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Bathroom Heated Towel Bars - Anyone with First Hand Experience?

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larry4406

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@bugnut asked if I was doing one of these as part of our master bath project.

So, I have been searching.

Actually I am quite intrigued by the wet rated ones by Jeeves. They are made in South Africa and are UL listed with wet rated kit. GFCI protected. Stolen picture below showing the rack within the shower enclosure itself. Power junction box is at lower right corner.

1777496109945.png

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Our master shower has a central opening with independent showers left and right. Having one of these centered on the opening would be ideal. The showers are each 4.5' wide with an overhead rain head so I think that if the rack were 5' up, spray/splash would be minimal.

Red would be the heated towel bar while the blue circles are the rain heads.
1777496527542.png

Anyone use/install one of these?
 
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bluedog225

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I don’t have that one. I got mine maybe 20 years ago and the thing just keeps going. One of the best things ever in the winter. Not so much in the summer. Keep waiting for it to die. I’d like to wire in an Intermatic spring loaded timer. I’d rather not have it run 24/7.
 
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PCustoms

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larry4406 said:
@bugnut asked if I was doing one of these as part of our master bath project.

So, I have been searching.

Actually I am quite intrigued by the wet rated ones by Jeeves. They are made in South Africa and are UL listed with wet rated kit. GFCI protected. Stolen picture below showing the rack within the shower enclosure itself. Power junction box is at lower right corner.

1777496109945.png

Amazon.com: Amba Jeeves Wet-Rated Upgrade Kit in Matte Black : Toys & Games

Buy Amba Jeeves Wet-Rated Upgrade Kit in Matte Black: Action Figures - Amazon.com ✓ FREE DELIVERY possible on eligible purchases
www.amazon.com

Our master shower has a central opening with independent showers left and right. Having one of these centered on the opening would be ideal. The showers are each 4.5' wide with an overhead rain head so I think that if the rack were 5' up, spray/splash would be minimal.

Red would be the heated towel bar while the blue circles are the rain heads.
1777496527542.png

Anyone use/install one of these?
Click to expand...

Years ago had a bathroom with hydronic baseboards below the towel bar, as close as I'm come.

I've wanted one but don't have a great spot for it here. Is the wet rated one designed for inside the shower? Seems counterproductive
 
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mike93lx

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I've used hydronic ones in Europe but have never owned a mounted electric one. We had a freestanding one for a bit and it was annoying as it was all curves so towels slid off.

They can be quite nice in the winter.

What system are you using for the heated floor? 😁
 
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larry4406

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mike93lx said:
I've used hydronic ones in Europe but have never owned a mounted electric one. We had a freestanding one for a bit and it was annoying as it was all curves so towels slid off.

They can be quite nice in the winter.

What system are you using for the heated floor? 😁
Click to expand...
The heated floor is the Schluter Ditra Heat system There is one separate zone with stat for the shower floor and another zone with separate stat for the main bathroom floor.
 
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larry4406

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PCustoms said:
Years ago had a bathroom with hydronic baseboards below the towel bar, as close as I'm come.

I've wanted one but don't have a great spot for it here. Is the wet rated one designed for inside the shower? Seems counterproductive
Click to expand...
The one I linked in the opening thread is indeed UL listed to be within the confines of the shower shower enclosure!

I would think one would place it such that the towels are not in the direct line of fire of the shower spray in order to be effective.
 
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Steve W.

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JuncleJohn said:
Never knew there was such a thing. No offense, but doesn’t interest me.

John
Click to expand...
I think I have heard of them, but the concept eludes me. :unsure:

My towels contact the bar for a total of maybe an inch and a half. Add a little bit of radiant heating, maybe about four inches of towel gets warm. What good is a four-inch band of warm towel?

Maybe it works better than I am imagining, but like @JuncleJohn, I don't think I'm interested. :dunno:

.
 
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mike93lx

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larry4406 said:
The heated floor is the Schluter Ditra Heat system There is one separate zone with stat for the shower floor and another zone with separate stat for the main bathroom floor.
Click to expand...
Fantastic. I was worried we'd have another change order!

I did ditra heat in my last bathroom. Only regret was not planning the loop well enough and falling short on wire.

If you need a Megger to test the wire, Lmk, I have one sitting in a cabinet that I can lend you
 
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mike93lx

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Steve W. said:
I think I have heard of them, but the concept eludes me. :unsure:

My towels contact the bar for a total of maybe an inch and a half. Add a little bit of radiant heating, maybe about four inches of towel gets warm. What good is a four-inch band of warm towel?

