When choosing a heated towel rail for your bathroom there is one major consideration - modern towel rails or traditional towel rails. Although this is mainly a personal preference, the design of the rest of your bathroom will play a role in the decision.

Other than the aesthetics there are some other important factors to consider when choosing your heated towel rail.

• The first of these is how the towel rail is going to be heated.

There are three ways in which the towel rail can be heated:

o The first by central heating the towel rail, which is where the radiator runs off the central heating.

o The second choice is an electric towel rail, which uses a heating element to heat the radiator, this can be turned on and off at the flick of a switch.

o The third choice is to have a dual fuel heated towel rail, this uses both the central heating system to heat the bathroom radiator in the winter and an electrical element to heat the towel rail in the summer when the central heating is usually turned off.

• The second important consideration for a heated towel rail is the material used for its construction. There are generally 3 material choices here - steel, brass and stainless steel. The differences being cost, longevity and the heating output of the radiator. The steel towel rails (with chrome, gold, nickel or painted finishes) tend to be the cheapest option, followed by brass towel rails (with chrome, gold, nickel or painted finishes), with the stainless steel towel rails (polished stainless steel or brushed stainless steel finishes) being the most expensive. In the longevity stakes, steel towel rails are the losers - this is because by nature steel corrodes easily in a way that brass and stainless steel radiators won’t.

• The heating output of a towel rail should also be considered. Chrome, nickel and gold plated towel rails (whether it’s a steel or brass base radiator) have their heat outputs reduced by up to 20% due to the electro plating finish. This is compared to the painted and stainless steel versions which offer a more efficient heat output.

• Another important consideration is whether the towel rail is going to be the primary heat source for your bathroom or solely used as a towel warmer. You will also need to think about the number of towels you will have on the towel rail – towels will absorb the heat rather than radiating it into your bathroom. If you are planning to use your towel rail as the primary heat source then the surface area of the towel rail should be large in order give off more heat. To maximise the heat output, you might want to consider a column heating radiator built into the towel rail

Summary

• You have a choice between central heating towel rails, electric only towel rails and dual fuel towel rails.

• Steel towel rails may corrode more than brass and stainless steel towel rails.

• Chrome, Nickel and Gold electro plating finishes reduce heat output by up to 20% compared to painted towel rails and stainless steel towel rails.

• If your towel rail is the primary heat source in your bathroom, you should give some thought to ensuring that you choose one that is big enough to perform both functions.