If you're weighing up whether to install a heated towel rail, you're probably asking the same thing most people do: is it actually worth the money, or is it just a nice-to-have that ends up sitting there looking pretty?
The short answer is yes. But the reasons might surprise you.
They do more than dry towels
A heated towel rail is not just about having a warm towel waiting for you after a shower, though that part is genuinely good. The bigger picture is what it does to your bathroom, lifestyle and linen as a whole.
For Australian residents in tropical and high rainfall areas, you will really benefit from the drying aspect of heated towel rails. Having your towel dry within hours of use is genuinely a meaningful advantage. Less washing, less bacteria build up, and prolonged lifetime of your towels.
They also take the edge off in winter. If you have a small bathroom, a quality rail gently provides ambient warmth, which means your bathroom isn't the coldest room in the house at 6am.
Finally, if you've got a family or living with housemates, they can help keep the place clean. Why? Because everyone wants space on the warm towel rail. It's really a no brainer for towel storage.
Are heated towel rails a good idea from a cost perspective?
The bottom line is a heated towel rail will cost more on your energy bill. Even the most efficient heated towel rails still costs a few cents a day to run. Because of this, we think the best approach is to simply show you the numbers and you can make up your own mind on whether they're worth it:
An energy efficient electric heated towel rail such as the Eskimo Heat 200w Gordon Heated Towel Rail costs roughly $0.07c per hour to run (based on an electricity rate of 0.35c per kilowatt hour). Run it for 4 hours a day on a timer switch (2 hours to heat up before a shower and 2 hours to dry the towel after the shower), and you're looking at around $0.28c per day to run, or $2 per week.
Even if you doubled your usage and used it for a shower morning and night, it's still only $4 a week to run.
As we said, making this decision is a personal decision. Some are comfortable with the added running costs and find the benefits of a heated towel rail outweigh the running costs, and some may not think this. At least you have the facts to make up your own mind.
What about the upfront cost?
A decent heated towel rail is an investment, not an impulse buy. But unlike a lot of bathroom upgrades, this one pays back daily. You feel it every morning. Your towels are dry, your bathroom is warmer, and you'll get a lot of compliments from visitors (that's what we do this for right?).
Cheap alternatives exist, but they tend to run hotter than needed, cost more to operate, and are made out of materials that don't handle well over time. Make sure you look for aluminium heated towel rails (aluminium is a better conductor of heat so it's more efficient), and be sure to only purchase electric heated towel rails from reputable suppliers who have IP ratings on their products (waterproof rating) and built to Australian Safety Standards.
So, are they worth it?
For most households, yes. The running costs are low, the benefits extend well beyond warm towels, and a good quality rail will outlast most other things in your bathroom.
If you want something built to last with real performance behind it, the Gordon heated towel rail is worth a look. UK-made, 200W, and designed for Australian conditions.