Maybe it works better than I am imagining, but like @JuncleJohn, I don't think I'm interested. :dunno:

.
Click to expand...
The towel is draped across multiple heated bars on these. They work
 
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larry4406

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mike93lx said:
Fantastic. I was worried we'd have another change order!

I did ditra heat in my last bathroom. Only regret was not planning the loop well enough and falling short on wire.

If you need a Megger to test the wire, Lmk, I have one sitting in a cabinet that I can lend you
Click to expand...
The ceramic contractor did the full takeoff with a CAD drawing to figure the wire lengths and the loop arrangements so I am trusting it is accurate. They also test the wire when its removed from the box, at time of placement, and again after installation to confirm it matches the spec's on the box. They fill out forms and send it in to Schluter as well.

The ceramic contractor I am using is the same one from the day job and I have patiently waited for their best installer.....
 
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mike93lx

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larry4406 said:
The ceramic contractor did the full takeoff with a CAD drawing to figure the wire lengths and the loop arrangements so I am trusting it is accurate. They also test the wire when its removed from the box, at time of placement, and again after installation to confirm it matches the spec's on the box. They fill out forms and send it in to Schluter as well.

The ceramic contractor I am using is the same one from the day job and I have patiently waited for their best installer.....
Click to expand...
That's less fun than a bunch of guesses 😂
 
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NHtoolguy

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Gilford, NH
I have a free-standing electric one that uses oil to transfer the heat across multiple tubes. It's a Hamilton Beach 377 made in 1991. As has been mentioned, it's nice to have warmed towels in the winter months. Mine still works fine
 
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snod83

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Steve W. said:
I think I have heard of them, but the concept eludes me. :unsure:

My towels contact the bar for a total of maybe an inch and a half. Add a little bit of radiant heating, maybe about four inches of towel gets warm. What good is a four-inch band of warm towel?

Maybe it works better than I am imagining, but like @JuncleJohn, I don't think I'm interested. :dunno:

.
Click to expand...
I have one in my bathroom and I am honestly underwhelmed. If you leave the towel snaked through it for over an hour it does get nice and toasty, but if you just drape it across it, it is completely ineffective. The one benefit that this does have though is drying your towel out after use and preventing any "funk" from a wet towel hanging around.

I've been considering getting one of the heated chamber towel heaters as it would seem that would do a much better job of providing the hot towel experience.

I wouldn't want it in the shower with me as even though the rain head is mostly downward flow, there is still a lot of splashing. Ours is on the wall just outside of the glass shower door which is very convenient.
 
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driftpin

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My sister and her husband in San Francisco have a heated towel bar in their bathroom and it looks similar to that one, it works well, and is especially pleasing when the temperature drops.

Last time I visited, I cleaned the sink hair trap to pay them back for having a good re-model on their bathroom, and for having me as a guest.

1777578736441.png
:ROFLMAO:
 
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TRWham

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driftpin said:
My sister and her husband in San Francisco have a heated towel bar in their bathroom and it looks similar to that one, it works well, and is especially pleasing when the temperature drops.

Last time I visited, I cleaned the sink hair trap to pay them back for having a good re-model on their bathroom, and for having me as a guest.


:ROFLMAO:
Click to expand...
I think you may have trapped an entire animal, rather than just hair. Either that or your sister is a Wookiee.
 
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wyliesdiesels

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Modesto, CA
driftpin said:
My sister and her husband in San Francisco have a heated towel bar in their bathroom and it looks similar to that one, it works well, and is especially pleasing when the temperature drops.

Last time I visited, I cleaned the sink hair trap to pay them back for having a good re-model on their bathroom, and for having me as a guest.

1777578736441.png
:ROFLMAO:
Click to expand...
yikes :eek: o_O:shocking::scared:
 
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Skooterj

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Indiana
I installed an electric heated towel rack when I built my house 8 years ago. It looks almost exactly like the one in OP post. We have never had an issue with it and my wife uses it almost every day. I almost never use it. But every so often I get the benefits of it and think I should use it a lot more.
 
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sh944

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Linwood, KS
I installed one at our previous house, and it worked well and my wife liked it so much that I still hear about it regularly, since our current house doesn’t have a good wall space for one.
 
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