Important Considerations When Selecting The Best Electric Towel Warmer For Your Bathroom
When it comes to investing in an electric towel warmer, you will find in our handy table above that many models may look somewhat similar from the onset.
However, upon closer inspection you will quickly realize it is the features of the towel warmer that will set it apart.
Popular features found on towel warmers include the following:
- Dimensions
- Portability
- Automatic On/Off Switch
- Weight
- Price
Dimensions – Whether you live in a shoebox sized apartment in New York City or a McMansion in the burbs, dimensions always play a key role when selecting a towel warmer. The size of the unit is critical if you plan on mounting it within your bathroom. So therefore, be sure to take measurements of your wall before making your purchase decision in order to prevent the hassles and headaches of returns. Should you go with a towel warmer like the Conair or Heatwave, the biggest concern here will likely be the footprint of the unit – so measure accordingly.
Portability – While traditionally towel warmers are going to be used within your bathroom, portability can be a welcome convenience for some. Even in cool summer evenings, having a portable towel warmer next to your jacuzzi would definitely be nice! Also renters will enjoy taking their towel warmer with them when their lease is up.
Automatic On/Off – Amazingly, many of the towel warmers on the market don’t feature an energy efficient on/off switch. Therefore, should you invest in a towel warmer without onboard automatic controls, then you will want to purchase a timer as well. This will ensure that you don’t have a enormous electric bill at the end of the month.
Weight – Of all the features, weight has to be among the most important features of towel warmers. The reason being is that if you decide to go with a portable option, this can be tough if the unit weighs a hefty 10 pounds (not including towels) and you want to go from point A to point B. When it comes to mounted towel warmers, if you are installing yourself, you will want to get a until that has a manageable weight. For any mounted towel warmer, you will want to be sure that you install it into studs as opposed to just drywall or sheet rock in order to ensure that it doesn’t fall post-installation.
Price – When it comes to towel warmers, its largely a ‘you get what you pay for’ scenario. Our research found that higher priced options generally received a better Peer Review Rating (as indicated in our table above). Therefore, if you want a towel warmer to last several years, expect to pay a higher price point.
Best Towel Warmers of 2017
Sharndy Electric Towel Warmer Curved
Bigger doesn’t always mean better, and if you only have a few small articles to heat up, the 30+ inch wall-mounted warming racks may not be for you.
Thankfully, the smaller Sharndy electric towel warmer is a mere 16.5 inches high, giving you a compact place to warm your towel while you shower.
It is easy to install and easy to use; simply hang your towel and turn on the switch to start the heating process.
This product has four horizontal bars from which to hang and weave your towel. Due to its size, it is ideal for smaller items, as longer and bulkier towels will not be heated to their full length.
The towel bars are curved to allow easier placement of your towels, and the shape makes it easier to remove them without burning yourself. The on-off switch is in a convenient location, but does not have an automatic shut off like other towel warmers do.
Pros: The shape is nice, and the material is sturdy; perfect for holding wet or dry towels to warm.
Cons: It’s very short, only 16.5 inches, so larger towels and thicker towels will have a hard time getting warm evenly.
Bottom Line: If you’re strapped for space in the bathroom, and want a compact towel warmer, this does the job nicely.
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Amba RHW-SP Radiant Straight Hardwired Towel Warmer
This wall mounted Amba towel rack is ideal for heat dispersion when warming up your towels or robes.
The horizontal bars heat up to allow for greater warmth distribution, and the vertical bars are used to heat up bathrobes. Just be careful when retrieving your garments, as this product does not have a safety shut off that starts the cooling process.
The bars are hot up until you turn the switch off. The advantage of this is that there is no chance of your towels cooling while you are still in the shower.
It looks sleek, and it’s big enough to hold one big towel or a couple of smaller ones. The numerous racks enable you to stagger and stack clothing items as well for easy grabbing. It would be nice if this product had an auto shut off for safety, but if you are careful it should not cause any problems.
