Electric Towel Rail in En-Suite

[DTilbs]

Hi,

We have an electric towel rail in an en-suite, with a fused spur switch connecting to it in the bedroom (other side of the en-suite wall from where the towel rail is).

For some background we want to be able to schedule the towel rail to switch off and on at certain times but have an absolute requirement of no lights whatsoever on the switch (we both need pitch black to sleep annoyingly!). Electrician came round and installed a wifi-connected fused switch which works perfectly but has two LEDs which are brighter than the sun (and it also looks rather industrial which isn't ideal for the bedroom). It seems there's only one smart fused switch on the market; we don't need wifi but definitely need to be able to schedule.

My question is - there are loads of smart switches on the market but none of these is fused. Is there an absolute requirement to have a fused switch connected to the towel rail here, or would a smart-light-switch-type-thing be safe? We're never planning to sell the house so I'm not fussed if it's purely a regs thing with no real safety issue, but obviously wouldn't ever compromise on safety. So I guess what is the risk of not using a fused switch for the towel rail here?

Not sure if it's relevant but the towel rail has its own fuse in the fuse board (i.e. it's not part of the 'upstairs sockets' switch). From some (quick) research online it seems there may be a requirement to be able safely to turn off the rail from outside of the bathroom - would the fuse box not serve this purpose (acknowledging I'm a layman!).

Any other thoughts or solutions would be appreciated!

EDIT: just to add - would an alternative be to replace the fused switch with a thermostat control screen (i.e. like those used for underfloor heating control)? Or are these also used alongside a fused switch?

Thanks.

 

[winston1]

If it is on its own circuit with the cable properly protected there is no need for a FCU.

 

[BS3036]

Quick and dirty answer is to stick black tape over the leds.

 

[dannyboi2003]

You could change the fused switch back to a standard one and fit a smart element to the towel rail, I just found this one but others are probably available:

https://heating-style.co.uk/product...6_mYDLnXLxFURIToe0E0eS5XKGx3ec0MaAvAvEALw_wcB

 

[DTilbs]

If it is on its own circuit with the cable properly protected there is no need for a FCU.

Thanks so much - any idea how I could determine this? Is my assumption that because it has its own fuse in the fuse board that it's on its own circuit correct? Original en-suite and wiring is relatively new and everything has been done to a high quality so would be surprised if the cable isn't properly protected (it's a beefy one with three wires inside). Apologies for not knowing what I'm talking about haha!

 

[DTilbs]

Quick and dirty answer is to stick black tape over the leds.

Funnily enough this wasn't beyond me but I don't particularly want black tape on switches in my bedroom and in any case the lights are so bright they glow through the white plastic of the case.

 

[DTilbs]

You could change the fused switch back to a standard one and fit a smart element to the towel rail, I just found this one but others are probably available:

Thanks so much, this is interesting. So the fused switch would just stay 'on' and the smart element would control the rail? Makes sense!

 

[RF Lighting]

You could have a timer or the smart controller installed at your consumer unit and retain a standard FCU in the bedroom.

 

[dannyboi2003]

RF's suggestion of a controller at the CU end would probably be the cheapest solution, I missed the part about it being on it's own circuit.