The heated towel rail or radiator is a very luxurious item for any bathroom. There are various designs to choose from, like the simple ladder in white or chrome to a more styled and designer radiator. They can be fitted in the same way as a normal domestic radiator. The best and simplest way to fit a new towel radiator is to fit it in place of a radiator of the same size. This means that you dont need to drain the whole system, or lift flooring and skirting boards. You just turn off the heating and isolate the old radiator by closing the valves on both sides before taking it off the wall. The new radiator will be connected to the pipes already there. A Feltham Plumber can fit a chrome heated towel rail.


Take off the old radiator and brackets and fill the holes. The wall must be strong enough to hold the weight of the towel radiator when it is full of water. Allow at least 20cm from the bottom rail to the floor.
Fit in the bleed valve and blanking plug of the new towel radiator. Try and protect the chrome, perhaps with a clean cloth and tighten with an adjustable spanner.
Line up the radiator to the pipes and mark the fixing positions of its new brackets.
For a tiled surface, fit a horizontal strip of masking tape to the tiles at both of the fixing positions. This makes it easier to make a pencil mark, and helps to stop the drill bit from slipping. Feltham Plumbers understand how valves operate.

Make sure that the bracket positions are lined up and level, and no hidden pipes or cables are in the wall, then you can drill. Take off the masking tape, fit the wallplugs, and screw the bracket bases to the wall with the screws and washers supplied. Try not to overtighten, as this will crack the tiles.
Fit the bracket stems to the radiator, and put the assembled radiator on the bracket bases, using the manufacter’s instructions. Confirm that the radiator is level. Do not fully tighten the screws for the bracket yet, just in case you need to remove the radiator again before the job is complete.


Always Measure the dimensions of a room where you are going to fit the heated towel rail, and then log onto the internet and look for something called a ‘heat requirement calculator’. These sites an online heat calculator so you can work out your needs before you begin the installation of your heated rail. As well as the dimensions of the room there is also a requirement to enter some more details regarding the room, such as do you have double glazing or in which direction it faces? This result will be a measure of the Kilowatt (kW) or British thermal unit (Btu) output you will need from your radiators. Bear in mind that this is a minimum value, so opt for the rail that will give a slightly higher output, especially if you are going to cover it as it is designed, with lots of towels.

Straight types of valves are normally used for a heated towel rail. This is because the valves will connect underneath as opposed to the traditional angled radiator valves that fit on the side of the radiator.
When the pipework is coming out of the wall you could stick with angled valves.
Chrome heated towel rails can produce far less heat than an equivalent sized white type of rail and these towel rails are usually set slightly higher from the floor than the 15 cm of a traditional radiator this is for looks rather than heating reasons.
You will need to adjust the central heating pipes in order to fit a heated towel rail. These heated towel rails are just decorative radiators, and the design and finish of the towel rail means that they will only deliver a small percentage of the heat that a radiator of similar size can provide.

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