On Thursday I ordered a number of items from different companies for installing a dual fuel towel rail as part of my bathroom refurbishment project and I'm very impressed that they have now all been delivered and appear to be of excellent quality.
Before I go ahead and do the first fix, I was hoping I could get some feedback based on your combined years of experience as this is my first time doing this.
I believe what I'm planning to do is correct but I'm open to suggestions. First a couple of photos, to set the scene.
Here's the radiator, with valves and 600W element temporarily screwed in.
And a close up of the angled corner valves, which allow the thermostat to fit through them without requiring a separate T piece (a great idea and very neat):
My plan was to fit the towel rail with the supply and return pipes on the right (as shown above), which feels a little unusual, but as you can see from the following photos, is more easily done as I want to feed the pipes up the stud wall and there is a joist on the left, which would make this more difficult.
The orientation of the valves is a no-brainer, but I can position the element through either valve. In the photo I've chosen the side of the TRV, which will be on the LEFT when the radiator is position on the wall and the lockshield will be on the right. I'm now thinking the element should be position through the lockshield valve on the right as that way the cable run will be neater. I will be installing an outlet plate to the right of the radiator. I don't believe it matters whether the element is installed on the supply or return side. Are there any advantages to one or the other?
I was planning to connect the supply pipe upto the TRV valve, but based on the position of the pipes this may be difficult to do:
(I've drawn lines on the wall where the pipes will be fed up behind the wall).
Due to the bends in the pipes, it would be easier to tee off the supply and feed to the right hand valve on the radiator (which has the lockshield connected to it) and for the return pipe to be connected to the left hand TRV valve. This avoids the return having to be bent under the supply, although I guess I could T off the return pipe where it bends upwards and then run it to the right hand lockshield valve. According to the fitting instructions, "The TRV can be installed on either the flow or return pipework. However, to avoid noise it is recommended that the TRV is fitted on the flow.". I don't believe the orientation of the TRV matters, at least there's no mention of this in the instructions.
Why does fitting a TRV on the return valve cause knocking? Should I stick to my original plan and connect the supply to the TRV side?
I would really appreciate any thoughts and advice on fitting the element and connecting up the pipes.
Before I go ahead and do the first fix, I was hoping I could get some feedback based on your combined years of experience as this is my first time doing this.
I believe what I'm planning to do is correct but I'm open to suggestions. First a couple of photos, to set the scene.
Here's the radiator, with valves and 600W element temporarily screwed in.
And a close up of the angled corner valves, which allow the thermostat to fit through them without requiring a separate T piece (a great idea and very neat):
My plan was to fit the towel rail with the supply and return pipes on the right (as shown above), which feels a little unusual, but as you can see from the following photos, is more easily done as I want to feed the pipes up the stud wall and there is a joist on the left, which would make this more difficult.
The orientation of the valves is a no-brainer, but I can position the element through either valve. In the photo I've chosen the side of the TRV, which will be on the LEFT when the radiator is position on the wall and the lockshield will be on the right. I'm now thinking the element should be position through the lockshield valve on the right as that way the cable run will be neater. I will be installing an outlet plate to the right of the radiator. I don't believe it matters whether the element is installed on the supply or return side. Are there any advantages to one or the other?
I was planning to connect the supply pipe upto the TRV valve, but based on the position of the pipes this may be difficult to do:
(I've drawn lines on the wall where the pipes will be fed up behind the wall).
Due to the bends in the pipes, it would be easier to tee off the supply and feed to the right hand valve on the radiator (which has the lockshield connected to it) and for the return pipe to be connected to the left hand TRV valve. This avoids the return having to be bent under the supply, although I guess I could T off the return pipe where it bends upwards and then run it to the right hand lockshield valve. According to the fitting instructions, "The TRV can be installed on either the flow or return pipework. However, to avoid noise it is recommended that the TRV is fitted on the flow.". I don't believe the orientation of the TRV matters, at least there's no mention of this in the instructions.
Why does fitting a TRV on the return valve cause knocking? Should I stick to my original plan and connect the supply to the TRV side?
I would really appreciate any thoughts and advice on fitting the element and connecting up the pipes.
