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Steve Walker[_5_] Steve Walker[_5_] is offline
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Default Electric towel rails - none seem to have IP ratings

On 15/02/2021 09:11, Chris Green wrote:
Robin wrote:
On 14/02/2021 17:08, Chris Green wrote:
ARW wrote:

snip


It's not actually in a bathroom zone, it is however in a potentially
'splashy' environment so I'd prefer if it had an IP rating for that
sort of environment. So I'd like IPx4, the radiators I've seen don't
give any ratings though.

A towel rad probably needs double pole switching so an unswitched FCU
would not be suitable.

So the illustration is wholly misleading as it shows an unswitched FCU
(as far as one can tell). A switched FCU is likely not IPx4 unless
it's an outdoor one and they are not really 'indoor friendly' in terms
of their looks.


You seem to be leading inexorably to your needing to run the flex from
the towel rail /unbroken/ through a flex outlet plate to a SFCU outside
the "splashy zone". (Possibly a plate where the flex exits downwards at
the bottom if splashes are to be large/frequent.) But that patently
involves more work so fingers crossed you'll find a simpler option you
can accept.

But that still leaves the temperature setting bit on the radiator
itself, that needs to be 'bathroom safe', it's this bit that is my
real concern. An unswitched FCU would be fine if the thermostat on
the towel rail can be turned right down. If necessary have a remote
switch to isolate it.


I solved a similar problem with my central heating (individual
timer/stats in each room of the house and separate motorised valves), by
building a relay box, using battery powered timer/stats and only feeding
12V, from a safety transformer, to the timer/stats. This also meant that
until I redecorated each room and buried the cables, I could use surface
mounted alarm cable, up the edges of doorframes and the like, where it
was nigh on invisible, but it did not matter if the kids damaged it.

Electrically it is safe and the timer/stat in the bathroom - although
not rated for damp atmospheres - is still working 17 years later.