Bathroom Electric Radiators

As a rule, we do not recommend electric radiators for use in bathrooms. Although there are splashproof electric radiators with a high enough IP Rating to be hardwired in wet locations, very few electric radiators can be safely used to dry towels – and in bathrooms this is always the temptation! The only electric radiator we recommend for bathroom use is the Ecostrad VeeSmart. The VeeSmart, which is a stylish designer radiator available in black and white as well as in horizontal and vertical orientations, is unique in that it can be used to dry towels. This is because the thermostat is separate from the radiator body, and there is no convection air vent to be obstructed by towels. If you want to use a VeeSmart in your bathroom, you must choose a location at least a metre away from water sources to prevent damage to the powder coated finish.

Electric towel radiators are usually a better choice for bathroom heating because they can always be installed in both Zone 2 and Zone 3, make a better use of limited bathroom space and come with the added bonus of warm, dry towels. All electric radiators and towel rails for bathroom usage must be installed by a qualified electrician.

No. You should only install your bathroom radiators yourself if you are a qualified electrician. To comply with European Council electrical safety directives, all electrical appliances fitted in bathrooms must be installed by a certified professional. Any guidelines supplied in the product manual must also be followed to ensure a safe, futureproof fitting. 

No. Electric radiators are not designed for towel drying. Covering your radiators with towels, clothes or other items will reduce the radiators’ performance and may cause a fire hazard. If you want to use your bathroom heaters to dry towels, you may want to consider an electric towel rail instead.

The Ecostrad VeeSmart is currently our only electric radiator which can be used for towel drying. Make sure you follow all guidelines provided in the product manual before you use the radiator for this purpose.

All of our electric radiator and towel rail ranges are available with a wide range of power wattages, so we can guarantee that you’ll always be able to find the right combination of heaters to efficiently heat bathrooms of all sizes – no matter how large or how small. To work out what size radiator you need to heat your room, simply enter the dimensions of the room into our interactive radiator calculator. The calculator will tell you the minimum wattage required to heat the room efficiently. You will then need to find a towel rail or radiator which equals or exceeds this wattage.

Most customers prefer electric towel rails over radiators for their bathroom heating because they offer much more room for towel drying. As a rule, electric radiators should not be used for towel drying because this can obstruct the flow of heat through their top vents and confuse their thermostats. To avoid the temptation to use your radiators for towel drying, we recommend using a towel rail in the bathroom instead. The Ecostrad VeeSmart is the only radiator which can be used for towel drying, however it must not be mounted within a metre of any water sources because this can damage the radiator’s finish.

Electric heating solutions are a great choice in bathrooms because they can be controlled separately from the rest of your home heating – useful if you want to save energy by heating your bathroom to a lower temperature, or keep your bathroom heating switched off during the day.

Bathrooms can become inefficient to heat if you regularly leave windows open after baths or showers, or your bathroom has an over-active extractor fan. This is because the hot air the radiators or towel rails produce will be sucked outside straight away, leaving the radiator working continuously to top up the heat. If you need to keep the windows open to prevent damp and condensation, you might want to look for an electric towel rail with an open window sensor. Open window detectors switch heating appliances off if they sense a continual drain of heat within the room. This prevents you wasting energy throwing heat out of the window after a bath or shower.