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Thread: What's the deal with heated towel rails?

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Oct 2005
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    USA
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    288

    Default What's the deal with heated towel rails?

    Why do heated towel rails seem to be in every New Zealand home bathroom? Do they serve some purpose other than providing a hot towel to dry off with?

    I had never seen one in the States. I never use mine. Why are they so ubiquitous here?

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Apr 2008
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    Blenheim
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    Because houses/bathrooms are sooo damp, that it is the only way to not get mouldy towels in case you use them more then once before putting in the washing machine.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Apr 2009
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    Waikato
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    Default

    Ditto to above. I really miss having one in current house.

  4. #4
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    Jan 2009
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    Animal Farm
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    Default

    Another Ditto

  5. #5
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    Jun 2009
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    Helsinki, Finland
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    You got it all wrong..



    They are very common here as well and I remember seeing them in some countries in (good) hotels, too. My OH likes a little bit warm towels although we don't have those racks in our house.

    The sales pitch for them is that the towels are nowadays so luxurious and thick that they take long time to dry. They are also sometimes installed also by the door so that you can dry your shoes or gloves during the winter -- the snow isn't wet outside but it will get wet when you come inside..

  6. #6
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    Sep 2006
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    Sydney, Australia
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    Houses in US/UK etc usually have some sort of central heating....so no need for a heated towel rail. In UK most people I know would dry their towels on or near the radiator, while here your towels would be smelling musty within 24 hours if you don't find a way of getting them dry.......I often hang ours out on the line now, rather than paying to heat the towel rail.

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Jun 2009
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    Quote Originally Posted by Familyofmonkeys View Post
    ... so no need for a heated towel rail. In UK most people I know would dry their towels on or near the radiator ...
    There's suprisingly small difference between a radiator and heated towel rail.. the old ones used to be connected to the central heating and had water running through them.

    I guess it's more about convenience. Here a lot of homes have in-floor heating in the bathroom even if rest of the house has radiators. And they still add heated towel rails to the bathrooms even if you have the latest and greatest house with in-floor heating, district AND geothermal heating, eco this and that. The towel will dry faster on the heated rail.

    In the UK one can just drop the towels on the floor and the mat will soak all the water from them ;-)

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Sep 2006
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    Sydney, Australia
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    Quote Originally Posted by petri View Post
    In the UK one can just drop the towels on the floor and the mat will soak all the water from them ;-)


    My OH was like that before he was house-trained

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Sep 2008
    Location
    Christchurch from Scotland
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    Houses is Scotland had/still have heated towel rails.

    They were very common before widespread central heating and often were a heating option for the bathroom when central heating was installed. My friend in Skye still has them in her bathroom, as do the halls at Sabhal Mor Ostaig Gaelic College!

  10. #10
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    Sep 2006
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    Wellington, NZ from US
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    RJ, we do have them in the States, they are just uncommon. The 1st time I saw one was in a hotel in Big Bear. I think they're a luxury thing, like putting a towel in the dryer for after the shower.

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