Replace current radiator with a towel radiator

[CatCaller]

Hello,

My house is about 3-4 years old. Our Toilet seems very damp and it's caused the paint to come off the radiator among other things. I'm not sure if the vent doesn't work, or we should be opening the window when we have a shower. Anyway, i'm in the process of doing the toilet up a bit and would like to replace the current radiator with a nice towel one. I've attached the current radiator. The cladding is new, but the skirting and floor are to be replaced. Will i need to rip up the floor boards to plum the new radiator in?

 

[Dean744PiN5]

I would sort out your ventilation first, or this will happen to your towel rail especially those of the chrome and cheap variety.

 

[CatCaller]

How can i test the vent? It's a Pasivent. Attached a picture. I've the same one in the kitchen and there is a switch in there that says ''Fan'' and ''Boost'' I've not seen another switch in this house for the bathroom. I had this off at the weekend when i was putting in some recessed lights. Inside the vent is connected to a foil tube and there is another plastic vent in the ceiling. This is not connected to the foil now that i think about it.

Comparing the two vents, the one in the kitchen is very dusty, the bathroom one has no dust on it at all but not sure if that's because it's in the bathroom.

 

[Nige F]

No dust means it's not working - you need powered extraction. and yes you'll need to lift some flooring board.

 

[CatCaller]

I'll take the one off the wall in the kitchen tomorrow and see what that is like.


Back to the Radiator though. Do i have to rip up the floor to plum it in, or can i use the existing pipes coming up there?

 

[Nige F]

you can use the existing pipes but they may not be in the right position

 

[DP]

I would shelve the idea of a towel rail. Chances are two 100 watt bulbs will give off more heat than these miserable 'all that glitters is no gold' thing called radiator

 

[CatCaller]

Well it's there and looking awful. I've never liked it even when it was new. Towel radiator would look better IMO. So is my best bet to find a radiator matching the distance width of the pipes then?

 

[St0rmer66]

Towel rails give off such low heat I wonder if you can even call it a radiator anymore. They really do just warm towels and that's it. I had one and replaced it after a year with a vertical radiator instead because I was sick of the bathroom being so cold. If you have damp then making it colder will exasperate the problem!

 

[CatCaller]

Just damp behind the toliet, but all metal is rusting rapid. I put a new bathroom cabinet in and the handles of that rusted very quickly. The heating is never really on in there anyway. I think towel radiators look nicer.