towel radiator + timer/thermostat + heating element = right/wrong?

[Seri]

Okay, I have a cold bathroom, a very cold bathroom in fact, 3 exterior walls and not very good lagging (soon to be changed) makes sure of that. I've been thinking of fitting a towel radiator in there if for nothing else then to at least provide me with a teeny warm area to stand next to when drying off.

The trouble is that unless I rip up far more boards then I really want to then I can't plumb said towel radiator into the rest of the heating system, so I had a plan. I thought that if I purchased one of the Screwfix nice shiny towel radiators

and also one of their towel radiator elements then I could use some creative plumbing to fill the whole thing up myself with water/anti-freeze/corrosion inhibitor.

All of the above I can't see much of a problem with, but I'm concerned that after some other things are completed in the bathroom it may actaully become too toasty, so I'm wondering if there's anyway I can fit a programmable thermostat into the system. I was thinking of something like this from TLC

I suppose the questions are, is this a sensible approach and is this a legal approach? (all electrics would be zone 3)

Thanks for any responses and feel free to call me stupid if that's what this is.

Thanks

Seri

[EricP]

Have you considered using a radient light source? By that I mean a bulb that gives out a lot of infra red heat as well as light.

I have not used one for some while but they were ideal for your type of situation as they provided a cone of heat for immediate pleasure without useless space heating.

[Christian McArdle]

1. The contacts of the prog stat are suitable for the load. I believe the CentaurStat can do 8A resistive, which is fine for a towel rad, but you need to check. Don't take my word for it.
2. The stat is suitable for the zone in the bathroom in which it is installed. Zone 3 makes this a lot easier than Zone 2.
3. The circuit should be 30mA RCD protected.

Christian.

P.S. Look at the full range of stats. Choose one with a simple one push boost function. You often just want to press the button when you go in and have warm towels by the time you've finished, with it staying on a bit longer to dry them afterwards. This is especially the case between spring and autumn, where room heating per se is less important.

[Set Square]

The heater you quote is 250 watts. That might just about warm the towels - but it ain't going to do much else!

The switching load is only 1 amp - so any stat designed for central heating use is ok. I'm not sure about putting the stat in the bathroom - others will know about that. If you *can't* do that, you could use a stat which supports a remote temperature sensor - such as a Honeywell CM67 - and put the stat outside and the sensor inside. [Not that the stat will have anything to do - 'cos with 250 w the bathroom will never get got enough for it to switch off!]

Someone else has suggested a combined light/heater - which is the way I'd go. This replaces your normal light fitting and incorporates a 750 watt circular radiant heater. It runs off the normal lighting circuit. Have a look at

to see what I mean.

[meow2222]

trouble is 250w will never warm the room. You'll always be getting out into a cold room with a little radiant heat. I used to use a 500w radiant job, and it was never adequate.

Does the OP have a CH radiator in there already? If so its easy to solve.

If you can cavity fill, the sensible thing is to do this before making any decisions on heating, as it will often solve such problems. Also replacing an sg window with dg may solve it.

NT

[Set Square]

I assume that you're commenting on the towel rail heater proposed by the OP which is only 250 watts - rather than on the overhead heater which I suggested (above) which is 750 watts - and would be detectable unless the room is very large.

Agreed.