Replacing a radiator with a heated towel rail - a complete guide

Replacing a standard radiator with a heated towel rail is a popular home improvement choice, particularly in bathrooms, en-suites, cloakrooms, kitchens, and utility rooms. Heated towel rails not only provide a convenient place to warm and dry towels but also contribute to a stylish, modern look. However, before making the switch, it’s important to understand the practical considerations, costs, and installation process.

This guide covers everything you need to know, from the reasons for upgrading to step-by-step installation guidance and frequently asked questions.

Table of Contents

1. Why replace your radiator with a heated towel rail?
2. What are the benefits of having a heated towel rail?
3. How much does it cost to install a heated towel rail?
• Professional installation
• DIY Installation
4. Frequently asked questions (FAQs)
• Functionality & suitability
• Installation & plumbing
• Choosing the right heated towel rail
• Other considerations
5. Heated towel rails at TradeRadiators.com

If you're thinking about swapping your standard radiator for a heated towel rail, then you're not alone. Many homeowners consider this upgrade when renovating their bathrooms, ensuites or cloakrooms, or if they're simply looking for a more stylish and practical heating solution. Whether you want to free up space, add a touch of luxury, or improve the functionality of your bathroom, a heated towel rail offers several advantages. However, before making the switch, it’s worth understanding the key benefits and what to expect.

In theory, you could remove a radiator and fit a heated towel rail in its place in any room of your house. If you have a conventional hot water central heating system with a gas boiler, then your towel rail could simply be plumbed to the pipework and it will start working. The most simple way to do this is to buy a towel rail that has the same pipe centres measurement (distance between the pipes) as your radiator.

Alternatively, electric heated towel rails can be connected to your mains electrical supply and switched on and off when needed. This is great if you don't have gas central heating or if pipes aren't present in the area where you'd like a rail installed.

In practise however, not every room is going to benefit from having a towel rail installed in place of a radiator.

• Further reading: The Complete Guide to Heated Towel Rails

Not in living rooms, dining rooms, bedrooms

While it's unlikely that you're going to want a heated towel rail in these rooms, it's still worth pointing out why it's not recommended from a heat-based point of view. The areas of your home where you spend the most time relaxing need to be warmed to a comfortable temperature at the coldest times of the year and you are unlikely to get adequate heat emission from a heated towel rail to heat these rooms.

If you compare a radiator and a heated towel rail of the same dimensions, the radiator will always be able to emit considerably more heat, particularly if it's double-panelled. Due to the differences in design, a panelled radiator will have a greater surface area from which to emit heat than the ladder-bar styling of a heated towel rail. The primary function of a heated towel rail is to heat towels, with pushing heat out into the room very much secondary, so you would need an absolutely huge towel rail to emit the same heat as a radiator of similar proportions.

In areas such as living rooms, dining rooms and bedrooms, radiators remain the most heat, cost and space efficient way of heating up the space. Using a heating calculator is a great way of checking to see how much heat you need from your radiators in order to heat the room comfortably. For those with limited horizontal wall space in these living areas, the convenience of vertical radiators should not be overlooked.

• Further reading: The Best Radiators by Room

Bathrooms, en-suites, kitchens and utility rooms

The most common places to install a heated towel rail are in bathrooms, en-suites and variations thereof. These rooms tend to be smaller and are usually the place where you might have to make a decision to have a radiator or a heated towel rail installed - there's often not room for both.

Because bathrooms tend to get hot on a regular basis due to baths and showers, there is less of a need to heat them with a powerful traditional radiator. Many bathrooms are also interior rooms not connected to an outside wall and so further benefit from residual heat from other rooms. This means that bathrooms lend themselves well to having a towel rail installed in place of a radiator.

We have also seen an increase in people installing heated towel rails in kitchens and utility rooms. With many open plan kitchens there is often room for both a radiator and a useful heated towel rail, but for smaller kitchens, the heat from cooking can often compensate much like hot water in a bathroom does. This can result in a situation where installing a heated towel rail can provide enough heat without the need for a radiator.

Utility rooms are usually spaces where time spent is minimal, perhaps simply to use the washing machine, tumble dryer or a sink, and so don't require the full heat force of a radiator. As many people increasingly like the convenience of a heated towel rail in utility rooms, replacing a rad with a towel rail is certainly a possibility to consider in these areas.

• Further reading: Are Heated Towel Rails as Warm as Radiators?

