Choosing the best heated towel rail for a bath

According to the old tradition, left to us from the Soviet times, the houses of the old buildings do not have heating in the bathroom. This is far from pleasing in winter, not very comfortable in a damp and cool room. Well, at least with the advent of hot water supply, towel warmers began to be installed. Simultaneously, with the main task of drying towels and linen, they heat the room. If you don't have any heating in your bathroom yet, then you should choose a heated towel rail.

Heated towel rail in the bathroom extra convenience

Types and which is better

There are three types of heated towel rails:

• Aquatic. They are connected to a heating or hot water system. The more popular option is to connect to the hot water supply - a break in work is only a few weeks (for repair and preparation of the system). In the case of connecting to heating, the procedure itself is more complicated (permission is required) and the "off" season lasts the entire summer period.
• Electric heated towel rails. These are self-contained devices that only require electricity to operate. The disadvantage of these devices is the increase in energy consumption.
• Combined. These are dryers that can operate on both hot water and electricity, that is, they will work all year round without interruption. The disadvantage is the high price.

Which heated towel rail is better than water or electric? If you have a well-functioning hot water system, choosing a device is easy - you definitely need a water one. With him, except for the hassle with connecting, no problem. You don't even need to pay for the use of heat.

Electric is distinguished by the presence of a cord

If there is only a heating system, you will already have to decide which of the options is better electric or water. When making a choice, you need to build on the state and layout of your heating system. If there is a riser in the bathroom or very close to it, or the ability to connect, then it may be worth installing a water towel dryer.

It is worth considering a couple more points: you will need permission from the housing office or the organization replacing it, and they do not always issue such permits. So before making a decision, visit this institution and ask if you will be given permission. You can immediately write a statement. The second point is the quality of your heating. If its power is not enough and it is cold in the apartment, then by hanging another heating device the situation can only worsen.

So, the choice falls on an electric heated towel rail, if there is no hot water supply or it is impossible to connect to heating. Another reason is that you don't want to mess with the connection.

Choosing a water heated towel rail

To choose the right heated towel rail is a whole science, and especially a water one. The main thing here is the shape, size and even the location of the bends, and there are also technical characteristics that must also be taken into account.

Contemporary heated towel rail

Specifications

The working pressure in the DHW system should be in the range from 0.3 atm to 6 atm. The pressure in the centralized heating system strongly depends on the area, but rarely exceeds 10-12 atm (in high-rise buildings). In accordance with these parameters, select water dryers.

When choosing a heated towel rail, we look at the technical characteristics

Before choosing a heated towel rail, pay attention to such an indicator as the maximum temperature. For DHW, this figure is rarely higher than 60 ° C; for heating, few people give out 80 ° C.From this point of view, all stainless steel dryers are suitable, they have a maximum temperature of about 105-110 ° C. Nevertheless, emergencies occur when water is supplied heated to hundreds of degrees or even higher, so this supply will not interfere.

Determining the form

Water towel dryers come in many shapes. They can be conditionally divided into several groups:

• P or U shaped. The simplest in form and the lowest cost. The disadvantages include their small "useful" area, as well as not very large amount of heat that they can generate. You can't hang a lot of things on them. But such a towel dryer in the bathroom, with the correct selection of dimensions, can "stand" in place of the old similar shape without alteration.
• Snake, coil or M-shaped. Slightly more complex shape, more usable area and heat generated. They are also not very difficult to connect and have a low price.
  

  Dryer snake. Maybe not a masterpiece, but it lasts a long time

• Ladder. Heated towel rail, consisting of a number of horizontal bars, combined at the edges by vertical collectors. The bars can be straight or serpentine. Such a device usually has two connection methods - side and bottom. A more complex form assumes a well-chosen scheme, otherwise it will not work. In addition, due to the high material consumption, the cost of such dryers is several times higher than coils.
• Non-standard complex shapes. There are unusual towel dryers that look more like a designer piece of jewelry than a plumbing fixture. Their prices are not low, moreover, most are delivered "on order". Problems often arise with their connection, so you need to choose the right circuit and consult a specialist.

