Bathroom heating options?

[colinc]

hi,

Just wanted to get some advice. We have moved to a 60's built bungalow as our retirement (in a few years) home and have a long list of refurbishments and alterations to work our way through. The house has been extended a couple of times and it makes sense to rationalise the layout of rooms including moving the kitchen to make a kitchen/diner.

We had a very small bathroom and adjacent shower room and I just removed the non-loadbearing partition wall between them. The bathroom was heated by a radiator fixed to the now demolished wall and the shower room was previously unheated. It is still quite bijou at about 10ft x 6ft but better as one room. The only sensible place for a radiator is now on the remaining wall of the shower room.

I discovered when I chipped away the concrete floor around the heating pipes that the house has a single pipe heating system.

This leaves me with a dilemma. Replacing all the heating pipework, boiler etc., was in the plan as it is old and we know the neighbours have had problems with leaks in the floor. I just wanted to do that later after we have moved the kitchen next spring. However, I am now left wondering how to move the radiator. My plan as an intermediate step was to extend the underfloor flow and return pipes to a decent sized radiator/towel warmer but I suspect that won't work too well if I just tee off the single pipe in 15mm.

Options seem to be to rely on an electric towel rail to heat the room until such time as we replace the heating, or redirect the single pipe in a U-shape so that it reaches the new radiator on the perimeter wall and hopefully gives it a chance of getting some flow. Am not sure I can get a mixed heat source towel warmer with enough output to keep it warm over the winter, otherwise I'd go electric in the interim.

Any thoughts?

Colin

 

[St0rmer66]

Does the main heating pipe run along near this proposed wall for the radiator? If not you'll probably struggle to get it to heat properly on a one-pipe system. It needs to be as close to directly above it as possible. Too much horizontal and you'll find it either won't heat or will just get luke warm. A well designed one-pipe is not a bad system but they don't take as easily to being chopped and changed.

On another note, a towel rail is unlikely to heat the room enough in winter even if working flat out, they don't give off a lot of heat. They're really there to heat towels, not the room (although better than nothing).

 

[colinc]

Hi, the existing underfloor pipe runs parallel to the wall where the radiator would be mounted and is approx. 1 metre away. Am thinking that I should remove the tees that feed the radiator inlet and outlet and the length of pipe between them and divert that pipe run to the parallel wall using four bends. More work chasing the concrete floor than plumbing I suspect.

Whilst it is intended as a temporary solution I think that is probably the best way forward. The bathroom was originally heated by an 18" high x 24" long single panel rad with fins so I guess we ought to be able to find a decent towel rail. We have room for 1800mm high x 600wide

 

[St0rmer66]

Go for as big as possible on the towel rail, you'll need it heat-wise. Weirdly white ones also give off more heat than chrome (check the ratings).