For various reasons, including using the things fitted in a holiday let,
I have become interested in heated towel rails.

The towel rail in this location is a decent size and would appear
adequate to heat the bathroom. It only heats when the central heating
combi boiler is on. Even at this early part of the year, this week we
have felt little or no need for general heating.

The towel rail itself has no controls on it (yes - lock shield but not
TRV, etc.). So all we can do is go round the place, turn down the TRVs
on all radiators, and play with the room thermostat to get the CH
running. Then the towel rail warms up nicely - if not too much!

Far more handy would be if there were a push-button which allowed you to
get the towel rail heated for, maybe, half an hour primarily to warm and
dry the towels. Without having to do anything else.

Another place uses TRV on the towel rails - at least you have local
control in the bathroom. But even then, you have to remember to turn it
down again and it might be rather more than is needed in warmer weather.

Is there a satisfactory answer to towel rail control? I am well aware of
the electric option but want to see of there is another answer.

--
Rod

In article ,
polygonum wrote:
For various reasons, including using the things fitted in a holiday let,
I have become interested in heated towel rails.

The towel rail in this location is a decent size and would appear
adequate to heat the bathroom. It only heats when the central heating
combi boiler is on. Even at this early part of the year, this week we
have felt little or no need for general heating.

The towel rail itself has no controls on it (yes - lock shield but not
TRV, etc.). So all we can do is go round the place, turn down the TRVs
on all radiators, and play with the room thermostat to get the CH
running. Then the towel rail warms up nicely - if not too much!

Far more handy would be if there were a push-button which allowed you to
get the towel rail heated for, maybe, half an hour primarily to warm and
dry the towels. Without having to do anything else.

Another place uses TRV on the towel rails - at least you have local
control in the bathroom. But even then, you have to remember to turn it
down again and it might be rather more than is needed in warmer weather.

Is there a satisfactory answer to towel rail control? I am well aware of
the electric option but want to see of there is another answer.

I think you'd have to runa separate water feed to the towel rail controlled
by a valve (and have another valve on the rest of the heating). You could
then have a "call for heat" switch in the bathroom which open the relevant
valve and the turn on the boiler.

Probbaly less disruptive to geta towel rail that has an electric element as
well as using hot water.

--
from KT24 in Surrey, England

On Fri, 18 Mar 2016 17:42:12 +0000, polygonum wrote:

For various reasons, including using the things fitted in a holiday let,
I have become interested in heated towel rails.

The towel rail in this location is a decent size and would appear
adequate to heat the bathroom. It only heats when the central heating
combi boiler is on. Even at this early part of the year, this week we
have felt little or no need for general heating.

The towel rail itself has no controls on it (yes - lock shield but not
TRV, etc.). So all we can do is go round the place, turn down the TRVs
on all radiators, and play with the room thermostat to get the CH
running. Then the towel rail warms up nicely - if not too much!

Far more handy would be if there were a push-button which allowed you to
get the towel rail heated for, maybe, half an hour primarily to warm and
dry the towels. Without having to do anything else.

Another place uses TRV on the towel rails - at least you have local
control in the bathroom. But even then, you have to remember to turn it
down again and it might be rather more than is needed in warmer weather.

Is there a satisfactory answer to towel rail control? I am well aware of
the electric option but want to see of there is another answer.

We have TRVs on our heated towel rails.

Not a problem in warmer weather because:

(1) It is a TRV so doesn't kick in if the room is warm

(2) You can always turn it down to "frost protect" if you are worried.

We don't usually need heat in the summer to dry the towels - if you think
that you will need heat then the logical thing is to use the electrical
option in addition to wet heating.

Cheers

Dave R



--
Windows 8.1 on PCSpecialist box

On 18/03/2016 18:11, David wrote:
We have TRVs on our heated towel rails.

Not a problem in warmer weather because:

(1) It is a TRV so doesn't kick in if the room is warm

(2) You can always turn it down to "frost protect" if you are worried.

We don't usually need heat in the summer to dry the towels - if you think
that you will need heat then the logical thing is to use the electrical
option in addition to wet heating.

Cheers

Dave R

Thank you Dave. If I understand right, you turn your TRVs round the
house down, and (if needed) simply turn the towel rail one up. Not
having a heated towel rail, I have simply been assuming that in the
intermediate months, we will need some heating for drying some the time.

--
Rod

On 18/03/2016 18:03, charles wrote:
Probbaly less disruptive to geta towel rail that has an electric element as
well as using hot water.

Appreciated but I have been hoping that isn't necessary.

--
Rod

On Friday, 18 March 2016 17:42:13 UTC, polygonum wrote:
For various reasons, including using the things fitted in a holiday let,
I have become interested in heated towel rails.

