrapped in a thick insulating jacket of towels.

Radiators give out more heat than towel rails of the same dimensions.

Do you have a hot-water cylinder in, or adjacent to, the bathroom?

PigletJohn · 28/09/2020 14:23

incidentally, chromed steel towel rails are very prone to going rusty.

Chromed brass ones are best, but much more expensive.

grassgreenthisside · 28/09/2020 14:25

We have one in our small bathroom, it probably 150cm tall

Heats the room up very quickly. Don't cover the entire thing in towels though, we usually cover about 2/3. Towels dry very quick.

Have it on 3/5 on thermostat as 5/5 is scalding hot