Bathroom radiators

[pubrunner]

Hi All,

We are in the process of having our main bathroom totally refurbished and we've reached the point where we have to pick a new radiator.

We would welcome advice - my missus has chosen a few and as can be seen, they vary considerably in price.

There's the cheap and cheerful :

https://www.heatandplumb.com/acatalog/reina-diva-a... (5 year guarantee)

https://www.heatandplumb.com/acatalog/orbit-life-b... (5 year guarantee)

https://www.heatandplumb.com/acatalog/heatwave-pis... (10 year guarantee)

Not so cheap and cheerful :

https://www.heatandplumb.com/acatalog/prestige-kol... (5 year guarantee, but high BTU)

More expensive :

https://www.heatandplumb.com/acatalog/radox-premie... (25 year guarantee, stainless steel)


What's the longevity of anthracite coated radiators ?

I like the Kolumn designer radiator, 'cos it has a high BTU; but the stainless steel one, whilst being the most expensive, should never rust and offers a 25 years guarantee . . . which means it should see me off .

Ultimately, the buying decision rests with my missus, but any guidance/advice which helps us (her) to make an informed decision would be much welcomed.

Thank you.

[paulwirral]

They’re all really towel rails , make sure you’ve got an extra heat source in the room or it’s odds on you’ll have warm towels and a cold bathroom , it’s a mistake lots of people make , I did myself but only made it the once , since then I’ve always installed electric floor heating in bathrooms .

[MattyD803]

Sorry to go slightly off topic away from your radiator query, but the best thing we ever did was to install electric underfloor heating in our bathroom when we did our family bathroom remodelling - I would highly recommend it if you've still got the opportunity to have it installed.

Not only does it act as primary heat source (we have a towel radiator as well), but it helps keep the floor dry after showers/baths/using the sink, particularly if you have kids.

It's also nice that it will kick in as required during (what should be) the warmer months when the temps drop away over night, just a bit of background heat during periods when the main heating system may otherwise be off for summer. Paired with a 'smart thermostat', it'll not cost the earth to run either.

Towel rails, as a rule, really are quite poor heat emitters and outputs can be compromised by the chosen finish, so double check that in the manufacturer's literature. Also consider over sizing to future proof against lower flow/return temps.

[Mr Pointy]

Those are all towel rails not room heating radiators & I'd suggest aren't a good way to heat a bathroom. I'd go for a primary heating method - either a normal wet radiator or underfloor heating, & an electric towel rail. Then you can have dry warm towels when the central heating is off.

[Trustmeimadoctor]

just with anything electric make sure your happy with the running costs

towel rads may work to heat the entire room but you will need to see how much your heat loss is to really know unless you already have a rad of the same size and its fine

our bathroom can be heated to 21c easy enough with a 500x1800 even with low flow temps

but really if you want a verticle one id suggest an aluminium one with alot more surface area

like this that you can attach towel rails onto

https://nwtdirect.co.uk/vertical-aluminium-radiato...

Edited by Trustmeimadoctor on Wednesday 8th January 15:34

[miroku1]

Whatever you do , don’t use heat and plumb !

[pubrunner]

Thank you all, for the very helpful replies.

Having considered the matter in more depth, I should have realised that towel radiators will not be sufficient to heat the room. Accordingly, I think we'll go for a towel rail and electric underfloor heating.

[craig1912]

pubrunner said:

Thank you all, for the very helpful replies.

Having considered the matter in more depth, I should have realised that towel radiators will not be sufficient to heat the room. Accordingly, I think we'll go for a towel rail and electric underfloor heating.

Depends on how big the bathroom is. We had bathroom and en-suite done. Both have tall towel radiators and both are more than enough to heat the rooms. With warm LVT on the floor there is no need for ufh. If tiled though I would agree with ufh

[pubrunner]

miroku1 said:

Whatever you do , don’t use heat and plumb !

We only looked at Heat and Plumb, because we've made two recent orders with them and they delivered very quickly.

We certainly wouldn't use Victorian Plumbing or Victoria Plumb.

[Sheepshanks]

craig1912 said:

pubrunner said:

Thank you all, for the very helpful replies.

Having considered the matter in more depth, I should have realised that towel radiators will not be sufficient to heat the room. Accordingly, I think we'll go for a towel rail and electric underfloor heating.

Depends on how big the bathroom is. We had bathroom and en-suite done. Both have tall towel radiators and both are more than enough to heat the rooms. With warm LVT on the floor there is no need for ufh. If tiled though I would agree with ufh

Ours are fine too - I’ve just come out of the main bathroom and noticed (as it’s so cold tonight) how warm the bathroom was, and it’s only got a half-height towel rad. We do have electric UFH in the downstairs en-suite but don’t routinely use it.

All our rads apart from the bathrooms are on Tado smart TRVs, so if I run the boiler in the summer it’s effectively doing a towel rail loop.

[xx99xx]

craig1912 said:

Depends on how big the bathroom is. We had bathroom and en-suite done. Both have tall towel radiators and both are more than enough to heat the rooms. With warm LVT on the floor there is no need for ufh. If tiled though I would agree with ufh

Same here. Smallish bathroom (with window), ensuite (no window) and downstairs toilet with chrome towel rads (no window), and all covered with towels. All come on when hot water is 'on' at the boiler (as well as central heating) - so still function in the summer when central heating isn't on. Consistently they are the warmest rooms in the house.

[PT1984]

I changed out a radiator to a towel rail. Don’t do it. The rail should be a supplement to the radiator.

[OutInTheShed]

I think maybe there's a difference between a 'bathroom', with a bath that gets used as such, and a shower room?

Our main shower room is fine with a tall towel radiator.
But:
You maybe don't need a shower room as warm as a bathroom?
If you use the shower, that's chucking a lot of heat around.
Also, the room receives heat from the room below it.
And it has a good extractor fan, which is pulling in warm air from the landing.

So, first maybe, understand the room's need for heat. If you are trying to keep it toasty with the window open for ventilation, you will need a lot of heat.
If you have a shower which makes the whole room humid, you will need a lot more heat.

A big towel rad can also have a downside in warmer months, it heats the room a lot more when it dries the towels! If we heat it using the electric element, it is probably less cost-effective than a smaller one covered in towels?

Not sure UFH is the ideal answer, if I suddenly decide I'll slump in the bath to ease my back, I want the room to warm up quite quickly?

I used to use an airbnb for work, the bathroom there had an old fashioned radiant electric heater which was luxury!

[AlexGSi2000]

I made this exact mistake last year... I have a towel rail in both bathrooms.

They heat the room up slightly, but nowhere near the heat output of a normal radiator.

[drmotorsport]

All depends on the size of the room and how well it's insulated, but I have only towel rails in both 'bathrooms' that are quite adequate to heat the room. The biggest room is only about 2 x 2m though.

[Trustmeimadoctor]

They physically arnt built to give out much heat you need surface area and a few rungs and a few legs arnt as efficient as a tradition panel rad or an extruded aluminium unit with lots of fine fins etc

[Baldchap]

Another vote for UFH, but one thing I would consider as far as heated towel rails go is to consider fitting a dual fuel valve. They essentially have an electric heater in them so you can still dry towels in summer when your central heating is off.