Works wonderfully as a heating tool and as a drying aid for towels, clothes, and robes. In the winter months, you can even use this to heat up and dry off socks that have gotten wet from the snow.
Pros: Works great as a towel warmer, and because it only sticks out 4.5 inches from the wall, it saves space.
Cons: An auto shut-off feature would go a long way to saving energy as well as preventing accidental burns.
Bottom Line: Works wonderfully as a towel warmer and dryer all year long.
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Amba RWH-CB Hardwired Curved Towel Warmer
A hot shower in the evening opens your pores to the cool air after you’ve turned off the shower. Wrapping up in a towel is comforting, but a warm towel makes your shower feel more complete.
The Amba RHW-CB is a wall mounted towel warming rack that makes drying off feel luxurious. Simply weave the towels onto the bars for an all over warm that you can apply directly out of the shower.
Alternatively, you can use this rack to dry your towels after each shower. Both the horizontal and the vertical bars of this 31 inch rack heat up to better distribute warmth throughout your garments.
This product is made of stainless steel, and heats up completely when you press the integrated on/off switch. It is important to note that the entire rack heats up when on, vertical bars included. This is a bit of a strange design choice, as towels do not go on the vertical bars.
With this rack, caution should be exercised; if you happen to accidentally grab the vertical bars when it is hot, you will burn yourself. There is also no automatic shut off, so if you happen to forget you’ve left it on, your hand will show it.
Pros: Heats the towels more completely than a box heater.
Cons: Lack of obvious safety features puts you and your family at risk if someone forgets to turn off the heating element.
Bottom Line: If it was safer to handle, it would make an ideal product. It works, but you have to be careful and ensure that you turn it off after each use.
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Warmly Yours 4 Bar Towel Warmer
An interesting take on the towel warmer rack, the WarmYours 4 bar towel warmer implements an interesting, heating-element style rack to warm your towels while you shower.
It is 28.5 inches high and 16 inches wide, which is great for longer towels if you drape them over the top most rung, but less fantastic for very wide towels. Folding wide towels in half should satisfy the width restriction.
Alternatively, you can also hang two shorter towels to get the most out of your heating experience. To save space, this rack is wall mounted, and can swing on hinges to remove it from the wall when in use.
Some of the most prominent complaints about this product is that it does not heat the towels all the way.
Due to the spacing of the rungs, it does appear that the towel should at least get spots of heating throughout, but many buyers state that the only heat their towels get is from the rung which the towel is hung.
This is problematic, as the rack itself is not cheap.
Meanwhile, other buyers say that yes, the towel warmer does work as intended, but it doesn’t get hot enough to make the towels toasty. More or less a lukewarm towel. Even still, there are customers that are happy with the product and have had the model for years.
Pros: The design allows for large or small towels to be draped over the rungs.
Cons: Doesn’t necessarily heat as it is described, so buyer beware when purchasing this item.
Bottom Line: The hinges make for a unique twist on the wall-mounted design, making this towel warmer a little nicer than it’s competitors.
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Heatwave Industries Towel Spa Towel Warmer
A compact towel warmer is great for any bathroom.
The Heatwave Towel Spa is just the thing to tuck away next to the shower to ensure that you have a toasty warm towel to greet you after a long shower. This little device measures 7.5 inches deep, 11 inches wide and 11.5 inches high, perfect for your towel, robe, or clothes to be ready and waiting in minutes.
It doesn’t take long for this little piece of machinery to get hot, and your articles stay warm for hours.
There is a safety feature in place to ensure that you aren’t overheating your towels. Once the inside of this warmer reaches the predetermined temperature, it sits and shuts off after five minutes.
Of course, this does not get your towels steaming hot; instead it leaves them warm, as though you had just popped them into a dryer for a couple minutes.
This device does not dry towels, only warms them up, so putting a wet towel into this device isn’t going to change how wet it is.
Pros: Small, lightweight, and easily portable from bathroom to bathroom.
Cons: Doesn’t hold a lot, and can’t also be used to dry towels after each use.
