Russell griffiths Posted December 27, 2020 Share Posted December 27, 2020 Happy Christmas peeps. Im looking for towel rails at the moment and most of what I like are water based and run off the heating system, I’m looking for electric ones, now I have seen various heating elements that are used in electric rails. Question is, are these elements compatible with most towel rails and what is the liquid that is inside the rails. Anybody done this or know the score. Ta very much. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Onoff Posted December 27, 2020 Share Posted December 27, 2020 Water, inhibitor and leave some room for expansion isn't it? 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Russell griffiths Posted December 27, 2020 Author Share Posted December 27, 2020 3 minutes ago, Onoff said: Water, inhibitor and leave some room for expansion isn't it? I don’t know, I thought it was a type of oil. When I swapped out a blown element, it was definitely an oily substance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gav_P Posted December 27, 2020 Share Posted December 27, 2020 I’d assumed they were oil filled too... no idea why I thought that... maybe because they are similar to the little oil filled rads you can get for about £20 in a supermarket. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Onoff Posted December 27, 2020 Share Posted December 27, 2020 (edited) 12 minutes ago, Russell griffiths said: I don’t know, I thought it was a type of oil. When I swapped out a blown element, it was definitely an oily substance. I thought you were on about converting an existing "water" one. I know you can get oil filled, ready to go ones and indeed buy thermal oil. Edited December 27, 2020 by Onoff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bonner Posted December 27, 2020 Share Posted December 27, 2020 I have used towel radiators with electric elements connected to central heating and stand alone. Stand alone rads were filled with water, with or without inhibitor (sealed system so corrosion won’t be an issue). Leave an air space for expansion as mentioned by @Onoff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Russell griffiths Posted December 27, 2020 Author Share Posted December 27, 2020 Not converting an existing one , but water powered ones are more readily available in more sizes and styles. So im thinking are they all manufactured as a shell and then the element added to just a few as the majority are water powered. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterW Posted December 27, 2020 Share Posted December 27, 2020 Depends...! Some are oil filled but they just use cheap silicone oil. You can use that but my weapon of choice is car antifreeze - the pink one - as it’s ridiculously cheap in Home Bargains and works as an inhibitor too. Just stick the elements in, use the breather plug in the top and then buy a pack of rad plugs for the other holes. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vijay Posted December 27, 2020 Share Posted December 27, 2020 Just a clueless question, but could the reason that oil is used anything to do with expansion? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gone West Posted December 27, 2020 Share Posted December 27, 2020 1 hour ago, Onoff said: Water, inhibitor and leave some room for expansion isn't it? That is exactly what is in mine. IIRC the instructions say turn on and when it's warm fit the top plug to allow for expansion. Mine are all Geyser. https://www.geyser.co.uk/heated-towel-rails 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Russell griffiths Posted December 27, 2020 Author Share Posted December 27, 2020 So between all the brain power of the forum, if I choose the towel rails I want we will come up with a liquid to fill them and an element to heat them. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterW Posted December 27, 2020 Share Posted December 27, 2020 Yup but they have to have a vertical column for the heating element to go into. Horizontal ones don’t work as well. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joe90 Posted December 27, 2020 Share Posted December 27, 2020 My towel radiators came with water/inhibitor already in them, turn upside down, remove blank and insert element if your choice. Beware, without thermostats mine got dangerously hot (scalding even), I swapped them for lower power ones after a while. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JFDIY Posted December 27, 2020 Share Posted December 27, 2020 (edited) I'm running the terma MOA elements (cheapest when bought from screwfix) these have built in thermostat and can be adjusted from inside the room as the controls are on the element. Also has a 2hr button if you just want to turn them on occasionally. I have mine wired via a timer and even though they are an electronic unit they remember the previous heat setting so next time they come on its the same as last time. Pretty good for the extra £25 or so. Mine are 'duel fuel' with a Tee piece on the CH, but don't need to be. Edited December 27, 2020 by JFDIY 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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