Recent projects - DF

Dan Foley1

Here are three towel warmers recently installed. The two Myson nickel towel warmers were installed on the same job. Also included are pics of a radiant wall using Wirsbo Quik-Trak and a radiant floor using Quik-Trak. -DF

antman

Controls ?

Have never had a chance to install hydronic towel warmers, been looking to include them in my radiant proposals for baths. Was wondering what controls the flo to towel warmers, what temps do they normaly run at, and can they run all year round.

Thanks, Ant

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heatboy

Heating or potable..........

water running through them, Dan. If you are running potable water, do you just valve them in the re-circ with diverter Ts? As always, you get all the cool jobs! First beer is on me at The Gathering, OK?

hb

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Dan Foley1

Towel Warmers

All three of these towel warmers run off of the heating system. I pipe them as a separate loop off of the radiant floor manifold and throttle the balancing valve to control flow. They operate at the same temperature as the radiant floor (100-120*). -DF

antman

Sorry Dan to be a pest, I don't understand what controls the loop(s)for the towel warmers, I take it you must have zone valves on the manifold? is there a control on the towel warmers themselves.And if not If the radiant zones are off i'm led to believe there would be no flo to the towel warmers, is that correct?

Thanks again, Ant

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Dan Foley1

Clarification

The master bath is a separate zone with in floor radiant heat. It has its own thermostat and circulator pump. The bath had two loops of pex in the mudset floor. Instead of using an M2 manifold I used an M3 manifold and piped the third loop to the towel warmer. Since this loop was much shorter than the in floor loops, it was necessary to throttle the balancing valve for even flow through the loops.

This particular project had an outdoor reset control so it would not be possible to operate the towel warmer during the summer. Hope this helps. -DF

Unknown

Selling (High End) towel warmers


Hey Dan,

Do you figure into your heat load calculation for these racks? Or are they usually sold to your customers as an upgrade or added to the existing tubing lengths determined beforehand and concidered to be supplimental heat only? You know, FLUFF

Ever had any experience runing these off the potable hot water supply from a tub or shower?

How are you able to sell these (High-End) products to your clients? Please share your secret as I have trouble selling even the smallest white powder coated towel racks from RTI and I know those nickel jobbers cost as much as my snowmobile.

Love the Quick Track wall too.
Nice job.
Well done Dan :-)

Pipedream

Dan Foley1

Thanks

for the nice comments, Gary. I have never run potable water through a towel warmer but I believe you can with a Myson since it is all brass. I do not figure the towel warmers into the heat calcs as they are usually added as change-orders after the design is complete. For a large master bath such as this, the additional heat is minimal and does not cause overheating. Reset helps as well.

I really do not have any magic sales secrets. I just make sure to present the homeowner (not the architect or GC) will all the options. I certainly do not sell a Myson nickel towel bar (much less two!) on every job but I make them available on every bid. Usually it is the Mrs. who makes the decision and decides it is a "must have" item. Keep trying! Good luck. -DF

Riles

Never know where your customer places

value. Don't get caught thinking with the wife and five kids I could never afford it. Your customer may place much more value on some things. They always surprise me how they have to have certain things.

I have seen Dan work his magic many times, but first and foremost it is simply that he always conveys these options where appropriate; towel warmers, radiant wall in shower, snow melt, etc., etc. And often the homeowner says, "wow I didn't know I could do that". If they are not aware of it, they can't say yes.

At the same time, The Washington D.C. marketplace is "The Land of Opportunity". A lot of people have the financial means to do whatever they want. They just need to know the option exists. Many marketplaces are not as full of homeowners with loads of disposable/discretionary income. Some of the counties surrounding D.C. are annually ranked in the top 5 in the U.S.

Don't ever be afraid to propose options.

Riles

Radiant Bench

Wait a minute, I think Heatboy actually sold the first Myson Radiant Bench. That certainly was an option he had to make someone aware of.

hr

You could

set up the towel warmers as a seperate zone. This, however would present a challange for the boiler to handle such a small load. Setting up a short cycling issue. Another reason to add a buffer tank.

I run my bathroom floors with a simple setpoint control in the mechanical room. The sensor is attached to the bottom of the bathroom floor. The towel warmers are part of the floor zone. I set the "summer" floor temperature in the high seventies. Come cold weather I set the temperature in the low 80s. I do have an indirect tank connected to my boiler, as a buffer and final step of my DHW, so it does usually run a bit every day.

There are companies that suggest running the towel warmers on the DHW recirc line also. But then you are back to the cross connection issue, possibly. Towels draped over a heated bar really cut down on the heat added to the space, but located in a small bathroom a towel warmer running at 130-140 could overheat the room without some sort of zone and thermostatic control.

Pipe the warmer as a seperate zone and you will have some flexability to get it working to your comfort level.

hot rod

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Unknown

Potable DHW & towel warmers

Have we ever or recieved any feedback as to running the (potable side) DHW through a towel warmer then onto a tub & shower or whirlpool bath?

I think that this can be done if you are only concerned with warming the towel. If only for an after tubby or shower warm-fuzzy and nothing else. I have heard that it has been done but know of nobody personally that has this piped them with this type of flow path. It seems way too simple and I'm wondering if it will work.

Pipedream

DanHolohan

most of these are made of steel

and rust would be the challenge.

Got your check for the Gathering today, Gary. Thanks. See you in November!