Dual Fuel Towel Rails

This blog explores the elements required, and different options for Dual Fuel Towel Rails. Plumb-Warehouse sells the excellent JIS Sussex range of rails which has a wide range of heating options available. This blog explains the options.

A dual fuel towel rail allows you to heat the towel rail by water coming through the central heating system or by electricity. Typically you would use hot water during the cooler months when the heating is on but you can still heat the rail when it is warmer and the heating is off.

You will need to buy three items – the towel rail itself, the electric element and the dual fuel valves. The dual fuel valves allow water into and out of the towel rail and they also allow the electric element to be fitted into the rail. The different combinations of valve and element are described below:

Standard dual fuel valves and standard element.

This looks neater than a traditional T-Piece as it keeps the pipe centres symmetrical and the valves do not protrude outside the rail’s dimensions. The thermostat is factory-fitted and is not not adjustable.

Dual fuel valves with TRV plus standard element.

Again, this looks neat by keeping the valves and thermostat control within the dimensions of the rail. The temperature is adjustable when heating by water but not when heating by electricity.

Standard Dual Fuel Valves plus Adjustable Element.

In this case, the temperature of the thermostat is controllable when heating by electricity but not when heating by water.

Dual fuel valves with TRV plus Adjustable Element.

This combination allows you to control the temperature when heating by either water or electricity. Please note though that it is important not to use hot water heating and electrical heating together. The 2 thermostats will both try to achieve different things leading to the electrical element being put under a lot of stress.

Angled and Straight Valve Options.

All of the options above are available for angled valves and straight valves too. Angled valves connect the towel rail to pipework coming out of the wall (ie at an angle to the towel rail). Straight valves connect the towel rail to pipework coming straight up from the floor.

JIS has produced a leaflet on the options which you can find here.

You can buy JIS Dual Fuel Towel Rails online from Plumb-Warehouse. Click here to see our range. Or, for helpful advice from our knowledgeable team, please contact us.