The towel rail in this location is a decent size and would appear
adequate to heat the bathroom. It only heats when the central heating
combi boiler is on. Even at this early part of the year, this week we
have felt little or no need for general heating.

The towel rail itself has no controls on it (yes - lock shield but not
TRV, etc.). So all we can do is go round the place, turn down the TRVs
on all radiators, and play with the room thermostat to get the CH
running. Then the towel rail warms up nicely - if not too much!

Far more handy would be if there were a push-button which allowed you to
get the towel rail heated for, maybe, half an hour primarily to warm and
dry the towels. Without having to do anything else.

Another place uses TRV on the towel rails - at least you have local
control in the bathroom. But even then, you have to remember to turn it
down again and it might be rather more than is needed in warmer weather.

Is there a satisfactory answer to towel rail control? I am well aware of
the electric option but want to see of there is another answer.

--
Rod

Depending on your system design it may be a "heat sink" & therefore not to be fiddled with.
Enables the boiler thermostat to run correctly.

http://www.traderadiators.com/blog/W...d-you-have-one

On 19/03/2016 07:28, harry wrote:
Depending on your system design it may be a "heat sink" & therefore not to be fiddled with.
Enables the boiler thermostat to run correctly.

http://www.traderadiators.com/blog/W...d-you-have-one

I am well aware of these issues. It just about could be in the holiday
let, but it isn't in the other location.

--
Rod

polygonum Wrote in message:
On 18/03/2016 18:03, charles wrote:
Probbaly less disruptive to geta towel rail that has an electric element as
well as using hot water.

Appreciated but I have been hoping that isn't necessary.

Not quite sure what you are thinking is possible here.

If run from the CH then the options are goign to be turn down the
other rads and have just the bathroom rad on, and run the CH . it
would be easy enough to rig up a timer switch to run it
regardless of timer/stat settings.. Or as Charles suggests a
separate circuit for the towel rad.

I suppose you could have one of these system that can remotely
control the TRVs but that sounds expensive.

Is the reluctance to use electric one of installation issues?


--
--
Chris French


----Android NewsGroup Reader----
http://usenet.sinaapp.com/

In article ,
polygonum writes:
For various reasons, including using the things fitted in a holiday let,
I have become interested in heated towel rails.

The towel rail in this location is a decent size and would appear
adequate to heat the bathroom. It only heats when the central heating
combi boiler is on. Even at this early part of the year, this week we
have felt little or no need for general heating.

The towel rail itself has no controls on it (yes - lock shield but not
TRV, etc.). So all we can do is go round the place, turn down the TRVs
on all radiators, and play with the room thermostat to get the CH
running. Then the towel rail warms up nicely - if not too much!

Far more handy would be if there were a push-button which allowed you to
get the towel rail heated for, maybe, half an hour primarily to warm and
dry the towels. Without having to do anything else.

Another place uses TRV on the towel rails - at least you have local
control in the bathroom. But even then, you have to remember to turn it
down again and it might be rather more than is needed in warmer weather.

Is there a satisfactory answer to towel rail control? I am well aware of
the electric option but want to see of there is another answer.

I don't know if it's deliberate (I suspect not) but one of heating
systems I look after for part of my family has the bathroom radiator
directly across the boiler output so it heats in the case of heating
or hot water demand, so in the summer too. Its connection to the
pipework also means that when the boiler is off (most of the day in
the summer), it gets gravity heated by reverse flow in the hot water
cylinder coil, drawing stored heat from the cylinder like a thermal
store. They find this quite useful for towels, and the gravity feeding
only makes it warm, not as hot as the hot water cylinder tank.

I actually liked the concept of the bathroom heating directly across
the boiler output, so I did that when I put my own heating in (with
a TRV in my case), although I don't have the stored water tank to
keep it going when the boiler is off.

--
Andrew Gabriel
[email address is not usable -- followup in the newsgroup]

On Fri, 18 Mar 2016 21:43:16 +0000, polygonum wrote:

On 18/03/2016 18:11, David wrote:
We have TRVs on our heated towel rails.

Not a problem in warmer weather because:

(1) It is a TRV so doesn't kick in if the room is warm

(2) You can always turn it down to "frost protect" if you are worried.

We don't usually need heat in the summer to dry the towels - if you
think that you will need heat then the logical thing is to use the
electrical option in addition to wet heating.

Cheers

Dave R

Thank you Dave. If I understand right, you turn your TRVs round the
house down, and (if needed) simply turn the towel rail one up. Not
having a heated towel rail, I have simply been assuming that in the
intermediate months, we will need some heating for drying some the time.

