Electric towel rails

[Bay Man]

I noticed in Screwfix they have normal radiator towel rails used in a CH system. But they have electric immersion insertion heaters which go in the bottom rad valve tapping to use in summer as well.

I have a few questions.

Do these towel rail immersion heaters have a tee piece for the rad valves?

If I want the towel rail to be electric only and not connect to the CH, I assume I fill the towel rail with water. What happens if the towel rail immersion thermostat fails? Will the water boil and the rail blow up?

[A.Lee]

I've gone off Screwfix recently, my monthly bill with them would be something like £300/mth until July, but I havent spent anything with them since. Their prices have gone up, range has gone down, and they have messed me around with their internet ordering. Toolstation are good at the moment, and for larger plumbing supplies these are good:

I wouldnt recommend that. The water will expand when hot, and it has nowhere to go, so is not a good idea IMO. There are radiators that do what you want -

I fitted one recently, and the customer was really happy with it.

Alan.

[Bay Man]

Thanks. What sort of timer do you fit to these towel rails? A cheap one :)

[John Rumm]

Usually yes.

Then buy an oil filled electric rail instead...

Well if you were going this route you would need to leave a small air gap for expansion (when used in a CH system you close one of the valves to prevent gravity circulation attempting to heat the whole CH system, but still allowing for the expansion via the other pipe).

Most of these add on heaters are fairly low power[1] - so they are unlikely to be able to boil the water anyway. e.g. 200W heater in a rad with a 400W output at 82 deg will never reach boiling point.

[1] Chose one with a heat input a little less than the output of the rad.

[js.b1]

With an electric-only towel rail (or certain radiators for that matter) you fill a) with a suitable oil or b) with a 75:25 water- glycol mixture with a 10% air gap at the top. Pure water is out re freeze & corrosion (most towel rails are steel).

With the water mixture, when the heater is first used you bleed off the air as it is warmed up. Alternatively, and much better from a safety perspective, fit a 3-bar safety valve which are about =A38 on Ebay or =A310 delivered online. Alternatively oil is perhaps the safest option (used in enough portable radiators) although I believe the EU wants / has restricted it.

A towel rail element does have a thermal cutout: if you oversize the element on some you can hear one clicking on & off (an internal safety thermostat), I suspect there may also be a non-resettable thermal fuse.

No idea what oil is used, I suspect a mineral oil... although could be a new market for Mobil 1 :-)

[Dave Osborne]

Nah, yah hafta be green and environmentally friendly, dude!

tho' oil-filled radiators use transformer oil with lots of PCBs and other bad stuff...

[js.b1]

From the trickling sound in cheap portable radiators, it sounds like mineral oil, and they seem to rust/leak a clear oil after a few years so it might well be mineral oil.

Oil is pretty messy to clean up if it leaks, but so is anti-freeze (if it soaks into a wooden floor you can forget painting it pretty much for eternity because it will also stop it rotting too!).

[A.Lee]

The new ones now are dry, with a thin element wire running through them, so they heat up evenly. Alan.

[A.Lee]

Whetever is suitable for its surroundings. You generally cannot have a 13a plug in the bathroom, so the cheap plug-in timers are out, so maybe a cheap central heating timer outside the room?

Alan.

[iboco1979]

I found this website as well, very helpful company with after sales.=20

I have learned that insert the elements on the right side of the towel radi= ator and screw in with the tape. And then insert the valves or blanking plugs into the bottom hole. tilt the= radiator to the left 45=B0 angle and fill the radiator with 75% water 25% = antifreeze mixture. I will recommend to install three bar safe valve on one= of the top holes.

Make sure you not operate the elements before fill the radiator completely

link:

enjoy warm dry towel :))=20

[Dave Plowman (News)]

If you're going to spam a UK group it would be best to learn English first.

[Brian Gaff]

Anti Freeze, really? I f it needs anti freeze then its an awfully cold bathroom!

Brian

[Dave Plowman (News)]

They seem to only sell steel ones rather than stainless, so probably needed to prevent rust...

[Dave Liquorice]

Wouldn't Fernox or similar do that job?