What are the benefits of having a heated towel rail?

1. A heated towel rail keeps your towels warm and dry

One of the biggest reasons to replace a radiator with a heated towel rail is the convenience of having warm, dry towels ready whenever you need them. Unlike a traditional radiator, which primarily heats the room, a towel rail is designed with horizontal bars that allow towels to hang and dry efficiently. This helps to reduce dampness, musty smells, and even mould growth in your bathroom, especially in winter when towels tend to stay damp for longer. Plus, stepping out of the shower to a nice, warm towel adds a little luxury to your daily routine.

2. It saves space and improves layout

Bathrooms are often one of the smallest rooms in the home, so making the most of your available space is key. Heated towel rails are typically slimmer and more compact than standard radiators, making them a great space-saving solution. They can be mounted on the wall, freeing up valuable floor space and giving your bathroom a more open and uncluttered feel. This is particularly beneficial in smaller bathrooms, en-suites, and cloakrooms, where every inch counts.

• Further reading: The Best Heated Towel Rails for a Small Bathroom

3. It's a stylish and modern upgrade

If you're updating your bathroom’s aesthetic, a heated towel rail is a simple way to add a sleek and contemporary touch. Available in a range of styles, from classic ladder designs to designer statement pieces, they can complement any decor. Whether you prefer a minimalist chrome finish, a bold black rail, or a traditional white model, there are plenty of options to match your style. Unlike bulky radiators, towel rails are designed to be both functional and visually appealing, instantly elevating the look of your space.

• Further reading: Inspirational Heated Towel Rail Ideas

4. Versatile heating options

Another great advantage of heated towel rails is their versatility. You can choose from three different types:

• Central Heating: These connect to your home’s existing heating system, just like a regular radiator.
• Electric: Perfect for homes without central heating in the bathroom or for year-round use without turning on the whole system.
• Dual Fuel: A flexible option that works with both central heating and electricity, allowing you to use it independently in warmer months.
  This means you can tailor your heating setup to suit your needs and ensure your towels stay warm, no matter the season.

• Further reading: What Are The Different Types of Heating?

How much does it cost to install a heated towel rail?

The cost of replacing a radiator with a heated towel rail depends on various factors, including the type of towel rail, labour charges, and potential plumbing modifications.

Professional installation

If you’re not confident with plumbing, hiring a qualified professional is the safest option when replacing a radiator with a heated towel rail. A plumber or heating engineer will ensure the job is done correctly, preventing leaks, pipework issues, or damage to your heating system.

In older homes, pipework may need adjusting or rerouting to fit the new towel rail, a task best left to an experienced tradesperson. If your radiators haven’t been updated in years, your boiler might also need assessing. A Gas Safe Registered Engineer can check its efficiency and safety, recommending any necessary repairs.

Several factors affect the cost, including the complexity of the installation, whether pipework needs modifying, and regional labour rates. For example, tradespeople in London typically charge more than those in other parts of the UK.

For electric towel rails, a qualified electrician must handle the installation to comply with legal safety regulations. This is not a DIY job.

Below are cost estimates from Checkatrade, providing 'ballpark averages' for heated towel rail installation:

Most professionals can recommend a suitable towel rail based on your bathroom size and heating requirements. If you’re unsure or don’t have a specific design in mind, letting the expert choose can be a stress-free option. However, if you want a particular style or finish, you may prefer to purchase the towel rail yourself and simply pay for installation.

Many plumbers have preferred brands or models they regularly install, which may not always match your taste. By selecting the towel rail yourself, you ensure it fits your design preferences and budget before factoring in labour costs.

Finally, make sure to use our Heating Calculator to determine the correct size and heat output needed for your bathroom, ensuring your new towel rail provides adequate warmth.

If you are thinking about getting someone in to install a heated towel rail for you, then the video below of a professional plumber doing exactly that, will help you understand what's involved.

DIY installation

If you have basic plumbing knowledge, you may be able to replace your radiator with a heated towel rail yourself, especially if the pipework aligns and no major adjustments are needed. A straightforward swap could save you anywhere between £150-£500 in labour costs. However, towel rails often have different connection points than radiators, and if the pipework needs altering, it’s best to hire a professional. Incorrect installation can lead to leaks or water damage, which could be far more costly to fix than hiring an expert in the first place. As previously mentioned, if you require an electric heated towel rail, you must bring in a qualified electrician to ensure it is wired in correctly.

