We have central heating with two of the radiators (in our bathrooms) also having electric heating elements in them. Previously, we have always isolated the rads and switched on the electric elements in the summer, then opened up the valves, switched off the electric element and just used the CH in winter. However, this year find us, as a family, with some weird schedules so the usual 'switch on at x, switch off at y' approach isn't working, with people having cold towels after showers late at night or early in the morning. I assume just leaving the electric elements on isn't an option as they would be trying to heat the whole CH system rather than the two small radiators. Would it work if I simply kept them isolated so the CH bypasses them and I just use electric all year around?
Ta
I'm not sure what the electric is adding here. Turn on the heating and isolate all the rads you're not using? It's a combi, right? TRVs on the rads?
Just use the electric elements for a few hours. It wont circulate the heat much, unless the pump is on - if the pump is on the heating will be on anyway. They cost little to run, they’re typically 250 watts power, so 4 hours will use one unit of electricity, whats that 25-30 pence.
I'm not sure what the electric is adding here.
My wife gets up for work at 6am, one of my daughters has a horse so is often home late and wants to shower. These times often fall outside of when the heating is on so they have cold towels. Not the end of the world, I know, but in the winter it is pleasant to have a nicely warmed towel, that’s all.
Ah, I see. Dunno then, as you were. 😁
Cold towels? Oh my god, won't someone think of the children?
Similar. Towel rad in the bathroom which needs to be hot from time to time, esp in the 'shoulder seasons' just to dry off a towel or two without the heating on. We fitted it with the previous model of one of these timers which mean you can switch the element inside the rad on for 30/60/120 mins as needed. Never bothered isolating the valve or owt. The timer lives on the other side ofvthe wall, ie in the adjoining bedroom
Smart radiator thermostat valves. Pricey tho
Cold towels? Oh my god, won't someone think of the children?
Well, exactly. If the odd timings meant that towel was damp when they come to use it, fair enough, but cold? Please.
Heaven forfend that someone might like a little luxury.
Heaven forfend that someone might like a little luxury.
Exactly - a wife that works at a state school trying to get school-refusal kids into school (hence the early mornings prepping) and a teenager not just sitting on TicTok and spending most of her life outdoors . No room for warm and dry towels for those wasters.
In the tradition of suggesting an overly complex solution to a problem the OP might not really have in a way that creates a whole new annoying hobby - how about this…
Switch the towel rail on and off with a Shelly relay but rather than driving the relay with a wireless switch, go fully in with a home assistant setup and have your towel rail managed according to weather outside, heating status inside and the Google schedules of everyone in the house
I doubt I'd even notice a warm towel but keeping them dry is quite useful as it keeps them fresh a lot longer and you don't have to wash them so often. That's one big benefit of having a heat pump, as it ideally is on 24/7 at low heat which is perfect for towel rails.
I fitted an electric element to our towel rad...Not for warming towels but we pretty exclusively just the timed button to dry the towels if the heating isn't already on.
The instructions say to isolate the rad when using the electric element, the only benefit I can think of is incase the central heating water starts to circulate, preventing the intended rad from reaching temperature. But I don't bother and I've never noticed the other rads getting remotely warm. On the flip side, towel rads are sometimes the bypass radiator without a TRV, to ensure the boiler can always circulate water in case it turns on when all the TRVs are closed in hot weather. So isolating the rad would defeat this bypass loop, which is why I decided to ignore the instructions 🙂