Towel rails are perfect for keeping towels hung up neatly and off the floor; whilst single bar towel rails are ideal for smaller bathrooms. You'll find that a double towel rail doesn’t only help in improving the storage, but it also creates a luxurious finishing touch.
Alternatively, it is worth considering a heated towel rail that works both as a bathroom radiator and a towel warmer. Towel rails are available to suit any heating system or combinations of systems. An element can be supplied for rails fitted to a hot water heating system; this allows the rail to be used independently of the central heating system. Rails are also available to be installed in hot water heating systems or to be connected via the mains to the electrical connections.
Since heated towel rails have a smaller surface area than a standard panel radiator, they do not normally produce the same amount of heat as a radiator. For example, whilst a 500 x 700 mm single panel standard radiator gives a heat output of approximately 2,114 BTUs (British Thermal Units), a similar sized heated towel rail gives approximately 1,145 BTUs.
Follow these steps in order to work out the required BTU output that your new bathroom towel warmer needs to provide:
- Find the volume of the bathroom in cubic meters (length x width x height).
- Multiply this figure by 90.
- Make the following adjustments:
- For a very exposed property add 10%
- For double glazing deduct 10%
- For north facing rooms add 15%
- For a new property (which tend to be much better insulated) deduct 20%
This will give you the output of a radiator in watts.
- Multiply this figure by 3.412 to give the BTU requirement for the room.
