Shop Products
Houzz Logo Print
jackier_gw

does a towel-warmer warm the room?

jackier
13 years ago

hi all-

we're renovating our bathroom. was wondering if a towel warmer

actually throws off any heat into the room...or does it just warm a towel

and that's it (we're thinking about the warmly yours infinity : 150 wts)

This isn't the only heat source in the room btw.

thanks all - these forums are an amazing help!

Comments (27)

  • MongoCT
    13 years ago

    No, the little units won't be an effective room heater. The warmly yours will barely warm the towels. Look at the higher watt/BTU units like Runtal, especially the Runtal Omnipanel. They will act as room and towel warmers.

  • jacobse
    13 years ago

    Jackier, we got the Warmly Yours this summer, and now that it's cold outside, it's pretty clear that it doesn't do much to warm the room. I wasn't expecting it to, based on it's relatively low wattage, but we felt we didn't need ancillary heat in the room. We were considering one of the Runtal units Mongo mentioned; the comparable size Runtal Solea draws three times as much power (450 watts) as the Warmly Yours (150 watts), and some of the taller Runtal units draw as much as 900 watts. With that much power, those units should indeed warm the room; that's why Runtal calls them "radiators" rather than just "towel warmers".

    For us, there were a few downsides to the Runtal that led us to decide on the Warmly Yours: (1) the Runtal cost a lot more; (2) the Runtal needed a double-wide box in the wall for its timer/power control, versus a single switch width for the Warmly Your switch/timer, and we would have been hard pressed to do the double wide (nor did we have a nearby drawer to stick in in, as some have done); (3) we didn't need the room heat; (4) the Runtal would cost more to run because of its higher power draw.

    We're pretty happy with the Warmly Yours. It looks good and works well -- but as Mongo says, it just barely warms the towels through and through. We've been enjoying the feel of a warm towel upon exiting the shower, and its warmth is enough to accomplish what we were looking for. But if you're looking for a truly smokin' hot towel, you might want a higher-power unit like one of the Runtals.

    -- Eric

  • lfielder54
    13 years ago

    Eric, does the Warmly Yours actually dry your towel after you shower?

  • jackier
    Original Author
    13 years ago

    wow...thanks for info all! what would i do without this forum!!!

  • beckyg75
    13 years ago

    Hi Eric,

    Thanks for posting your experience. We are also considering bath issues. Did you buy anything else by Warmly yours, like radiant heat for your flooring?

    For the O.P.: When I called and spoke to someone at Warmly Yours about towel warmers, they recommended the underfloor coils to warm the room.

    Becky

  • fixitandforgetit
    13 years ago

    Towel warmers will not warm rooms.

  • jacobse
    13 years ago

    We only bought the Warmly Your Infinity towel warmer. We briefly considered radiant heat for the floor, but we had some issues with sloping of part of our floor which needed to be leveled to tile properly, and installing the radiant heat would have further increased the unevenness from the adjoining bedroom. Between that and the added cost -- and the fact that our second floor bathroom doesn't tend to be particularly cold -- we decided not to do floor heating. It feels like one of the few things we did not splurge for by saying "with the cost of this whole project, what's a little more for this?" ;)

    Caiquemom, since my wife and I head off for work in the morning after showering, I can't say I know how quickly the towels dry! And on the weekend, I haven't yet perfected the timer settings for our less regular schedule. I would say that if we leave the warmer on for an hour or more after showering, it does help the towels dry faster, but I can't tell you how long it optimally needs to be left on to fully dry the towels -- and it probably depends more on the thickness and plushness of different towels. (If drying your towels fairly quickly is a priority, you might want to consider one of the more powerful towel warmers, such as Runtal.)

    We typically change our towels weekly, and I was hoping the towel warmer would help with them sometimes developing a musty smell which would prompt us to change them before the end of the week. I can say we haven't experienced any problems with smelly towels since the renovation has been complete. I don't know how much that's due to the towel warmer, to the new exhaust fan (we had no fan before), to new towels, or to any other factors. I assume the towel warmer helping to dry the towels contributes to the improvement.

    -- Eric

  • jacobse
    13 years ago

    Addendum: based on yesterday's query, this morning I actually paid attention to towel drying. ;)

    And, yes, a damp towel placed on the Warmly Yours towel warmer was pretty much completely dry when I checked it a little over an hour later. (Your milage may vary depending on the thickness of the towel or towels and how you fold them; we put two towels, tri-folded, side by side.) Hope that helps!

    -- Eric

  • ntruro
    13 years ago

    My wife likes the bathroom warm when she exits from the shower. We're considering installing a Runtal towel radiator with programmable switch to both warm the towels and the bathroom.

    However, our Fan-Tech in-line vent fan pulls 110 CFM from the room, pushing it outside through a roof vent cap. And Fan-Tech recommends leaving the fan running for 20 minutes after turning off the shower to reduce condensation in the insulated flex duct.

    Will the vent fan pump the towel-radiator-heated air outside, leaving no appreciable difference in temperature between the bathroom air and that being drawn in under the door? Of course, the towels will still be warm, but that may be accomplished by a much lower cost option like Costo's Anacona 150 watt towel warmer at $179.

    TIA

  • lfielder54
    13 years ago

    Eric, thanks so much for timing your towel warmer for me! I am moving to a humid climate, so the warmer will be mostly to dry the towels. Good to know I don't have to spend a fortune on this!

