Choosing the right towel warmer for your bathroom is very important. After all, the convenience of using the room where a person takes water procedures depends to a large extent on this device.

The device we are interested in is used for drying wet things after washing, bathing and washing. In addition, it is necessary to maintain comfortable conditions in the bathroom. If the device described is installed in it, you will never freeze when you get out of the water after swimming.

Wet dryer

Currently, you can choose one of three types of heated towel rail:

1. Water. Such a device is a pipe bent into a coil. Water (hot) circulates through it. Similar designs are initially mounted in the bathrooms of apartments in high-rise buildings. A water heated towel rail is usually connected to a home heating system. This means that it operates exclusively during the heating season. The rest of the time it is not used. Naturally, its operation is also impossible during any emergency work affecting the heating system of a high-rise building.
2. Electric. A more modern fixture that can be used at any time of the year. The main thing is to have electricity in your home. Installation of such products can be carried out not only in the bathroom, but also in the kitchen. But, as you yourself understand, electricity bills during their operation will be a little higher than usual.
3. Combined. It is a kind of hybrid of electric and water products. The combined heated towel rail functions in two modes. It is very comfortable. When the house is not heated, you need to select the electric mode of operation of the device, and with the onset of the heating season, switch to a more economical water mode.

Note that devices of the third type are not particularly popular with domestic consumers. This fact is connected with their rather high cost. Many people think that it is better to choose a cheaper and fully functional electric or water heated towel rail. Let's talk about them in more detail.

When you decide which type of device is most suitable for your bathroom, you should deal with the materials from which modern dryers for wet clothes are made. Such knowledge will help you choose the right heated towel rail.

The cheapest fixtures are made of ordinary steel. Experts do not recommend installing them in the bathroom, as they are mostly short-lived. This is primarily due to the poor quality of the water flowing through the pipes. Steel devices are of the following types:

• painted;
• polished;
• chromed.

Chrome heated towel rail

The most expensive, but also the most durable, are dryers with a chrome surface. Polished designs have a presentable appearance, they serve for a relatively long time. But the painted heated towel rail almost immediately after the start of operation in the bathroom loses its original appearance. This does not apply to foreign steel products, which are produced with the obligatory polymerization of the metal outside and inside the structure. Such devices can be used for decades.

The maximum durability is characterized by structures for drying things made of stainless steel.

If you plan to install a heated towel rail for years, you should choose just such a product. And lovers of special aesthetics and originality in the interior of the bathroom can be advised to take a closer look at brass and copper structures. They look great, have a high rate of heat transfer. The disadvantage of such products is their relatively low durability (when compared with stainless steel devices).

An electric heated towel rail is a reliable autonomous system that will work regardless of the presence of hot water in the heating system of the home. In such designs, there are no problems with water pressure, air jams do not appear in them.

Electrical structures are "dry" and "wet". A special heating cable is mounted in the case of the former (approximately the same as the one that is installed in the now popular underfloor heating). But the circuit of “wet” products is filled with oil or antifreeze and these substances are heated by a heating element located at the bottom of the structure. How to choose a heated towel rail - "wet" or "dry"? Decide for yourself. In doing so, pay attention to the following factors:

1. Devices with a heating cable heat up very quickly, but also cool down quickly. And “wet” structures after shutdown remain hot for a long time.
2. Products with oil are more expensive than their cable counterparts (their production process is more laborious due to the need to ensure absolute tightness of the housing in which the liquid circulates).
3. Systems that allow you to select the temperature of the drying operation are most often mounted in devices with heating elements. "Dry" designs usually work according to a simpler standard - "turn on and forget."
4. In terms of power, an electric heated towel rail with a cable is weaker than an oil one. You need to choose a "wet" unit if you plan to heat the bathroom with it. If the design is required solely for drying wet things, it is better to purchase a less powerful (and more economical in terms of electricity consumption) “dry” device.

Electric towel dryer with cable

Before finally choosing an electric heated towel rail, consider the following. Oil devices require professional installation. And any home master can install cable structures without any problems. Such an electrical unit is placed in any position, there are no special requirements for its installation.

In fact, you can already easily decide which electric heated towel rail will suit you in all respects. But don't rush. We have prepared for you some more important recommendations from the pros. They are listed below:

• The heat transfer of the structure is the higher, the more horizontal tubes it has.
• For a small bathroom, it is better to buy sliding products. They have side "lugs" that fold towards the center when the unit is not in use. Due to this, the design takes up a minimum of space when folded, and when opened on it, you can dry a lot of things.
• Convex type tubes hold clothes much better during drying than straight ones.

We add that electric dryers are available in floor and wall versions. Those that are placed on the floor are more mobile. If necessary, you can move them to another place (for example, to the kitchen) or even take them with you to the country when you plan a long vacation outside the city. Wall-mounted products are installed permanently using special fittings (in this case, holes must be made in the walls for its fastening).

The water unit for drying clothes in the bathroom, as noted above, is made of different materials. But this is far from the biggest problem in choosing such a device. The bottom line is that the technical characteristics of water devices must fully comply with the pressure and operating pressure indicators that are present in the hot water supply system of an apartment building.

In accordance with domestic state standards and sanitary norms, any sanitary water intake equipment in high-rise buildings must withstand pressure up to 7.5 atmospheres. In practice, water intake systems in high-rise buildings operate at average loads of no more than 4–6 atmospheres. But with water hammer, this value can increase. In this regard, be sure to look at the passport of the heated towel rail you like. And clearly recognize in it the maximum pressure at which the device is able to function.

Passport of a water heated towel rail

This advice should always be followed when you buy products from foreign (in particular, European) manufacturers for high-rise buildings, and do not pay attention to it at all if you purchase a device for installation in a private house. In it, the pressure in the heating and water systems, as a rule, does not exceed several atmospheres. For a private home, any model of dryer is suitable.

Structurally, water heated towel rails of foreign manufacturers are different. They are made with side shelves, various ladders, in the form of the letters P, M, and so on. Which specific device to choose is up to you. The main thing is that it fits in the bathroom and does not clutter it up. To do this, it is enough to correctly measure the size of your bathroom.

Installation of water structures, if desired, is done by hand. carried out near the heating riser, connected to the pipe by means of squares, couplings or a stopcock. All connections made must be sealed. The easiest way to do this is with Teflon tape. And do not forget to turn off hot water before starting installation work. Keep your bathroom warm and dry!