[KDon]

I was asking about this, you just mean the regular ones?

Sorry Don 😉 Just your standard 7ft chrome ladder style towel rail with 33 cross tubes that is heated from central heating water or in the summer, there is an electric element in the bottom. It’s surprisingly effective in drying clothes and warming the room, but the bathroom is large so a second radiator is required.
The other4 bathrooms are all en suites with underfloor electric heating and a similar vertical radiator for towels etc. 👌

 

[KDon]

“You can't put 1kW because the thermal cutout will operate”.

I think you missed the joke Donald. 😉

 

[Parkwood]

Mine the sole heater in the room is 750w

programmed to be on the frost setting all day, eco setting overnight and full on in the morning. Temp graph and programme chart screen grabs attached. The adjacent bedroom is only heated by a 2kw oil filled rad.

 

[donald]

Mine the sole heater in the room is 750w

That'd be its max power, not the power it actually draws, once it has reached a thermal equilibrium with the room.

After it has absorbed 750W for however-long, it'll settle into burning X Watts, which is what it is actually capable of warming its environment by.

It can only 'burn' as many Watts as the air cooling around it can achieve.

The power of a heater in equilibrium with its surroundings is not governed by its maximum power, but by how much thermal power it can dispense.

I think there is a technical literacy issue here. A bare pipe will be very limited in the amount of thermal power it can generate. A rail with a wet towel could well absorb the full 750W because it will be experiencing evaporative cooling, and once the towel is dry will probably drop to lower than just the bare tube (because it is now thermally insulated).

 

[Parkwood]

That'd be its max power, not the power it actually draws, once it has reached a thermal equilibrium with the room.

After it has absorbed 750W for however-long, it'll settle into burning X Watts, which is what it is actually capable of warming its environment by.

It can only 'burn' as many Watts as the air cooling around it can achieve.

The power of a heater in equilibrium with its surroundings is not governed by its maximum power, but by how much thermal power it can dispense.

I think there is a technical literacy issue here. A bare pipe will be very limited in the amount of thermal power it can generate. A rail with a wet towel could well absorb the full 750W because it will be experiencing evaporative cooling, and once the towel is dry will probably drop to lower than just the bare tube (because it is now thermally insulated).

You have lost me sorry all I know is the thing heats the room toasty and warms and drys the towels so I shall continue to always have one as the en suite heater.

 

[KDon]

I do know that our chrome towel rail is way too hot to hold your hand on it, but of course that would vary for everyone depending on how hot your CH boiler is set to.

 

[ElectricBeagle]

That'd be its max power, not the power it actually draws, once it has reached a thermal equilibrium with the room.

After it has absorbed 750W for however-long, it'll settle into burning X Watts, which is what it is actually capable of warming its environment by.

It can only 'burn' as many Watts as the air cooling around it can achieve.

The power of a heater in equilibrium with its surroundings is not governed by its maximum power, but by how much thermal power it can dispense.

I think there is a technical literacy issue here. A bare pipe will be very limited in the amount of thermal power it can generate. A rail with a wet towel could well absorb the full 750W because it will be experiencing evaporative cooling, and once the towel is dry will probably drop to lower than just the bare tube (because it is now thermally insulated).

I don't have an electric towel rail, but I have the heating element for one. The thermostat in that only cares about the water temperature. A 5 C. change in temperature of the bathroom air might only result in a 10% change in water temperature without a thermostat,. Depending on the design, the thermostat might never operate, or have a mostly on duty cycle., making it an almost constant power device.