We know bathrooms like no other, and we also know just how cold they can be in the early hours of the morning or those chilly evenings. Taking this into account, showering in the coldest part of the day is something we all do and it doesn’t have to be a miserable cold experience.
We introduce to you the heated towel rail. A clever way of repurposing the traditional towel rail into a more functional bathroom appliance.
Remember that time you woke up in the early hours of the morning and had to get out of a warm bed and into a cold shower. Do you also remember getting out of the warm shower and using a cold damp towel, well then you need to look at investing in a heated towel rail? When you invest in a towel warmer rail you are adding more to your bathroom experience.
Would you like to never experience that again? Of course, you would and did you know that people who use heated towel rails and heated bathroom appliances, in general, are better morning people. They sure are, you could be as well if you had a bathroom radiator warming up your bathroom in the early hours of the morning.
What Do Towel Warmers Do?
The basic purpose of a heated towel rail is to provide a warming experience for your towels. The towel rail also acts as a standard towel rail and hangs the towel out to dry nothing new there. Now you can place a damp towel back on the towel rail and with the heating feature the damp towel will be dried and ready for reuse.
We see more requests come in for designer towel rails to match the themes of other designer bathroom appliances. They need to be warm is the primary request but there is a growing popularity for the heating towel rail to be a designer statement in the bathroom.
Bathroom radiators are not the same as towel radiators. Towel radiators are designed for damp towels and warming towels for improved comfort levels when stepping out from the shower. Bathroom radiators are used to heat the bathroom space making it more enjoyable in the colder months.
Our customers have taken just warming their towels to another level. While the heated towel rail is designed to warm bathroom towels we have had customers tell us that they also use the heated rails to dry off clothing and other household linen. Read the other uses section for more of an idea of how people are using these heated towel rails.
There is an almost overwhelming amount of options when selecting heated towel rails and accessories. This heated towel rail buyer’s guide will help you determine the key foundations for selecting the best-suited towel rail warmer for your bathroom.
There are different types of towel warmer rails.
The power source of the different heated towel rails has different effects on the functionality of the two main types of towel rail systems.
Power types:
1. Electric Towel Heater Rails
If you are a do it yourself installation person, the electrically heated towel rail is your fit. Depending on your final purchased product you have the option to plug and play into a socket or soft wire. The option to hardwire into your home's existing heating system with the help of a professional installer can be a very smooth finished look.
Some electric heating rails come with thermostatic controls and some have simple on/off controls. The thermostatic control will allow for preset temperatures and scheduled heating periods.
The benefits of electric towel rails are the cost of installation, the overall running cost and they look great.
2. Hydronic Towel Heated Rails
Requiring a plumber to install these heated towel rails you can also expect a more expensive cost to run these rails. The plumber will be connecting the closed-loop hot water with your heating system. What a hydronic heated towel rail is you could say is a radiator that has a set of pipes connected to it.
The benefits of using a hydronic towel heating rail are that they can be installed in close proximity to the shower or bath with no risk of having an electric shock while you shower or bathe. Often used in spa’s and sauna’s the hydronic towel warmer. Another benefit is that heating is instant when using hydronic where electric needs around 10 minutes to warm up.
Why Do You Need a Heated Towel Rail?
This depends on you. People have their own tastes and thresholds of cold weather. We can count on one hand the number of people we know that like the cold weather. If you enjoy being warm in the shower and bathroom then buying a heated towel rail is a smart choice.
You don’t need one, but it sure does make those unbearable winter months much more bearable. Your bathroom will be a warm haven for you to take refuge when you wash.
Use the heated rails to dry off the wet towels, dry clothing and reduce humidity by absorbing moisture in closed in areas. You might not know this but we have repeat customers that use the heated towel rails to heat the house, while they were designed to run 24 hours if needed you can use them at the times that suit you. The idea behind using the towel rail as a heater is to warm a room and remove the frosty chill of the morning air. The heat from the towel rails can warm a small room or with bigger models warm a bigger room.
Who Would Buy Heated Towel Rails?
The heated towel rails are for everyone, they are safe for children and will keep the entire family warm after showering. There are no specific people that warm towel rails are for but they will warm everyone.
The price of heated towel rails is very affordable and they don’t use a large amount of power. Very affordable and when you bundle some of the extras into the purchase price the package combined is still an affordable purchase.