Choosing a bathroom dryer in shape is both simple and difficult. It is necessary to consider how and where you can install your favorite design. At the same time, do not forget that you will have to connect to the riser, which means pulling pipes along the walls to it. Moreover, most likely, the gasket will be hidden, that is, it will be hidden in the wall, which means that it will be necessary to dash them or put a false wall.

We select sizes

When choosing a heated towel rail in size, one must proceed from the available free space for installation. Most of all questions are usually caused by the selection of the size of the "ladders". They are very high. The convenience of using this device should be taken into account. Its tip can be located at the height of the wrist of your outstretched hand or slightly lower, and this is approximately 1900-2000 mm. Where the bottom edge will end is determined by you.

The size is selected based on the available free space

With snakes and U-shaped heated towel rails it is a little easier. Their upper edge is usually placed somewhere at the height of human growth. So, all the beams are in the availability zone and do not really interfere.

And also it should be borne in mind that the dimensions of the heated towel rail are also reflected in the location of the connection inlets. The wider or longer the device, the greater the distance between the pipes, which means that you cannot do without altering the bends.

Materials

The most common material from which water heated towel rails are made is stainless steel. But this metal can be different. Ideally, the AISI 304 brand and its analogs (in the table) are used. Stainless steel dryers serve for a long time, as they do not corrode, and deposits do not settle on their walls.

Analogues of AISI 304 steel and their characteristics

A stainless steel towel dryer can be with a matte surface or with a mirror shine (the surface of the pipes is polished), there are also enamel painted in different colors. The most common color among the colored ones is white, but on request you can choose from a fairly wide palette. The specific colors depend on the manufacturer.

There are budget heated towel rails on the market made of black steel, usually galvanized.Their service life is very short, several years. Their surface can be chrome-plated or painted. In conditions of high humidity in the bathroom, both coatings are very short-lived.

There are also copper heated towel rails. Along with the fact that they have good thermal conductivity, they are not heavy and look aesthetically pleasing, but they have a problem. It is impossible to connect them to a heating or water supply system if the pipe is not protected from contact with water.

So, the best choice of a heated towel rail by material is stainless steel. She really has no alternative yet.

Practical advice for choosing

Theory is good, but exploitation usually shows all the pros and cons of a product. Heated towel rails are no exception. There are many nuances, which one is better to choose.

There are a lot of such reviews about heated towel rails current at the welding place

Which models are better

Let's start by choosing models of heated towel rails. As you know, there are ladders and simple M and U shaped. These radiators are manufactured from a single piece of pipe. It is simply bent to the required shape and if a high-quality pipe was used, it will serve for a long time.

The heated towel rail is leaking at the welding points

Ladders and other complex models are welded. Their service life is determined by the quality of the welded seam, and in most cases, the leak begins precisely in the seams. No matter how bitter it is to admit it, it is mostly Russian-made heated towel rails that "flow". German or any other European country does not suffer from this disease. It's all about welding. Yes, all stainless steel is TIG welded in inert gases. Only in Europe is it boiled with pressurization, which is why the seam is boiled on both sides. Domestic manufacturers, in order to save on expensive gas, cook without supercharging. As a result, the seam is welded only from the outside and, with the slightest error in performance, it flows.

Nobody says that it flows at 100%, but it does flow quite often. That is, when you buy a domestic "ladder", you run the risk of getting a leak in about a year. The good news is that the warranty period is usually much longer - about 3-5 years, but the warranty is valid only if you have been installed by a company that has the right to work with engineering networks and you have an acceptance certificate for the dryer signed by a representative of the PRUE. At the same time, no one, by the way, can guarantee that the next heated towel rail of the same company will not flow.

So it turns out that, approaching the choice of a water heated towel rail from a practical, and not from an aesthetic point of view, it is best to take a simple coil if you do not like the U-shaped ones very much.

