Electric towel dryer

Returning from work on a cold winter evening it is so pleasant to get warm under a hot shower or take a warm bath, and then wipe with a warm fluffy towel and wrap up in a cozy bathrobe. After a stressful day at work, bathing is like nothing else that helps to restore strength and mental equilibrium. These procedures are much more pleasant if the bath is kept at a comfortable temperature and the towels remain dry and warm.

Heating the bathroom is one of the functions of a towel rail. Often it is the only source of heat in the room, so you should choose it as responsibly as possible.

The towel radiator combines several functions. In addition to heating, it is used in the role of a dryer for towels and small linen, a towel holder, and also carries some aesthetic load, for example, curved metal pipes will look great in the bathroom in the style of high-tech.

All this makes a towel radiator an extremely useful thing, without which no bathroom can do without. It only remains to decide which type of towel rail is right for you. From this article you can learn more about electric models of towel rails.

About other types and and installation of towel rails Read our other article.

Currently, the plumbing market offers two types of towel rails - water and electric. The water towel dryers have been existing in our apartments for decades; the electric ones appeared relatively recently.

The main advantage of electric towel rails over water towel rails is that they do not depend on the water system. For owners of private homes with their own water supply system it does not play a role, but the inhabitants of urban apartments during the summer preventive maintenance are not only without hot water, but also without heating in the bathroom. Since hot water outage periods in the summer range from a few weeks to two or three months, this can cause a lot of inconvenience.

Electric towel rails, in turn, depend on the power supply system. But since periods of power outages in homes rarely last longer than two to three hours, it does not particularly affect the quality of life.

The second advantage is that it is much easier to install an electric towel radiator than a water one. No professional skills are required for this, some models are simply enough to plug into a socket.

Among other things, the electric towel radiator you can turn on and off whenever you want. If you don't need it for a while, you can turn it off, thereby saving energy. Another nice moment: most models of electric towel rails are much cheaper than water ones.

There are two types of electric towel rails for the bathtub: liquid, also called oil, and cable. Liquid towel warmers use oil or antifreeze as a heat transfer medium, which is heated from below with a heating element (tubular electric heater). In the cable heating element is an electric cable.

For the manufacture of bodies of electric towel dryers only high-quality and durable materials that are not prone to corrosion are used. Most often it is stainless steel, less often - ferrous metals or brass. The latter option requires especially careful maintenance.

As mentioned above, there are two types of electric towel rails in stores today. Let's dwell on each of them in more detail.

Liquid towel dryers resemble water heaters in form. Most often they are made in the form of a ladder or have an S-shape. They take up quite a lot of space and have a lot of weight. In addition, it is a static design, which has no rotating elements. The power of a liquid towel dryer is from 300 to 600 watts. They heat up to 70 degrees, quickly filling the room with heat, but, at the same time, their energy consumption is quite high.

There are much more requirements to this type of towel dryers than to the cable models. Firstly, a complete tightness of the construction is required, and secondly - grounding. That is why liquid towel dryers usually cost more to customers. The disadvantages of these towel rails can also include some difficulties arising during installation. They are associated with the fact that the heating element must necessarily be located at the bottom of the structure. In addition, you can connect the liquid towel dryer to the 220 V network only in the external way.

Cable electric dryers are characterized by a great variety of shapes and sizes. Even the bulkiest model will weigh considerably less than a liquid towel dryer. Cable electric dryers come in wall-mounted and floor-mounted models.

You can find sliding designs or models with rotating or swiveling elements. The number of heated tubes in each model is different. It is important to remember that the more tubes, the warmer it will be in the bathroom.

The power of such towel warmers is not high, it is from 60 to 120 watts, therefore, they consume much less electricity, while heating quickly and evenly. It is worth noting that they cool down just as quickly, so in terms of energy savings liquid heaters are more profitable.

To the advantages of cable towel heaters also belongs safety of use - there is no need for grounding and there is a possibility of covert connection to the network 220V.

The functionality of the electric towel dryer is not great. It is an uncomplicated device that can dry towels and small clothes. Floor models and towel warmers of larger sizes can be used as a dryer for linen. However, when buying an electric towel dryer, it is worth paying attention to the presence of additional functions. They can boast only more expensive models.

If you decide to install an electric towel rail in the bathroom, take care of safety beforehand. First of all, carefully study the instruction manual of the device and try to keep it for the whole time of use.

If necessary, replace the outlet to which the towel radiator will be connected. It must have IP65 protection against dust and water droplets. The outlet must be grounded. The electric heated towel rail should be installed as far away as possible from sources of splashing water. Ideally, it should be no closer than 60 cm from the bathtub, sink and shower enclosure.

It will not be difficult to install an electric towel radiator yourself. To begin with, decide on the place. It should be at such a distance from the bathtub so that the splashes of water do not reach it, but at the same time, you can easily reach the towels.

Having decided on the place, drill holes in the wall and install the brackets on which the device will be held. This applies to wall-mounted models of towel rails.

The price range for electric towel warmers in stores is enormous. The most budgetary will cost you less than 3 thousand rubles, and the price of the most expensive models exceeds 300 thousand.

In the medium price category, the following companies producing electric towel heaters have proven themselves well: "Margaroli", "DeLonghi", "Energy", "Heatex", "Elghansa". Prices for the products of these manufacturers are from 10 to 70 thousand rubles, depending on the technical characteristics, size and functions of the model.

For about the same money you can buy an electric towel rail of domestic production. Most often, buyers pay attention to the product of the firms "Sunerja" and "Parus".