For years now, Europeans have found the key to unlocking a bathroom’s potential is the comfort provided by towel radiators. Towel radiators offer comfortable radiant heat in the bathroom while at the same time providing the luxury of warm, dry towels and bathrobes.
In America, towel warmers first appeared in the early 1900s in upper class homes. These early units were typically hydronic, as many homes at the time were heated by hot water systems. During the depression and war eras, towel warmers were too extravagant for most common homes to have, but they have started to become popular again in recent years.
Top left photo is a Myson Towel Warmer from a ProSkill Construction award-winning master bathroom remodeling project in Morris County, New Jersey.
Electric units are typically freestanding, but can also be wall or floor mounted. These systems work by using electric heating elements to heat up a reservoir typically containing oil. Electric towel warmers don’t use a lot of extra energy to heat, and are simple to install because they typically just need to be plugged in.
When choosing a towel warmer, the following options should be taken into account:
- Which will fit my budget? Economical or designer model?
- Which would I prefer? Electric or hydronic?
- What are the benefits of choosing hardwired or plug-in installation?
- Which will suit my needs better? Freestanding or wall mounted?
- Should I choose simple, sleek lines or a more eccentric, artistic design?
- What kind of finish will complement my existing decor?
- Should I choose a unit with or without a timer?
“towel warmers first appeared in the early 1900s in upper class homes”- I am fairly sure it was the 1990’s?
If towel warmers came out during the classic style of the 1900’s, I must have missed them….
Brad Thomas
Classic Clawfoot Tubs
Thank you for reading and commenting, Brad! Not a typo though. In the early 1900’s some of the wealthier homes had towel warmers made of piping run off of the radiator heating systems. Radiators were invented in 1855.
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I in no way post, but now I shall give thanks for the terrific class blog.
We ended up getting this electric towel warmer. The hydronic wasn’t going to work with our plumbing situation and the electric works great so it doesn’t matter anyways.
I personally have 2 towel warmers in my house. Anyways thanks for sharing the information.