Electric heated towel rails are designed specifically for drying towels and heating the bathroom. Installation of the electrical appliance is simple - integration into the heating system is not required. Some models can be used to heat the hallway, corridor, pantry or any other utility room in an apartment or country house.

When choosing a heater, pay attention to its power - it should correspond to the area of the room. If the heated towel rail is chosen correctly, the bathroom will always be dry and warm, and the energy consumption will be low. In Ukraine, heated towel rails from leading global manufacturers can be purchased on the company's website Hygge Family.

In this article, we will tell you how to choose a heated towel rail based on the size of the bathroom, and give an example of calculating the optimal power. This information will help you choose an effective and economical model from a variety of offers.

Two types of electric heated towel rails

According to the type of heating element, electric heated towel rails are cable and heating element. The former are considered dry heated towel rails, the latter - wet. It is impossible to determine the type by appearance - the differences lie in the internal structure.

In cable devices, the body is heated by an electric cable. Inside the wet-type models there is a heating element that heats the liquid circulating in the body - water, technical oil or antifreeze.

Cable heated towel rails heat up faster. The maximum temperature is 55-60 °C, the power is from 30 to 160 W. They consume less electricity than heating element devices, they do an excellent job of drying towels, but the heat output is not enough to fully heat the bathroom.

The power of heating element models is several times higher - from 300 to 2000 W, since more electricity is required to heat the liquid coolant and thick walls of the steel body. They heat up more slowly, but retain heat longer. The maximum heating temperature of the coolant is 80-90 °C. Wet-type heated towel rails are suitable for fully heating the room, and not just for drying textiles. The main thing is to choose a device so that its power corresponds to the area of the bathroom.

Which heated towel rail is more economical? An example of calculating energy consumption

To find out how much it will cost to operate a specific heated towel rail, you need to calculate the amount of energy it consumes per month. Let's compare the energy consumption of cable and heating element models from the same manufacturer.

Let's take as an example a cable model of the elite brand ENERGY H2 65X40 cm with a power consumption of 34 W.

Electric heated towel rail ENERGY H2 65X40

Let's calculate how much electricity the device consumes per month. Multiply 34 W by the number of hours per day, and then by the number of days per month:

34 W * 24 h * 30 days = 24480 W * h = 24.5 (kW * h)

To determine the payment for electricity for the operation of this heated towel rail per month, you need to multiply 24.5 kW * h by the tariff. If we take the cost of a kilowatt-hour of 4 rubles, then the monthly operation of the device will cost 24.5 * 4 = 98 rubles.

The power of the same heating element model ENERGY is 300 W. Let's make similar calculations:

300 W * 24 h * 30 days. = 216,000 W * h = 216 (kW * h)

Let's take into account that the heating element towel warmer ENERGY is equipped with a thermostat, so it spends half the time in operation. This means that the obtained result must be divided by 2:

216 kW * h / 2 = 108 (kW * h) - consumption

a heating element heated towel rail with a thermostat consumes per month.

108 * 4 = 432 (rubles) — this is how much it costs to operate a heating element heater.

Calculations show that the cable model is 4 times more economical than the heating element model, but it also has fewer functions — it is used only for drying towels. A heating element heater will provide warmth and dryness in the bathroom.

How to calculate the optimal power

To select an electric heater suitable for the room, you need to make a preliminary calculation. You can calculate the optimal power taking into account the area or volume of the bathroom — specific formulas are used for each case.

The standard formula for calculating the power of a heater based on the area of the room is that 100 W of energy is required to heat 1 sq. m. For example, the optimal power of a heated towel rail for a bathroom with an area of 5 sq. m — 500 W: 5*100 W= 500 (W)

You can use another formula — taking into account the volume of the room:

40 W per 1 cubic meter is required for basic heating;
for additional heating — 25 W per 1 cubic meter.

For basic heating of a 5 sq. m bathroom with a ceiling height of 2.5 m, you will need a heater with a power of 500 W: 5*2.5*40 W=500 (W). If the ceiling height in a room of the same area is 2.7 m, then you will need a heater with a higher power — 540 W: 5*2.7*40 W=540 (W).

If the bathroom is heated by underfloor heating, you can take an economical cable towel warmer or a heating element with a lower power (300-350 W) for additional heating: 5*2.7*25 W=337.5 (W).

Correct calculation will reduce the cost of operating electrical equipment without reducing the level of living comfort.

Energy saving devices

Installing an electric heated towel rail means monthly expenses for its operation. The presence of devices in the kit that control the operation of the electrical appliance - a timer or thermostat - helps to reduce energy costs.

The timer turns on the device automatically at a certain time, for example, in the morning when waking up or when residents return home from work.

The thermostat turns off the device when the temperature has reached the set parameters.

Due to automatic regulation, the heated towel rail spends 50% less time in operation - this is a significant saving of electricity. Models with thermostatic regulation are a third more expensive, but they do not consume electricity unnecessarily, so they pay for themselves over time.

Safe connection and installation methods

Electric heated towel rails are connected to the power grid in an open or hidden way. The open method is simply plugging the device into a socket. The socket in the bathroom must be moisture-proof - have a protective cover and grounding.

When installing hidden wiring, the supply cable is hidden in grooves made in the plaster. The connection must be made through a protective device - RCD. The power grid must have grounding, so the wiring is done with three wires, one of which is grounding.

According to the installation method, electric heated towel rails are wall-mounted or floor-mounted. Wall-mounted — the most common type, they are hung on the wall with brackets. Floor-mounted ones are not fixed, they are easy to move from one room to another or move around the bathroom.

Recommendations for selection

Cable electric heated towel rails heat up quickly, but are designed specifically for drying textiles — their power is not enough to heat a room.

Heating element models heat up more slowly, but they can be used as a full-fledged heater for the bathroom. They cost about 30% more than similar cable models. The cost of the device can be increased by the presence of a thermostat, timer, and the elite brand.

You can determine what type of heated towel rail - cable or with a heating element - by their power, indicated in the description of technical characteristics. The power of cable ones is within 30-160 watts. Heating element models - 300-2000 watts.

The optimal power of a heated towel rail is calculated individually for a specific bathroom. The standard formula for calculation: 100 watts of energy are required to heat 1 sq. m of room area.

You can use another formula to calculate the optimal power of the heater: 40-50 watts of energy are required to heat 1 cubic meter of room volume.

To optimize energy consumption, you should buy a heated towel rail with a thermostat.

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