  • trailrunner
    13 years ago

    i have freestanding towel warmers in all 3 bathrooms. We leave them on 24/7 when the bathrooms are in use...so usually only the one in our bathroom is on all year. We are in AL so I got them in order to never again have " stinky" towels and washcloths. I am very happy to say that after 8 yrs all of the towels I bought at that time are still in use ! Not one single smelly towel. They dry very quickly and are warm to touch when we take them off of the rack.

    As far as warming your bathroom...we have wall heaters in each bathroom. They are electric and do a very good job warming the bathroom. I turn it on when I first go in the bathroom in the AM and by the time I have the coffee made and am ready to shower the room is quite warm. Our baths are very large and we have open showers ( see the walkin shower thread) so it was important to have the heaters.

    If I can answer any other questions please ask. c

  • biochem101
    12 years ago

    Thanks for updating! :)

    I am looking into towels warmers too and appreciate this advice.

  • biochem101
    12 years ago

    Wait...I do have a question.

    The Warmly Yours are all 23-24" wide.
    The Amba is only 20" wide.

    As our space is very small, 20" would be better.

    Can anyone say if the Amba is as reliable as Warmly Yours?

    Runtels are beautiful, but very large and very expensive.

    I have ruled out Warmrails as too cheaply made (according to many reviews).

    Thank you! :)

  • sevrm
    12 years ago

    Good decision on the Warmrails, biochem. I have a Warmrails Kensington which began to rust quickly. I guess one is not supposed to hang wet washcloths on it, but I had nowhere else to hang them. I am now awaiting delivery of an Ancona towel warmer from Costco. It is stainless steel which should eliminate the rust issue. I have never heard of this brand, so I am keeping my fingers crossed and relying on Costco's generous return policy.

  • biochem101
    12 years ago

    Suellen, I read that warmrails are now made in China and only reviews from 2009 or prior are good. Recent reviews state many complaints.

    The Ancona is a good price but it doesn't seem have a hardwired option? I also can't find where the products are made, or many reviews.

    Good Luck, and let us know how it works!

  • busybee3
    12 years ago

    i have the amba antus and it definitely gets nice and warm--it is meant to warm the room, and based on its watts and btu's, i think it will! (the antus and another model or 2 of theirs are meant to also be room 'radiators'.) it's one of the few reason's i'm looking forward to winter!!
    unfortunately, due to different hangups, it wasn't installed until the spring and i haven't really used it yet.... couldn't find a lot on reliability, but took my chances!

  • sevrm
    12 years ago

    Ancona towel warmer from Costco arrived punctually. It is made in China, but seems to be of good quality...at least a lot better than our WarmRails was. It is also better looking than the WarmRails. Installation was easy. Towels are nice and warm. So far, I'm a happy camper.

  • mom23girls
    12 years ago

    We live in the Southwest... doesn't get too cold here. The main reason I want a towel warmer is to dry our super ultra thick Pottery Barn towels. They never dry completely from shower use to shower use, so they tend to get that moldy smell even after 1 use. Will a towel warmer help dry them quicker or should we be opting for a different product to do this?

  • davidro1
    12 years ago

    yes they will dry your towels. A fan will too.

  • twentytwo
    11 years ago

    I am trying to heat a very small bathroom with limited wall space. The towel warmer direction seems to be a good one---but there was no response to ntruro's query about heat exhausting the room. Is that a non issue? I could fit only one thing, a wall heater or a heated towel rack and am wondering which would be the best.

  • twentytwo
    11 years ago

    I am trying to heat a very small bathroom with limited wall space. The towel warmer direction seems to be a good one---but there was no response to ntruro's query about heat exhausting the room. Is that a non issue? I could fit only one thing, a wall heater or a heated towel rack and am wondering which would be the best.

  • mgabriel
    10 years ago

    Amba towel warmers are a very reputable brand. They have several collections ( Antus, Elory, Sirio, Vega, Quadro), that can double as a space heater.

    Here is a link that might be useful: Amba towel warmers

  • amipatria
    10 years ago

    Some people use the towel warmer for heating the bathroom. How effective it is depends on the size, humidity etc. but at the very least leaving it on should help with sending away the steam after you bath. As far as I know Amba Radiant series are the ones that heat the quickest and hit the highest temperature. There may be other wall mount units from different brands that will do better but Amba Radiant also has a reasonable price.

    Here is a link that might be useful: wall mounted towel warmer

  • wangshan
    10 years ago

    I had a wall mounted hardwired towel warmer for years and mine did heat the entire room. I can't remember the brand..(? warmatowel) , but after ten years I decided to remodel and it wasn't working right . I suspect cat hair was clogging up the coils or something. The equivalent ones now were too expensive, but I wish I had one like the one I had.

  • enatyler
    7 years ago
    last modified: 7 years ago

    I have a Runtal Radia Wall Mounted Towel Warmer in each of my bathrooms and it is such a wonderful luxury to have . Had it after remodeling both bathrooms a few years back made it thru Hurricane Sandy, Hurricane Irene, then 3-10 second power outages shorted the circuit board and had to call the company because I just could not find my receipts, so happy to report that they sent me a will call ticket to pick them back up via UPS on a monday for repair, the same week, yesterday (friday) they came back to me all serviced and fixed, within 4 days, which I cannot believe but true,at no cost, because it was within the 5yr warranty time frame, and I now have another 5yrs warranty from the date of this repair if something goes wrong again, now awaiting the electrician to install them back. Couldnt be happier with Runtal, Huge thank you's to them, and yes they do help with harsh winters and heating up the bathrooms. This was the literally the best thing I did when remodeling the bathrooms getting towel racks, hard to live without them anymore.


  • sjhockeyfan325
    7 years ago

    Good to hear about good customer service! I wish I had room for one (although I live in a mild climate and don't actually NEED one).