How Long Do Electric Towel Rails Take To Heat Up?

A lot of factors come into play when you want to gauge or evaluate how long electric towel rails take to heat up. First, the rate of heating up depends on the materials from which the rails are made as well as the wattage rating of the rails themselves.

In addition, the time taken is also dependent on the temperature of the surrounding at the time concerned. Therefore, any consideration of the time needed should be based on these factors.

So, How Long Do Electric Towel Rails Take To Heat Up? On a general note, electric rails can take between 5 and 30 minutes to heat up completely.

Electric towel rails add some warmth to the room where they are kept in addition to heating the towels on them. All things being equal, electric towel rails are meant to specifically heat the towels but not the whole room.

Conversely, most of these rails heat up pretty quickly, usually beginning to warm up in just about 5 minutes and reaching their maximum temperatures in about say 30 minutes.

A towel rail takes much less time to heat up than say a radiator, for instance. Therefore, whenever you turn on the central heating device, it can take up to about 15 minutes for the rails to heat up and reach their full temperatures.

Other types of electric rails can even warm up completely in a mere 5 minutes depending on several things. Fortunately, electric rails do not consume much power.

They use mainly about 100 to 200 watts only for every hour, which is pretty low indeed. They also give out much less energy or heat compared to a conventional radiator because they are smaller in size and hence radiate less heat too.

It takes a regular radiator about 10 minutes to heat up to its optimum temperature if the central heating is switched on.

Other notable factors that can affect how long the process of warming up electric towel rails takes are the sizes of their elements, fluid levels in those types that are fluid-filled, and the materials they are made of as well.

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What is an electrical towel rail?

An electrical towel rail is a heating device that serves to keep your towels warm at all times. They operate from the main electrical supply line of the public grid.

There are two types of electric towel rails. One, there is the most modern model, which has a built-in thermostat and a timer.

These types of rails are fully adjustable such that you can easily vary their temperatures without any difficulty. The second type is the non-thermostatic towel rails that maintain only a single temperature.

In conclusion of the discussion on this question, electric towel rails not only warm up the towels, but they can in some cases even heat the entire rooms where they are kept as well.

What is the usefulness of an electrical towel rail?

Electrical towel rails serve primarily to keep your towels constantly warm or heated bearably, especially in climes that are excessively cold or even freezing.

They operate on very low wattage, therefore, they do not affect your energy consumption significantly. In addition to heating your towels, electric towel rails can also warm up the rooms where they are kept too, whether in the bedroom, bathroom, or sitting room.

Why does the electrical towel rail take long to heat up?

Many factors determine how long an electrical towel rail takes to heat up. One, the time taken will depend on the type of materials from which the rails are manufactured as well as their sizes too.

Another important factor in this regard is the temperature of the surroundings too.  Therefore, when it is cold, it takes longer to warm, and shorter when it is hotter.

The type of towel rail you have is also important because the newer thermostatic models are faster to warm up than the older non-thermostatic models. Therefore, your towel rail will take time to heat up depending on all the factors mentioned above.

Does the electric towel rail consume much power and electricity?

No, the electric towel rail does not consume much electricity to operate like most other gadgets in the house which include the radiators or even the heating coil devices we use daily.

Although the rate of their power consumption depends on their types and sizes, they still use negligible energy and hence add little or nothing to your energy consumption bill.

In most cases, no matter the type of electrical towel rail you have, they do not have a wattage of more than about 100 to 200 watts in total, which is quite low indeed compared to most other electrical equipment you run in the house.

Are there other alternatives to heating a towel?

Yes, there are other very good alternatives to heating your towels other than just the electric towel heating rails. The first is through the use of a microwave after you might have treated the towel with hot water from the faucet.

Thereafter, squeeze the towel very dry and nuke it in a microwave. Second, it is also common to heat your hand towels in the conventional electric dryer we use in the laundry or hair salons.

Some people even warm up their towels by soaking them up with warm or hot water and thereafter wringing them to eliminate much of the water that has been soaked up.

It is also common to produce hot towels by the use of a teapot if there is no hot water faucet in the kitchen or bathroom.

Essentially, you should be very careful in your choice of hand towels since some retain heat better and are easier to warm up than others.

Some common examples of these towels are the Mizu towels produced by Solaire in the United Kingdom. You can also find other good hand towels if you search online or by logging onto the Amazon website for inquiries. So, yes, there are many useful alternatives to heating a towel with the aid of a towel rail.

FAQs

Can I leave my electric towel rail on?

Although stories of fire hazards due to electric towel rails are few and far in between, it is still not very advisable to constantly leave your towel rails on.

Although you can leave these gadgets on for as long as you want, you should turn them off particularly when you are going somewhere and could stay very long outside.

Some newer models of electric towel rails may be fitted with a timer and a thermostat, however, that is still not an excuse for you to leave them on for very long.

Therefore, as much as possible, switch off your towel rails when going outside for prolonged periods. After all, one can never be too careful, or can they?

Conversely, for all electrical towel rails that have either a timer or a thermostat or both, it is highly recommended that you set them properly at all times. Doing this will further reduce the chances of any fire outbreak unexpectedly.

Can a towel warmer catch fire?

Rarely do electric towel rails get heated to ignite any fire. However, to be on the side of caution, you should always make sure that you switch them off particularly if you are going out and could stay out for long periods.

Luckily, to reduce, if not eliminate this possibility, most newer electric towel rails are equipped with a thermostat and a timer, which are safety features against sudden fire accidents.

So, electrical towel rails or warmers hardly go up in flames no matter for how long they have been working or even their type or model, but still, you should not desert caution, or should you?

 Fire incidents are pretty uncommon because the modern models of towel rails are fitted with both a timer and thermostat.

The thermostat regulates when the unit comes on or switches off to avoid the gadget becoming too hot while in use. These two safety features do not allow fire incidents to break out often in the use of electric towel rails.

How Long Do Electric Towel Rails Take To Heat Up – Conclusion

Electrical towel rails help to both heat and maintain your towels at constant temperatures which is a laudable feature judging by how cold it can become in certain climes and at certain periods of the season too.

Luckily, there are multiple, cheap, and easy ways through which you can always get your towel rails warmed up fast enough.

You should as much as possible choose those towel rails that are comparatively more modern and fitted with impressive safety features for your convenience.

Although the primary function of a towel rail is to heat the towels, they also have other supportive functions like warming up the room where and when necessary.

Finally, your choice of electrical towel rails should be based on how short or long your showers last. If you take short showers, for instance, make sure that you get mainly towel rails that warm up much faster to meet up your demands.

The sizes and capacities of the towel rails are equally very important factors to consider before buying them. Happy towel rail buying, and thank you for reading this far.