What to look for when buying

Having decided on the shape, you will need to choose a heated towel rail of which company you want. Everything is not easy here. As they said, German and European factories proved to be excellent. But they have a significant disadvantage - a very high price. Therefore, you basically have to choose from Russian manufacturers. There are more than enough of them today and the lineup is largely repeated. So how do you choose? You need to look at the following parameters:

• Check geometry. There should be no distortions in the pipe section. It should be perfectly round, only deformation is allowed in bending points. If the shape of the heated towel rail is symmetrical, there should be no deviations in its geometry either.
• Find the seal, this is the place where the name of the company and the grade of steel from which the device is made are affixed. All self-respecting manufacturers label their products.

Manufacturers put a stamp on which the steel grade and brand name are indicated

• Examine the threads. It should be cut evenly, grooves of the same depth and without chipping.
• In places of welding, the seams must be smooth, without sharp edges and notches.
• Look inside the pipe. If a seam is visible there (a darker, even line), this heated towel rail is made from a seam pipe. With the high quality of the pipe, this is not scary, but no one can guarantee this quality, and our manufacturers often buy Chinese rolled metal.As they all know with quality. So it's best to look for a seamless tube dryer.
• Check the product that you like according to all criteria for a certificate of conformity. It is better not to take the device without it.
• Another obligatory document is a technical passport with an indication of the manufacturer, warranty coupons, etc. The seller must fill out this passport correctly, put seals where required.
  

  The snake may not be quite ordinary. The main condition is without welding or with a minimum of seams

If all these criteria agree, you can buy the model you like. Next, it's up to the installation.

Selection of electric heated towel rails

It is easier to choose a heated towel rail that runs on electricity. He only needs power to work, and with him more or less everything is in order. Especially if there is a stabilizer. Therefore, when choosing an electric dryer, you can approach the choice of a model only from an aesthetic point of view and acquire the form that seems the most attractive.

Choice: material, color, size

The body of this device is usually made of stainless steel, filled with a coolant. The heating element is a heating element, its power consumption is small - several hundred watts. Since the volume of water in them is small and it must be heated to a maximum of 60 ° C.

More convenient in operation are models with a thermostat. They can change the temperature from 30 to 60 degrees. It is set on the scale by turning the knob, supported in automatic mode. The choice of model in this case is practically unlimited. Even welded seams are not a hindrance, the pressure is stable here and if the seam is made with high quality, it will never flow.

The color can be different

It is also worth saying about the possible color solutions. Most electric towel warmers come unpainted by default. Some manufacturers paint the most popular models. It can be ordinary white enamel, sometimes colored. Colors can be available - bronze, gold, platinum, all this can be patina, etc. In general, you can find non-standard color options. Quite good among Russian manufacturers are Dvin and Argo, Terminus, Sunerzha, Trugor.

The choice is wide in size. Choose the one that fits best into the design of the bathroom or toilet.

Connection and installation features

An electric heated towel rail is connected to a regular outlet, but since the installation site is a bathroom with high humidity, the voltage must be supplied through an RCD that breaks the phase and zero, an automatic machine is also needed, it is possible for one contact. The choice of their electrical parameters depends on what other devices will be connected to this line. It is not worth pulling a separate line to the heater due to its low power.

Thermostats have different shapes, but the functionality is usually the same

The heated towel rail is mounted anywhere.Usually, the protection class allows it to be installed even above the bathroom (II), but this is hardly worth doing. Inconvenient, and things will get wet. An electric dryer is usually best installed on any free wall. Often so that you can reach from the bath, shower. If the bathroom is combined, you have to choose. You can also place it close to a bidet or toilet withhygienic shower... By the way, mounting brackets are usually included in the kit, so you don't have to invent anything.

Manufacturers

All firms that produce water heated towel rails also produce electric ones. The heating element is installed in the same body, the coolant is poured, the ends are sealed. So finding an electric bathroom dryer is a snap.