Electric towel rail - oil or water?

[m1t35h]

Hi all,

I bought a regular towel rail which I intended to fit in our bathroom and plumb into central heating system. However due to the complexity of the plumbing involved (and wanting warm towels in the summer ) I've now decided to use an electric heating element instead. My question is should I fill it with water or oil and why? If it's better to use oil then what sort should I use? Been searching the internet for ages and can find the answer!

 

[Bahco]

You should phone the manufacturer for advice.

 

[WDIK]

2 choices really,
you could burn your house down
or blow it down

do you really intend to take a towel rail fill it with a liquid, insert a heating element seal it and heat it ?
with no safety valve

buy an electric towel rail

 

[Gunslinger]

i was just thinking the same thing. Some towel rails, such as myson ones, have an electric element option, but if i remember correctly somewhere in the fitting/user paperwork there was a big warning about not isolating the towel rail from the CH supply/return when the electric element is in use due to the lack of an expansion path for the fluid.

sell the one you have and buy an electrical one, just remember to get a qualified sparky to do the wiring for you, as it will i imagine fall into the zoning regulations in an average sized bathroom and will require an RCD protected supply of suitable current capabilities, those heating elements can suck up a fair bit of power