Replacing rad with towel rail

[saragan]

We'll shortly be renovating our bathroom and SWMBO has decreed that she wants to get rid of the existing 'ordinary' radiator in there and replace it with one of these new-fangled towel rails. I've been looking around the net and found a few that we like the look of but I need help regarding the heat output and rating of these things.

Given that the old rad is 870mm wide by 740mm high (photos can be seen here:

for broadband users or for dialup users) how much heat output am I getting from that at the present and what should I be looking to replace it with?

Cheers,

Saragan.

[Andy Hall]

It looks like a single panel type without fins - correct?

Looking at a few radiator data sheets, this is going to have a gross output of about 750 watts. The gross output is the one given in the main data sheets of radiators etc. without compensation for typical boiler operating temperatures. If you have a conventional boiler running at 82 degree flow and 72 return, then the actual output will be about 90% of the above figure. You need to compare like with like, and most manufacturers quote the gross figure.

If the room is always comfortably warm, you could perhaps afford to go for a slightly lower output rail, but bear in mind the output will be reduced by having towels covering it.

[Lurch]

On Sat, 15 Jan 2005 23:57:56 -0000, "saragan" strung together this:

Doesn't really matter what size the old rad is. What size is the room, number of external walls, windows, height....

[saragan]

You are correct in saying that it's a single panel type without fins Andy. Thanks very much for your reply.

Saragan

[r.p.mcmurphy]

i did the same in our bathroom. we bought a stainless towel rad from tlc. only problem is heat output is significantly reduced by placing towels on it...so get the highest output you can!

Steve

[saragan]

Thanks Lurch. I hadn't thought about things like that because I'm only replacing an existing rad and, as it's always warm enough in there, I know that the current heat output (whatever that might be) is alright, and I'm assuming that whoever put the CH system in originally did the calculations correctly at the time.

Anyway, I've just been upstairs to take some measurements and can tell you that the bathroom is on the corner of the house so it has two external walls, one double-glazed window measuring 1150mm (h) x 1290mm (w) and the room is 1900mm long by 1980mm wide, with a height of 2286mm.

Usenet can be a bit flaky sometimes so I don't know if you will have seen Andy Hall's reply but he reckons that the existing rad may be around the 750 watt area, so I was thinking of maybe replacing that with a 1000 watt towel rail to compensate for the towel being in direct contact with the rail and soaking up x amount of heat. What's your thoughts on that?

Cheers

Saragan.

[saragan]

Cheers Steve, I did wonder about that. In his earlier reply Andy Hall reckoned that the existing rad may be about 750 watt so I thought about replacing it with a towel rail of about 1000 watt to compensate for that.

Saragan.

[r.p.mcmurphy]

go for higher if you can... the towels really do reduce the amount of heat given off, so the higher the output the better. unless you can convince the missus she cant put towels on the towel rad until just before she has a bath! ;-)

Steve

[Howard]

Furthermore .. we have found that our 'combination' rad ie with an electric heater incorporated as well,

is very very handy in summer when you don't have the heating on.

We used to have a low temp thermostat (maybe 55-60, not sure about this) and it kept our towels lovely and dry.

Said Thermo discontinued!

[saragan]

Another very good point - cheers Howard.

Saragan

[Geoff Norfolk]

I replaced mine about a year ago with one from Screwfix........... it was about £65 I seem to remember. The only "problem" I've found is fitting all the towels on it. There's 3 "larger gaps" for hanging the towels over but because there's only a couple of inches at the back, it's difficult to get them through and down the back....if you see what I mean! They now doones that curve outwards giving extra space so you might find these a better bet. Geoff

[Richard]

I have a Myson towel rad with an additional thermostat controlled electric heating element. This is useful because the rad only heats when the boiler is firing - it's not part of the HW or CH circuits. I run the electric heater via a time switch to top up the heat in the mornings.

When the boiler is firing the rad gives off a tremendous amount of heat, but it can be switched off by means of its TRV.

Richard

[John Armstrong]

I plumbed my towel rad in so the flow is connected in before the diverter valve, so it comes on when the hot water or heating is on, so it warms up nicely when you are in the bath.