towel rails

[farm]

do you leave them on all the time

are they cheap to run

would they provide enough heat to warm the room and keep damp at bay

thanks

[Ace_Bridger]

I guess you're refering to electric heated towel rails?

I would suggest that they would be very expensive to leave on permanently, but you'd need to check the lower rating of the heater to confirm. To calculate just how much it would cost to leave on permamently you'll need this power rating info.

If, for example, the towel railis rated at 2 KW (kilowatt) and you wish to leave it on 24 hours a day that would be (2*24=48) 48 KWh (Kilowatt Hour).

You electricity supplier calculates your elctricity bill by measuring the number of KWh used. One KWh is known as a 'unit' of electricity and the price of one unit should be shown on your electricity bill. You may find that you are charged for peak and off peak units so to calculate the total cost of using the towel rail 24 hours per day simply split it out into two parts, peak and off peak.

Hope this helps.

Ace

[tony1941]

That calculation is fine, but the assumption of 2kW is very high; a two bar electric fire has this rating, and the thought of a towel spread over one of those would have a fireman running for cover! I have a Dimplex rail in my bathroom, and the rating plate states 90 Watts. This gives about 11 hours per unit, so it's not too bad, but it will add up. Do check the rating, though, because I'm sure I've seen one that was 300 Watts, and that would clearly be around three times as expensive. In my experience, it will keep damp at bay, but the warming effect on the room is very small.

[stanleyman]

An electric towel rail can be left on or can be controlled by a timeswitch and/or a thermostat (subject to electrical regs) but they don't give out much heat, sufficient only to keep the chill off and keep the bathroom dry. In addition a fixed electric wall fan heater for use only while the bathroom is occupied would work economically. Towel rails connected to central heating would be better depending on room size but you can't beat a radiator with a towel rail over it.

[Loocfox]

I have just had a heated towel rail put in my bathroom, have a look at www.winterwarm.co.uk then find heating then heated towel rails, i had the one there and found that if you keep the door shut the bathroom is kept warm, i am very happy with it.hope this helps.