Choosing the right towel rail

If you have made the decision to purchase a towel rail yourself then we'd advise choosing the largest one that space will allow - without being so large that it spoils the aesthetic of the room, of course. A larger towel rail will help to ensure you are maximising the heat that is being emitted into the room, as well as providing more space to hang towels.

You can use our heating calculator to work out how much heat you'll need, but also bear in mind heat from hot water and/or cooking will naturally increase the temperature so you may find you can install a heated towel rail with a lower British Thermal Unit (BTU) count than might be needed in other rooms.

We have a range of tall heated towel rails which are perfect for areas where you need to go upwards in order to ensure you've got enough heat in the room.

Replacing a radiator with a heated towel rail - step by step guide

Once you've selected and received your perfect heated towel rail, you can follow the instructions below to fit it in place of your old radiator.

Tools you'll need

• Adjustable spanner
• Pipe cutter
• PTFE tape
• Radiator valves (if new ones are needed)
• Towel rail brackets
• Pipework extensions (if required)

Instructions

1. Turn off the heating - Shut off the central heating and allow it to cool down.

2. Isolate the radiator - Close the thermostatic radiator valve (TRV) and the lockshield valve on either side of the radiator to 

3. Drain the radiator - Place a bowl or towel under the radiator and loosen the valve nuts to drain water from the system. 

4. Remove the old radiator - Once drained, detach the radiator from the wall brackets. Also inspect pipe positioning as towel rails often have different pipe centres than radiators.

5. Modify the pipework (if required) - Adjust pipe positions using extenders or flexible pipes if the new towel rail has different connections.
6. Prepare the heated towel rail - Wrap PTFE tape around the valve threads for a better seal. If new brackets are needed, mark and drill holes to secure them, ensuring the heated towel rail sits level.
7. Install the heated towel rail - Fix the brackets to the wall and make sure they're level. Then attach the towel rail and secure the pipe connections.
8. Refill and bleed the towel rail - Repopen the valves and refill the system with water, then bleed the towel rail to remove any trapped air.
9. Check for leaks and test - Turn the heating system and look for any leaks. Also make sure that the towel rail heats up evenly.

By carefully following these steps, you can successfully replace your radiator with a heated towel rail without professional help.

For an even more in-depth guide, take a look at the video below from a professional plumber talking you through the process of installing a heated towel rail step by step.

Frequently asked questions (FAQs)

Functionality and Suitability

Installation and Plumbing

Choosing the Right Towel Rail

Other Considerations

Heated towel rails are now a well-established fixture in many people's homes. They provide a convenient place to hang, dry and warm towels and they also look very stylish, so it's no wonder they continue to prove so popular. If you are thinking of adding a towel rail into your home, then it's common to wonder if you can actually install one in place of an existing radiator. In this article, we'll look at when it is and isn't recommended to replace a rad with a rail and how you would go about it.

Can you replace a radiator with a heated towel rail?

In theory, you could remove a radiator and fit a heated towel rail in its place in any room of your house. If you have a conventional hot water central heating system with a gas boiler, then your towel rail could simply be plumbed to the pipework and it will start working. The most simple way to do this is to buy a towel rail that has the same pipe centres measurement (distance between the pipes) as your radiator.

Alternatively, electric heated towel rails can be connected to your mains electrical supply and switched on and off when needed. This is great if you don't have gas central heating or if pipes aren't present in the area where you'd like a rail installed.

In practise however, not every room is going to benefit from having a towel rail installed in place of a radiator.

Not in living rooms, dining rooms, bedrooms

While it's unlikely that you're going to want a heated towel rail in these rooms, it's still worth pointing out why it's not recommended from a heat-based point of view. The areas of your home where you spend the most time relaxing need to be warmed to a comfortable temperature at the coldest times of the year and you are unlikely to get adequate heat emission from a heated towel rail to heat these rooms.

If you compare a radiator and a heated towel rail of the same dimensions, the radiator will always be able to emit considerably more heat, particularly if it's double-panelled. Due to the differences in design, a panelled radiator will have a greater surface area from which to emit heat than the ladder-bar styling of a heated towel rail. The primary function of a heated towel rail is to heat towels, with pushing heat out into the room very much secondary, so you would need an absolutely huge towel rail to emit the same heat as a radiator of similar proportions.

