Will my gas central heating system have to be drained?

Question

Having a Towel Radiator (approx 1450 BTU's) fitted in bathroom, existing radiator is being removed. What does this entail? The whole bathroom is being fitted by a reputable company but as it will be Dec just wondering if I am likely to be without heating for long? Also just as a matter of interest, having heard to many stories about these towel radiators I am a bit concerned it will not heat the bathroom to the comfortable way I like it. If it didn't how easy is it to instal another small normal type radiator in with it? My husband is going daft saying it would look stupid after spending so much but as I said I like the bathroom comfortable!!!

Answer 1

Find out what the btu's are for your old rad.
Look At new rads the same SIZE making note if its single or double, then note the BTU value.
Most towel rads don't offer the same heat output as a normal rad. Have you thought about having underfloor central heating for your bathroom? (lovely warm foor tiles).
Get your heating engineer to work out the correct BTU value for the bathroom, working out the heat loss for the room etc, as your old rad could of been 'over sized'. Then you will then know the correct BTU value for the bathroom rad.
p.s plumber Will not have to drain the whole system, just what is known as part drained, will not take long (within two hours).
1450 BTU should be fine for a small bathroom. But you can always get a bigger towel rad.
hope this helps (plumber).

Answer 2

It is not likely that the position of the pipe connections on your new towel rail will match those of your existing radiator and to make a tidy job of it, the pipework will need to be altered. This should not entail a great deal of time, but many companies have a freezer kit allowing a plug of ice to be formed in the two pipe connections so that alterations can be made without draining the entire system.

Most towel rails are insufficient to provide a comfortable bathroom temperature, especially when hung with towels which act like an insulating jacket. There are towel rails available incorporating a radiator positioned so that the towels will not reduce the performance. I would rather fit one of the above or an additional radiator if there is sufficient space than put up with a less than comfortable bathroom.

Chartered Building Services Engineer

Answer 3

The system will only need to be drained if the distance between the valves is different between your old radiator and the new towel rail. Even if this is the case, it shouldn't take more than 1/2 day to do by a reputable plumber.

Answer 4

We had a towel warmer installed some time ago, mine does NOT heat the whole room. and I like a warm bathroom at shower time, so I had a small hot air electric heater installed. There is a timer knob on the wall and about 10 mins before I go in I set the timer to 15 mins, so by the time I go in it's very warm and it shuts itself off. Very cheap to operate, and fairly cheap to install.

Answer 5

If you use your towel warmer correctly, there should be no problem, it is a warmer, not a permenant towel storage facility, leave the warmer free of towels except when you are going to bathe or shower, the room stays warm and your towel is warmed ready for use, if it can be re-used, dry it on the warmer and then take it of and let the heat circulate.

Answer 6

it is difficult to say if the towel rad. is sufficient not knowing the size of the room, if the company has done there job properly they will have sized the radiator to the job. talk to your plumber he should be able to put your mind at ease. as for fitting this is a relatively easy task and will take no time at all

Answer 7

If you are just using the electric element (1450 BTU's) the existing pipes have to be ''capped off''. If there is an existing valve in the line your heat won't even have to be shut down.

Answer 8

Nope - heating will not need to go off whilst they install it. And I always found ours very effective in heating the room too. The hot towels are fab!|!!