Airing cupboard problem

[whatknot]

Earlier this year we finally got central heating, previously our hot water was immersion heater, the hot tank being in the airing cupboard

As it now has a combi boiler there is no hot water to warm the airing cupboard

How do others go on without an airing cupboard or a heat source in it

Are there other options ?

Just wondering how others air clothes under the same circumstances

 

[Mark A]

Either fit a small radiator in the airing cupboard, or use a dehumidifier.

 

[whatknot]

Thanks for the thought

Its a lot of expense to put a rad in there

The humidifier would obviously have to be elsewhere, other than the airing cupboard

Surely there must be a way given the number of combis out there

Either fit a small radiator in the airing cupboard, or use a dehumidifier.

 

[Homers double]

i fitted a electric tube heater in our airing cupboard when we had a combi boiler fitted.
Works brilliantly, I had the emersion supply converted to a timer switch which controls the tube heater

 

[whatknot]

Thank you that does sound like a better option

Annoyingly I sold the fairly new tank and immersion timer

But they are cheap enough

Any idea what the make of the tube heater was ?

i fitted a electric tube heater in our airing cupboard when we had a combi boiler fitted.
Works brilliantly, I had the emersion supply converted to a timer switch which controls the tube heater

 

[whatknot]

I just had a look at some tube heaters, there are quite a few and they range in wattage quite a bit, I wonder what would be best wattage wise

 

[Homers double]

I got a dimplex 80watt tube heater, it’s 80mm long, it was about £20, that was a couple of years ago though,
It keeps the cupboard just warm, the wife is happy with the way it operates which is a bonus

 

[Homers double]

Our airing cupboard is only 1m wide, 600mm deep and 2.1m high. Just to give you a size comparison.
It comes on 3 times a day for 3 hrs each time

 

[whatknot]

Thanks for that

I was literally just looking at the 80w on Amazon

Sounds innocuous but if left on 24/7 its about £87 a year, so a timer is a definite requirement

I got a dimplex 80watt tube heater, it’s 80mm long, it was about £20, that was a couple of years ago though,
It just keeps the cupboard just warm, the wife is happy with the way it operates which is a bonus

 

[whatknot]

Yes ours is about the same

9 hours a day sounds about right

Our airing cupboard is only 1m wide, 600mm deep and 2.1m high. Just to give you a size comparison.
It comes on 3 times a day for 3 hrs each time

 

[Homers double]

ours usually gets switched off for a few months in the summer

 

[whatknot]

We were just saying that very thing

Great minds think alike they say ;-)

ours usually gets switched off for a few months in the summer

 

[Eric The Viking]

I think those tube heaters are all the same. I got mine, for dehumidifying the tool drawers in the garage/workshop, from Toolstation (probably cheaper than Amazon). You can wire them in parallel if you need more heat.

There's no mystery to electrical heaters. Irrespective of the way they work, the wattage is always the rate of heat output. The only exception is the "infra-red" sort, which oddly waste some heat as light! Tube heaters are good for the airing cupboard task, as they're pretty safe, and won't, for example, burst into flames if something falls onto them.

 

[Rorschach]

An incandescent light bulb is a pretty efficient heater. Cheap as chips too.

 

[ColeyS1]

I bought a tube heater for my shed and it's got a turn dial thermostat on it. I imagine when it gets up to temp it'll just turn itself off.

Sent from my SM-G900F using Tapatalk

 

[andersonec]

Not sure how you would 'air' clothes when they are folded up in a cupboard ? Putting a heater in there is only going to keep them warm and surely if they are dry before you put them away you don't need to keep them warm.

Andy

 

[finneyb]

We did nothing - just left the storage above the tank and didn't notice any difference
The immersion tank was lagged with sprayed poly so didn't produce much heat anyway

Brian

 

[whatknot]

Ours was also fully lagged, and the last one was only a year old, but still it produced a gentle warmth and the airing cupboard worked as it was expected to

We removed the tank and sold it on, the resulting space was very welcome but lacked the gentle warmth of the hot water tank

And we have missed it, I guess having always had an airing cupboard in every house we have lived in, its hard to start over without one, you can put things on radiators to air but who wants that around the house

We did nothing - just left the storage above the tank and didn't notice any difference
The immersion tank was lagged with sprayed poly so didn't produce much heat anyway

Brian

 

[whatknot]

The airing cupboard in every home we have had, has worked perfectly well, up until now

I can assure you its a very useful facility

Not sure how you would 'air' clothes when they are folded up in a cupboard ? Putting a heater in there is only going to keep them warm and surely if they are dry before you put them away you don't need to keep them warm.

Andy

 

[whatknot]

Fully conversant with the subject of heat output, something ironically which is hotly debated very often on forums and mailing lists ;-)

I had a check around, Toolstation only do a 60watt at £17, screwfix do an 80w at £27, so at present Amazon is the cheaper at £21

That and a timer for about a tenner makes it a reasonable solution, I can fit them in situ and a sparky to wire it (as its in the bathroom under regs)

I think those tube heaters are all the same. I got mine, for dehumidifying the tool drawers in the garage/workshop, from Toolstation (probably cheaper than Amazon). You can wire them in parallel if you need more heat.

There's no mystery to electrical heaters. Irrespective of the way they work, the wattage is always the rate of heat output. The only exception is the "infra-red" sort, which oddly waste some heat as light! Tube heaters are good for the airing cupboard task, as they're pretty safe, and won't, for example, burst into flames if something falls onto them.