changing radiator for towel radiator

[rueruane]

hi all
i am about to change a rad for a towel rad but have a prob. my existing rad has 630mm pipe centres and nearest towel rad i can get has got 550mm pipe centres. my rad pipework is 10mm and the pipe comes out of the wall about inch above skirting board. am going to tile the wall before installing towel rad but obviously need my pipe centres sorting before tiling. is there a flexi i can use to make up the difference and also convert to 15mm as trv's are 15mm or can you buy 10mm trv;s that fit towel rail.

 

[pozidrive]

Is the microbore pipe plastic or copper?

But either way you can extend the pipes using the appropriate fittings and length of pipe.

Yes you can buy 10mm trv's and lock shield valves but a cheaper alternative is to use 15mm valves and then use a 15 to 10mm reducing kit.

10mm valves tend to be considerably more expensive than 15mm whilst a reducing kit is only about £0.50

 

[DP]

Stick with the panel radiator or fit the Stelrad towel panel radiator.

These ladder type rads looks OK, but that is it. 60 watt bulb will radiate more heat than a shiny new ladder type rad.

 

[rueruane]

thanks for replies. whats wrong with towel rads and what makes Stelrad towel panel radiator any better. cheers

 

[Whitespirit66]

thanks for replies. whats wrong with towel rads and what makes Stelrad towel panel radiator any better. cheers

Towel warmers warm towels. Radiators heat the room (and your towels!).

 

[pozidrive]

These ladder type rads looks OK, but that is it. 60 watt bulb will radiate more heat than a shiny new ladder type rad.

Really!!!

Well the efficiency of an incandescent bulb is around 20%. The remaining 80% is radiated as heat. So your 60W bulb is more like a 48W heater.

However what is probably more likely that the towel rad has a heat output lower than the room requirements.

To do the numbers a 1200mm x 500mm ladder style towel rad will have an approx heat output of about 350W.

Whist an equivalent sized single flat panel will have an approx heat output of about 1050W.

Even a small 400mm x 600mm single flat panel will have an approx heat output of about 450W.

So you will need to make sure your towel rad has the same rating as the flat panel you are replacing, unless you particularly like a cold bathroom.

Or you could always fit the relevant number of 60W light bulbs (sic)