A heated towel rack in your bathroom will provide you with warm towels year-round and keep your bathroom warm during the colder months. Towel warmers for a bathroom can be either electric or hydronic. If you want to install a towel heater during your next bathroom remodeling project, consider where you want to install it and your available power sources.
A bathroom remodeling designer with Hunter Kitchen & Bath in Bryn Mawr, PA, describes the different types of towel heater options and which to consider if you want to use your towel heater as an alternative heater in your bathroom. Keep reading to learn more about how to get a toasty towel and a warm bathroom.
Types of Electric Towel Warmers
There are two types of electric towel warmers, differing mainly in their locations and power sources. Choosing between them is more a matter of taste, space availability, pricing, and installation.
Basic models can cost as little as $100. Higher-end towel racks can cost upwards of $500, with luxury models running over $7,000. The more expensive electric towel warmers for a bathroom come in several stunning finishes and may sport simple digital features or full smart-home capabilities. Said features include a built-in timer, Bluetooth connectivity, and finishes in chrome, copper, or bronze.
Wall-mounted Heated Towel Rack
A wall-mounted heated towel rack gets its power either from an outlet or hardwiring through the wall. Most people prefer to hardwire their mounted towel racks so there are no visible wires to an outlet. Additionally, there may not be an outlet close enough to the location where you want to mount your heated towel rack, making it essential to have a professional install a hardwired model.
Freestanding Towel Warmers
Nearly all freestanding towel warmers connect to an outlet with a visible cord. While they usually resemble a rail, some come in a smaller bucket model. Be aware that if you opt for a bucket model towel warmer, it may not heat your bathroom as well as a rack or rail model.
What Is a Hydronic Towel Warmer?
Where electric towel warmers use internal cables to heat the bars of the rack or rail, hydronic towel warmers use hot water, just like a radiator in your home. If you already have a radiator system in your bathroom, you can replace it with a floor-mounted hydronic towel warmer.
What Kind of Towel Warmer Is Best To Warm a Bathroom?
Hydronic towel warmers are the best option to warm a bathroom using a towel rack. Know that your bathroom size and layout, as well as where you install your heated towel rack, can affect how well it heats your bathroom.
While hydronic towel warmers are the better option for bathroom heating, they are often more expensive and cost more to have a plumber install than having an electrician install an electric towel warmer. Additionally, electric towel warmers offer some bathroom heating while providing warm towels.
Large Bathroom? No Wall Space? Other Bathroom Heating Options
If you find that a heated towel rack can’t do the job, you have other options when planning your bathroom remodeling project. You could also choose to install subfloor heating if you intend to change your bathroom flooring during the renovation. Subfloor heating works well with tile and stone floors, which are popular in bathrooms.
Another option is baseboard heating, which utilizes your boiler and radiator system for zoned heating. You may also install an infrared baseboard heater system since you might only need bathroom heating in the colder months rather than year-round.
You could install a ductless mini-split HVAC system, which also offers zoned heating and cooling. If your bathroom gets too stuffy during the summer after a hot shower steams up the room, a mini-split ductless system is another fantastic option.
However, if you have a smaller bathroom or just want to step out of the shower or bath and wrap up in a warm towel, one of the heated towel racks mentioned above should be more than capable of meeting your needs.
Contact Our Bathroom Remodeling Designers at Hunter Kitchen & Bath in Bryn Mawr, PA
We hope this article gave you some practical ideas about incorporating towel warmers for a bathroom renovation to provide you with toasty towels and keep your bathroom warm. Call us at Hunter Kitchen & Bath in Bryn Mawr, PA, at 484-872-8801, or contact us today to set up your free in-home consultation for your bathroom renovation today.