Families have in our experience purchased additional heated towel rails where they use the extra units to dry clothes. The alternative uses for towel warmer rails goes on with users being reported for pool houses drying off those big beach towels with ease and wet clothing from the pool.
What Types of Warm Towel Rails are There?
We have an extended range of warm towel rails that come in a variety of finishes. Our most popular finishes are chrome and stainless steel.
There are two main types of heated towel rails, these are electric or hydronic.
Electric towel warmer rails run on electricity while the hydronic towel warmer rails run on hot water depending on the model being used.
- Rail Design
- Bar Design
- Ladder Style
- Mounted Frame
- Standing Frame
- Designer Heated Towel Rails
The look you like combined with the functionality that works for your bathroom is great starting places. If you have a cluttered bathroom consider a space-saving warm towel rail design. The bathroom that is about style should consider the designer towel rails for that sleek look.
There are also options for the way that the towel rail stands or mounts. Being heated there is a power source for all heated towel rails. Wall-mounted rails are very popular and that is also the trend with freestanding depending on bathroom space. Always check the load limits for wall mounted towel rails before loading the rail for the first time.
The theme of your bathroom will give you an idea of the type of finish that you might like. Popular finishes that we have noticed are the classic chrome and stainless steel finishes. There is a variety of grey, white and alternative chrome finishing’s available just speak to our in-store customer service people for more advice on the variety of finishes.
The combination of styles and design is endless, you can always ask one of our in-store customer service attendants for assistance and their expert suggestions.
How Much Power Will the Heated Towel Rail Consume.
Using heated towel rails is very affordable. The electrically heated towel rail is an affordable bathroom heating solution. The easiest way to explain the power consumption is to compare the running cost with that of an 80 watt, light bulb.
You can calculate the British Thermal Units BTU’s per day yourself or ask in-store with our sales representatives to give you an accurate idea of what it will cost to run the heated towel rail of your choice. Ad a rule of thumb expect hydronic heated towel rails to run the power bill up slightly more but not to the extremes. These heating rails are effective and cost only a fraction more than it does to use the electric towel rails.
For example, using an electric heating rail:
Using an 80 watt, light bulb – for 1 hour = 80 so that’s 80 / 1000
This is equal to 0.08 kWh
We then take the 0.08 kWh £0.12 (cost per kWh average cost) = £0.01 rounded up
Using this formula, it would be safe to estimate the average cost to run an average towel rail heater for 24 hours at a cost to you of £ 0.23 per 24 hour day. That’s a cost of less than £0.01 per day to be warm in the mornings and the nights when showering.
Would you say that is affordable?
We think so. You can also look at it this way. Using a heated towel rail you will reduce the need to warm yourself up after a shower. Speaking to our customers before they purchased our heated towel rails, they said that to keep warm they would do one of these things to stay warm.
- Stand in front of the fireplace
- Stand near the heated air conditioning
- Get dressed as quickly as possible
- Make sure they had a freshly warmed cup of coffee waiting for them
When you use heated towels you can prolong the warm feeling of being toasty warm. You won't need to rush to the fireplace, the air conditioning or drink boiling coffee to stay warm.
The warmth of the towel will stay with you after leaving the bathroom. Take a leisurely stroll to your coffee should you need it or sit down and relax while drinking it the choice is yours.
Where Should You Position your Warm Towel Rail?
The best position is always near the shower, but you can also place the heated towel rail on a wall that is deemed as the coldest wall. This will allow for the circulation of warmth throughout the bathroom and through the damp towels.
The damp towels will dry easily enough in any position. If there are multiple towels on the heated towel rack they should be spaced out to ensure heat passes through them and is not caught if bundled up together.
What Add-ons & Extensions Can You Use
Stylish Towels
Obviously, towels make the list of useful add-ons, what bathroom is complete without towels. Adding a nice set of towels that can be warmed up with your new heated towel rail is all part of the excitement. Along with your new towel warmer add on to this with some brand new fresh towels.
There are benefits to theming your bathroom in the same colour and design theme. The overall look and feel of the bathroom can provide relaxing subliminal thoughts. The perfect feelings to go with a comfortably warm showering experience.