In areas such as living rooms, dining rooms and bedrooms, radiators remain the most heat, cost and space efficient way of heating up the space. Using a heating calculator is a great way of checking to see how much heat you need from your radiators in order to heat the room comfortably. For those with limited horizontal wall space in these living areas, the convenience of vertical radiators should not be overlooked.

Bathrooms, en-suites, kitchens and utility rooms

The most common places to install a heated towel rail are in bathrooms, en-suites and variations thereof. These rooms tend to be smaller and are usually the place where you might have to make a decision to have a radiator or a heated towel rail installed - there's often not room for both.

Because bathrooms tend to get hot on a regular basis due to baths and showers, there is less of a need to heat them with a powerful traditional radiator. Many bathrooms are also interior rooms not connected to an outside wall and so further benefit from residual heat from other rooms. This means that bathrooms lend themselves well to having a towel rail installed in place of a radiator.

We have also seen an increase in people installing heated towel rails in kitchens and utility rooms. With many open plan kitchens there is often room for both a radiator and a useful heated towel rail, but for smaller kitchens, the heat from cooking can often compensate much like hot water in a bathroom does. This can result in a situation where installing a heated towel rail can provide enough heat without the need for a radiator.

Utility rooms are usually spaces where time spent is minimal, perhaps simply to use the washing machine, tumble dryer or a sink, and so don't require the full heat force of a radiator. As many people increasingly like the convenience of a heated towel rail in utility rooms, replacing a rad with a towel rail is certainly a possibility to consider in these areas.

What size heated towel rail should you choose?

If you have made the decision to completely replace a radiator with a heated towel rail, then we'd advise choosing the largest towel rail that space will allow - without being so large that it spoils the aesthetic of the room, of course. A larger towel rail will help to ensure you are maximising the heat that is being emitted into the room, as well as providing more space to hang towels.

You can use the heating calculator to work out how much heat you'll need, but also bear in mind heat from hot water and/or cooking will naturally increase the temperature so you may find you can install a heated towel rail with a lower British Thermal Unit (BTU) count than might be needed in other rooms.

We have a range of tall heated towel rails which are perfect for areas where you need to go upwards in order to ensure you've got enough heat in the room.

How much does it cost to replace a radiator with a heated towel rail?

Before looking at actual numbers, there are several variables involved that may affect the final price you are quoted. These can include:

• The type of heated towel rail being installed
• If a qualified electrician is needed (for electric and dual fuel towel rails)
• If you or your plumber sourced the towel rail
• How many radiators and towel rails are being removed and installed
• If pipework needs to be rejigged
• Whether additional maintenance needs carrying out
• Where you live in the country

In order to get an accurate price, you'll need to consult Checkatrade or actually contact some professionals in your local area. The below are very rough approximations only and don't account for any price increases as a result of global material shortages.

- Standard installation of a conventional hot water heated towel rail will be around £200 - £300 for labour - around £150 for the towel rail
- Standard installation of an electric heated towel rail - around £200 for labour - around £150 - £200 for towel rail
- Standard installation of a dual fuel heated towel rail - around £300 - £500 for labour - around £150 - £200 for towel rail

How to install a heated towel rail

We would always recommend you engage the services of a professional for replacing a radiator with a heated towel rail unless you have some experience of DIY plumbing jobs. If you are planning to have an electric heated towel rail, you must get a qualified electrician to do the work in order for the job to be legal.

If you are planning to install a heated towel rail onto a conventional central heating system and do have some experience, then you may find the videos below helpful.

Heated towel rails at TradeRadiators.com

Upgrading from a radiator to a heated towel rail is a fantastic way to enhance both the style and functionality of your space. Not only do towel rails provide a convenient way to keep your towels warm and dry, but they also add a modern touch to any bathroom. At Trade Radiators, we offer one of the most extensive selections of heated towel rails online, catering to all budgets, styles, and heating systems.

Whether you're after a compact, space-saving model for a downstairs cloakroom, a high-output rail to warm a large family bathroom, or a striking designer towel rail to create a statement feature, we have the perfect option for you. With a wide range of finishes, sizes, and heating types, including electric, central heating, and dual fuel, you’ll find a rail that not only looks great but also performs efficiently.

Explore our heated towel rails today to find the ideal match for your home, and don’t forget to check out our range of radiator valves to complete the installation with a stylish and functional finishing touch.