Well, no, not quite.

When it is cold enough to need the central heating on, all rooms are
controlled by TRVs. They turn the radiators off when the room is just
above 20C. This includes both bathrooms. They tend to come on first thing
in the morning after the cooler overnight setting.

So far we haven't needed to run the heating just for the towel rails,
because when the daytime temperature is in the 20Cs we don't have any
issues with the towels not drying.

Both bathrooms also have extractor fans controlled by humidistats so in
general the humidity is low enough to dry the towels without any extra
heat.

As far as I can see, if the TRVs are set correctly then you shouldn't need
to turn them down because they would turn off anyway - just turn up the
one in the bathroom and turn up the CH thermostat. This heats the bathroom
above normal but should give an extra boost to drying towels.

I think I am struggling to describe a solution to a problem that we have
never had.

Cheers


Dave R



--
Windows 8.1 on PCSpecialist box

On 19/03/2016 00:54, Chris French wrote:
polygonum Wrote in message:
On 18/03/2016 18:03, charles wrote:
Probbaly less disruptive to geta towel rail that has an electric element as
well as using hot water.

Appreciated but I have been hoping that isn't necessary.

Not quite sure what you are thinking is possible here.

If run from the CH then the options are goign to be turn down the
other rads and have just the bathroom rad on, and run the CH . it
would be easy enough to rig up a timer switch to run it
regardless of timer/stat settings.. Or as Charles suggests a
separate circuit for the towel rad.

I suppose you could have one of these system that can remotely
control the TRVs but that sounds expensive.

Is the reluctance to use electric one of installation issues?


The issue is that I will probably not have any input to the system
design and installation. There is unlikely to be a convenient electrical
supply that can be used without damaging the wall/tiles/something!

So I am wondering what can be done post installation with minimal
changes. Is there a TRV which has something in common with the taps you
get in public toilets which switch themselves off after a period of
time/amount of flow?

From what David has said, I think that the TRV will be OK - but it
would be very nice if the change of the TRV setting was transient.

--
Rod

On 19/03/2016 16:21, Andrew Gabriel wrote:
I actually liked the concept of the bathroom heating directly across
the boiler output, so I did that when I put my own heating in (with
a TRV in my case), although I don't have the stored water tank to
keep it going when the boiler is off.

Interesting idea. Do you not find it getting too warm sometimes?

--
Rod

On 19/03/2016 18:56, David wrote:
I think I am struggling to describe a solution to a problem that we have
never had.

That sentence alone holds much promise!

Thanks.

--
Rod

"charles" wrote in message
...
In article ,
polygonum wrote:
For various reasons, including using the things fitted in a holiday let,
I have become interested in heated towel rails.

The towel rail in this location is a decent size and would appear
adequate to heat the bathroom. It only heats when the central heating
combi boiler is on. Even at this early part of the year, this week we
have felt little or no need for general heating.

The towel rail itself has no controls on it (yes - lock shield but not
TRV, etc.). So all we can do is go round the place, turn down the TRVs
on all radiators, and play with the room thermostat to get the CH
running. Then the towel rail warms up nicely - if not too much!

Far more handy would be if there were a push-button which allowed you to
get the towel rail heated for, maybe, half an hour primarily to warm and
dry the towels. Without having to do anything else.

Another place uses TRV on the towel rails - at least you have local
control in the bathroom. But even then, you have to remember to turn it
down again and it might be rather more than is needed in warmer weather.

Is there a satisfactory answer to towel rail control? I am well aware of
the electric option but want to see of there is another answer.

I think you'd have to runa separate water feed to the towel rail
controlled
by a valve (and have another valve on the rest of the heating). You could
then have a "call for heat" switch in the bathroom which open the relevant
valve and the turn on the boiler.


You just need the one valve. I recently did such a setup for a customer.

As you say "the towel rail needed a seperate water feed"

The trick to using just one valve is NOT to have the towel rail controlled
by a valve!!!!!!

The timer fires the boiler but does not open the valve that supplies heat to
the rest of the CH system. Usually bypass required for CH circuits were met
but I am sure some Part L regs were broken.

--
Adam

On Fri, 18 Mar 2016 17:42:12 +0000, polygonum wrote:

Is there a satisfactory answer to towel rail control?

Ours is a separate zone on the heating.

On 21/03/2016 10:31, Adrian wrote:
On Fri, 18 Mar 2016 17:42:12 +0000, polygonum wrote:

Is there a satisfactory answer to towel rail control?

Ours is a separate zone on the heating.

Does it have its own timings? Or do you just switch it on and off as you
feel fit?

--
Rod