Radiator Valves
Style your bathroom even more with our designer radiator valves. These crafty extras come separately but work with your warm towel rail to not only enhance functionality but look amazing.
Bathroom Radiators
If you take staying warm seriously then you need a bathroom radiator to warm up your bathroom. Combined with a heated towel rail there is a high possibility that you may not leave the shower. Don’t say we didn’t warn you.
Heated Towel Rail Timers
Do we recommend using a heated towel rail timer device, and should you think about buying one for your shower? This is entirely up to and your household needs, you might have a household that is in and out of the shower very fast.
The timer is used to control the heating of the towels. You don’t need to have your towels warm every hour of every day. To set this up you should consider the times that your household showers. If your household shower times are between 7 am and 9 am and the shower is not used again until 7 pm. You can then set the timer to turn off heating to the towel rail off. This saves you from paying for heating that you do not use.
Pro Tip: If you have a share house or house full of young teenagers then yes you should have a timer. The timer is not for the heated towel rails but for actual use of the bathroom. No one will want to leave a warm bathroom.
The timer can be set up to direct heating to the towel rail between hours set by you. Power and money-saving for you and there are no restrictions placed on the household. Should someone need a shower during the off times this can be manually overwritten to turn on.
Our Most Popular Picks
We couldn’t clearly decide on a winner so we have two top recommended towel warming rails for you. It is quite difficult to choose a single product with our extensive range, just think about testing them all. After a thousand showers we came to the conclusion that the two heated towel rails below are a combination of style, functionality, and affordability.
1st we really like a bit of style in the bathroom in case you haven’t noticed.
The Carla Chrome Radiator exudes elegance and the type of heated towel rail that works with a more modern design. The towel rail is 800 x 500 available in Stainless steel or grey and comes with a 5-year guarantee.
2nd we have gone a little traditional with our selected product.
The Adam Chrome radiator is a value-packed popular product that provides multiple towels hanging positions a simplistic appearance and is affordable. Chrome finish and available in dimension H500mm x W300mm x D350mm. This product comes with a 5-year guarantee.
Best Heated Towel Rails Comparison
The table below contains a comparison snapshot of three models of towel warmer rails. We have purposely included our two in-store recommended towel rails as suggested in the above section.
Our comparison products:
Adam – Mounted L-shaped heated rail in the chrome finish. Stunning design H500 mm W300 mm
Carla – Adaptable stainless steel heated rail. Sleek stylish designed heater rail.
Athena – A stainless steel tower heater rail. Appears slim and sleek design H800 mm W350 mm
Heated Towel Warmer Comparison Chart
Adam
Carla
Athena
Price
£133.00
£203.00
£113.00
Style
Bars
Rail
Rail
Mounted/Standing
Mounted
Mounted
Mounted
Bars/Rails
2 x 2
4
20
Dimensions
H500 x W300
H800 x W500
H800 x W350
Finish
Chrome Finish
Stainless Steel
Stainless Steel
Installation Advice for a towel Rail
Expert advice would ideally suggest having your warm towel rail installed near your shower within arms reach. The location is today's age is not as important and even more so if you combine the heated towel rails with a bathroom radiator heating system. You might think about considering placing the heated towel rail on the wall seemed to be the coldest part of the bathroom.
We can recommend a respected installation service professional to help with all installation needs. To have the best local professional recommended, just ask our salespeople for help with installation.
Service and Ongoing Maintenance
With all things electric and plumbed it is always a long-term strategy to have them maintained and serviced regularly. We would suggest every 6 months as a retailer, but you could also stretch that out to every 12 months if you decide to service them annually.
The longevity of the towel rail system will extend if you look after them with proper servicing. Most of the problems are caused by lack of care and rust build-up. We can recommend trusted repair services so that you can rest easy knowing if something goes wrong you have the expert on the job.
How can you be a better person in the mornings? Using a heated towel rail you will be stepping out of the shower into a toasty warm bath towel. There really are no words we can use to describe that feeling. When you are feeling warmth at the start of your day you are ten times more enjoyable to be around.
Well more enjoyable to be around than the guy that had a semi-warm shower and used a partially damp towel to dry off with. He is not fun to be around and you could be the highlight of someone’s day when you start your day with the rejuvenating warmth of our heated towel rails.
Take our recommendations and change the way that you start your day.