Replacing dual fuel bathroom towel radiator with hot water only towel radiator

[Pop Larkin]

Hi all,

I plan to replace a 400mm x 800mm dual fuel towel radiator with a larger hot water only flat towel radiator because the existing one isn't powerful enough to adequately heat the bathroom.

The only issue I've got is the pipe centres are only 295mm apart. I could get a 350mm x 1400mm radiator which has a quoted pipe centre of 300mm. Am I being optimistic in thinking that I can bend the pipes out to make the additional 5mm or am I better off getting a 400mm x 1400mm radiator with a tail on one side to reach out from the valve to the radiator inlet?

Any suggestions would be most gratefully received.

Sorry about the wonky photo!

Cheers,
Pop

 

[denso13]

Pretty sure 5mm is doable, although the right hand pipe looks higher than the other one. You'll need to deal with that as well.

 

[Pop Larkin]

I hope so! The pipe height issue is just a wonky photo thankfully! Pipes are perfectly level. Thanks for the advice.

 

[stem]

Towel rails / warmers aren't radiators and are not designed to heat bathrooms, only the towels that are in contact with them. A 'towel warmer' will emit about one third of the heat emitted by a radiator of the same size. But that assumes it is uncovered. Once covered with fluffy insulating towels the heat output is reduced to not very much at all.

I would suggest that you use an online radiator sizing calculator to find how many BTU's are needed to heat the room properly, then keep the towel warmer and add a suitably sized additional radiator, or if there's not enough space just replace the towel rail with a radiator.

I had a similar issue, and I moved the towel warmer to above the end of the bath at the opposite end to the shower, then installed a separate radiator where the towel warmed was previously.

 

[SithLordHood]

You’d be better fitting something like this that has a radiator section built in.

Chatsworth Savoy Traditional Heated Towel Rail Radiator

I fitted this exact one and it gets nice and toasty.

 

[flameport]

. Am I being optimistic in thinking that I can bend the pipes out

What is the wall made of?
If it's plasterboard then it's trivial to open up a hole and relocate the pipes to any distances you want.

Bending pipes that are already in the wall is not recommended.

 

[foxhole]

Pipes can be adjusted to take any size rad, if you lack the skill get a plumber in .