Century Chrome
Buyers Guide: Heated Towel Rails
Towel radiators have grown in popularity over the first part of the 21st Century, ever since the grandaddy of towel rails, a certain Geoffrey Ward, saw a towel rail whilst on a holiday in France and became convinced that the present way towels were dried needed a completely new approach.
These days, whether it's in an upmarket nightclub or a jazz club, you are very likely to dry your hands on a towel hanging on a towel rail. Now you have thought that you would like a towel warmer for your own room. So which type of towel rail should you look for?
You should first decide whether you should have a standard towel rail (a rail that connects to your central heating), an electric heated towel rail (one that connects to the mains supply rather than the central heating) or a dual-fuel heated towel rail (a rail that connects to your central heating system and to your mains electricity). If you have central heating pipes in the room where you aim to plumb in the towel warmer, then are able to have a standard towel rails plumbed in. Otherwise, it may be advisable to bring an electrician in and link up a towel warmer to your mains electricity. A dual-fuel chrome towel warmer allows you to run the rail via the central heating in winter when the central heating system is likely to be on. However in summer, you can use electricity to heat the heated towel radiator.
Once you have thought about how the heat will make it to your heated towel rail, you must make a decision on on the height, width and power of your rail. To determine the height and width, you need to measure the space between the two pipes in your place where you want the towel rail (if you have central heating in that bathroom). When selecting your new heated towel rail, you need to look for the 'pipe centres' measurement that should be located in the towel warmer measurements. The pipe centres measurement is the measurement between the two pipes on the chrome towel radiator and this should be similar to the gap between your central heating pipes in your chosen room. You can then be confident you are choosing the suitable towel rail.
The heat output you require for your place you are putting your towel rail, can be a tad more tricky to get an accurate answer for because every home is not the same. The level of heat of a heated towel radiator is judged in Watts or British Thermal Units (BTUs) and you can decide to use the measurement you feel more comfortable with. It is roughly guessed that you require one hundred Watts warm up one sq m of floor space and a little bit of using the grey matter will tell you what you should get. Find out the length and width of your bathroom and multiply them together to get the size in sq.m.. Multiply the total square metre area by one hundred (Watts) and you have the guesstimated of power in Watts you should have for your room. To get the measurement in British Thermal Units, you must times the figure in Watts by 3.14 (due to the fact that 1 Watt = 3.14 BTUs).
Although it is possible, it is not usually advisable to install a heated towel rail in place of a conventional radiator. At times a towel rail on its own does not create enough warmth in winter and can leave your room feeling in need of more warmth. A more sensible decision would be to fix in a heated towel rail as well as a normal radiator.
About the Author
Nic Auckland is co-founder of ChromeTowelRails.com who are retail specialists of towel radiators and heated towel warmers. Next day delivery on all heated towel rails in mainland UK.
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