ᐅ Electric heating cartridge for towel radiator (towel warmer)

Hello everyone,

we will finalize our selections on Monday for a semi-detached house from the developer, with limited options for custom requests beyond the standard upgrade catalog.

Currently, we are considering whether it makes sense to pay the additional cost for an "electric cartridge heater for the towel warmer in the bathroom." Including a separately fused outlet, the price is €349. Online, I find similar heating elements for about €100. I know my father once installed such a unit himself—unfortunately, he is no longer with us...

Since I prefer not to give the developer extra money for things that can be done easily by oneself, I would like to know the following:
- Since we will have a standard gas central heating system (without underfloor heating), does such an electric cartridge heater make sense during the transitional seasons?
- Can I simply install this myself under the electrical work (EL), or is that not recommended?

I haven’t found much relevant information on this, as most forum discussions are about using electric cartridge heaters in combination with underfloor heating, where it seems more complicated due to the low supply temperature.

Thanks for your helpful and, as always, straightforward answers!

The auxiliary heater makes sense to have warm towels even during the transitional seasons. I find the additional cost moderate and quite reasonable, especially since it includes an extra power outlet.

If you plan to install it yourself later, make sure of the following:
- There is a power outlet available near the radiator.
- Connect the radiator to the heating circuit using a center connection valve, so the side connections remain free for the cartridge heater.
- Possibly have the radiator installed with enough clearance from the floor to allow the heater cartridge to be inserted from below into the radiator mounted on the wall (the component is quite long).

Mottenhausen schrieb:

The auxiliary heater makes sense for having warm towels even during the transition seasons. I find the additional cost reasonable and quite fair since it includes an extra power outlet.

If you want to install it yourself later, make sure to:
- have a power outlet available next to the radiator
- connect the radiator to the heating circuit using a center connection valve set, so the side connections are free for the cartridge
- possibly have the radiator installed with enough clearance from the floor to insert the heating cartridge into the wall-mounted radiator from below (the cartridge is quite long)

Thanks for the quick reply. I think the last answer is the crucial one, since there probably isn’t enough clearance below. That means I would have to remove the radiator to do this upgrade... combined with the statement that the additional cost is fair at this point, I will probably have it done directly. Thanks again!

You can also remove the radiator; you will have to drain it anyway to retrofit. But yes, the additional cost makes sense to me and the effort involved later isn’t really worth it.

It’s really not worth it at all.
In addition to the 100€ cost, there’s the effort, outlet, and wiring. You’ll end up paying around 250€.
That is, if the 100€ cartridge is even comparable in performance and control.

Do you want warm towels or to heat the bathroom when the floor heating surface area is incorrectly calculated?

Has the heating cartridge been taken into account in the calculation?

There are mirrors with a concealed mounted IR heater, alternatively a Wi-Fi socket with a 9.99 heater fan in the corner behind the door to efficiently and cost-effectively raise the bathroom temperature from 21 to 24 degrees Celsius (70 to 75 degrees Fahrenheit) in the morning.