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Hands up, who has been thinking of making some big changes around the home? With us all having to stay at home for pretty much a full year now (can you believe it has been that long!), I don’t know if you feel the way I do, but those small DIY jobs which I was using to pass the time have fallen to the wayside. Instead of popping up a new shelf here & there or getting some new throws for the sofa, I have been looking at ways to give important rooms around the room a new lease of life.
I thought it would be hard, but then I realised there was one big white hunk of metal staring right at me in every room; my radiators. Now, radiators are something I don’t have much knowledge of. I think the numbered valves are a mystery to most of us (don’t even ask me how the dial in the fridge works). But I do know that radiators aren’t something you would be expected to know much about if you want to buy a new one. After all, you would probably be able to count with one hand the number of times you’ve had to buy a radiator in your life.
So if like me, you’ve started looking at the radiators in every room and wondered what can be done, the solution is a simple one: towel rails. Heated towels are just fantastic. They take up less horizontal space in rooms, look stylish no matter where you put them, are more functional than a regular radiator, and come in a range of shapes and styles.
While that’s great and all, aren’t designer towel rails supposed to be expensive? Let me clue you in on a secret: they aren’t at all if you know where to look. For example, the lovely folks at Trade Radiators have a wide selection of rails from designer brands in stock at a good price. How can that be? There are a few big reasons why.
Firstly, people don’t know much about radiator and towel rail brands. We can all name many car, phone, toaster, or TV brands, yet radiator brands are like an anomaly, even though we use them every day. This puts us at a disadvantage when shopping. Just visiting the likes of B&Q and Homebase to compare their designer brands (which are usually own brand) with budget options can put you in a tizzy. Do a little research into some of the big brand names you should know about and work from there. Typically, Italian brand names are more expensive. It may sound confusing why Italian names would be so dear, but when you think about how long they’ve been making espresso coffee machines that use pressure and hot water efficiently, it makes sense.
Secondly, as is the case with Trade Radiators, shopping online will bring the price of a designer item right down. Online stores like theirs forego the traditional system of needing a showroom. No overhead on a physical shop means prices don’t need to be jacked up. If you can buy a new TV on Amazon for a better price than Curry (because they don’t have a store), why shouldn’t it be the same for a radiator?
Thirdly, it helps to know what materials you can have a towel rail made from and how that affects the price. From cheapest to most expensive, you are looking at:
- Steel
- Stainless Steel
- Aluminium
These are the materials all radiators and rails are made from. When you see bronze, copper & chrome towel rails, it is simply a reference to the rail’s colour and never the material. Please don’t get caught out by it when it has a higher price tag.
Finally, understand how much heat a room needs and find a suitably sized radiator. Don’t go getting the biggest towel rail possible because you’ve found a great deal. Towel rails have a different heat output compared to radiators, so factor that in.
Reading all this got you excited for some intensive DIY work? Then why not read this recent article on Home Improvement Plans For 2021.