off season towel rack heating

clammy

Just trying to come up with a way to keep those towel racks warm durning the warmer weather .I was thinking of using a small electric hot water heater with a pump and tying it into the existing loop and just run it off a outdoor sensor to bring the pump and tank on when weather is warm enough for my boiler to be off on WWSD.Just wondering how you pros would keep a HO happy and there towels warm while your boiler off on wwsd .thanks for any input peace aqnd good luck clammy

Mark Custis

You could

run the hot water to the shower through the towel warmer.

Uni R_2

That...

Or tie it in through a DHW recirc loop.

singh

I would think running a towel warmer thru domestic hot water lines or re-circ line would need a HX.

I am also looking for some good ideas as I have four towel warmers to install on one job currently.

I'm thinking TRV on each , dedicated constant circ pump for towel unit , homerun and control via outdoor sensor. Maybe a mixing valve as other zones are hi-temp HWBB.

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Mark Eatherton

Why mess with hydronics at all....

I know, I know, sacrelig on this web site to say that but remember, I'm a Watt Head now :-)

But seriously, why not put in an electric towel warmer, and be done with it.

Nice glass towel warmer here http://www.qualitybath.com/product.asp?ID=49637&gclid=CPa9yrif6pkCFRwpawodbk_FQw

OR more conventional warmers here.
http://www.thehardwarehut.com/bath_towel_warmers.php

I'm putting an electric towel warmer in to Hydronicahh...

ME

MW_2

towel warmer

You could tie your towel warmer into the boiler side of your indirect water heater if you are using one. This way the towel warmer will heat up any time the shower is used, and this happens to be when most of us use towels. I'm going to do this at my residence when I have time.

Mars_3

Not a good prospect.

Most manufacturers do not alow steel panell radiators to be used in open systems. the oxygen in the domestic water will kill a steel towel warmer. I have a house that I did with one and I put a simple wall switch next to the towel warmer, you want it hot flip the switch. When you are done turn it off. Rudementary, yes simple yes, did it work yes.

MW_2

The boiler side of an indirect water heater is not an open system. No domestic water will come in contact with the towel warmer using my plan. The indirect will call for heat at some point during the course of a typical shower. When this happens the boiler will heat the domestic water indirectly and the towel warmer directly. Stick a non-electric thermostatic radiator valve on it so that it can be regulated and your problem is solved. This also eliminates the WWSD problem.

mw

singh

good idea

however what needs to be known , is the towel the sole source of heat in the bathroom. And if so ,tying it off the indirect will leave it to come on only once or twice a day during heating season.

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clammy

good ideas

great ideas but it's a steel buderus towel rack so all the fresh water will probalby rust it out and also it's hook up to a tru flow manifold ,it is not the main source of heat for that bath room and does not have a trv it seems my supplier could not seem to get me the correct straight trv body and the isolation valve either but i have a supplier who now finally is starting to deal with oventrop so i'll see how that goes .thanks for the ideas peae and good luk clammy

hot_rod

dual fueled towel warmers

I went electric on my last towel project, it provided a bit more portability.

I found a source for compoents to built you own heated towel warmers, see below.

You can build, or buy ( I think Myson offers electric/ hydronic types) towel warmers that are both hydronic, and have a small 150- 300W electrical element for off season warming. this gives you the best of both worlds.

I also added a timer to the electric warmer in my bath, no need to run it 24/7

www.towelradiator.net

hr

tim smith

We have used Myson's and they are all brass, we had the plumbers

run the recirc through them. Works great. If it is a steel bar then use small flat plate and pump it but this gets kinda cumbersome because of expansion tank, relief etc on the towel bar side but only way unless you have indirect and do like other was saying off the boiler side of indirect.

Unknown

by far the easiest way to do this, is just to use an electric towel warmer in the first place.

If it's primary heat, that makes it harder of course. But even then.. it's just a bathroom. You won't send anyone to the poorhouse there.

the tie in to give a manual, high temp override to a towel warmer is often not worth the complexity, IMHO, especially if it's an otherwise low temperature system.

Mark Eatherton

A work of art....

I'm guessing, that if you had t put a dollar amount on that piece, that it would be well over 2K... Labor of love eh...

Beautiful.

ME