Bottom Line: Ideal for small bathrooms, as it is not very big, but can still hold enough for one person’s shower.
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Amba RSWH-B Hardwired Radiant Square Towel Warmer
The Amba RSWH-B towel warmer, like others of the same name, is a wall mounted towel warmer and dryer for when you need a warm hug after a refreshing shower.
This stainless steel product heats up entirely, offering a complete warming experience that leaves no spot unheated. The horizontal and the vertical bars heat up when the on switch is pressed, and will continue to heat your garments until the product is switched off. This ensures that your towels stay warm until you are ready for them. Simply switch off the towel warmer when you are finished.
The RSWH-B does not have any additional safety features, such as an automatic shut-off. It relies entirely on the manual on/off switch present near the bottom.
As a result, failure to turn off the Amba towel warmer means it will eat electricity until you remember to turn it off. It is wall mounted, and is about 32 inches high by 24 inches long, and only juts out 4.5 inches from the wall. This makes it a space saving alternative to bulky, “portable” box towel warmers.
Pros: Heats and dries towels quickly and efficiently.
Cons: No automatic shut off in case you forget to turn the thing off when you’re done.
Bottom Line: Invest in an automatically timed outlet and you have yourself a pretty good towel warmer for a reasonable price.
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Brookstone Towel Warmer
Nothing beats a warm towel straight out of the shower.
You’re cold, you’re wet, you’re exposed to the air, and a regular towel just doesn’t feel as nice. Enter the towel warmer; a handy device that takes your towels and warms them up to a nice toasty temperature.
The Brookstone towel warmer is one such product, holding up to two towels at once to warm for when you get out. This trashcan sized device is easy to use; simply put in your towels and press the button. In about ten minutes, you will have ultra warm towels ready for when you get out. If you take longer than ten minutes to have a shower, then the towels will stay warm for you for about 20 minutes.
While it does warm your towels, it is not designed to warm anything else. It is imperative that you do not allow children to play in or around this product as they can suffer serious burns.
Care should be taken when retrieving your towel as the inside of this product can reach temperatures of 120 degrees Fahrenheit.
Unfortunately, this product is not known among its buyers for being long lasting. At most, the product lasts a few months before something goes awry.
Pros: Warms your towels quickly for when you get out of the shower.
Cons: Serious design flaw that causes the heating element to break after a few months of use.
Bottom Line: Better to shop around first before settling on this product, or wait for it to go on sale before buying.
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Homeleader 100W Towel Warmer and Drying Rack
This towel warmer by Homeleader looks great and works even better. If what you are looking for is a sleek, smooth, towel drying rack that holds and warms your towels for a “fresh from the dryer” feeling, then this may be the product for you.
It is 32 inches high and 25 inches wide, a very balanced height to width ratio that ensures fitting at least two towels simultaneously on this rack.
This sleek product has an inline switch to turn the heating element on and off, but does not have any auto shut off to speak of.
The flexible nature of this towel rack is also admirable. Not that it can twist to hold more towels, but you can easily change it from a standing rack to a wall mounted rack easily, depending on what you need.
The material the Homeleader towel rack is made of is designed to eliminate first-time odors that are attributed to burning electronics.
A joy to have in the bathroom; nothing beats a warmed towel after a refreshing shower.
Pros: Warms the towel to a modest temperature: not too hot, not too cold.
Cons: It doesn’t warm the towels all the way through, and leaves some spots cooler than others.
Bottom Line: It’s a relatively effective towel warmer that makes your towels or clothes a little nicer to slide into when you come out of the shower.
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LCM Home Fashion 6 Bar Towel Warming Rack
Towel warming bins are ideal when you want a warm towel after a hot shower, and can greatly extend feelings of relaxation even after the water has been turned off.
However, the boxes can heat your towels unevenly, resulting in cold spots.
With the LCM towel warming rack, you don’t have to worry as much about uneven heating, as you can simply drape the towel over all of the bars to get a more complete heat along the entirety of the towel. Warm multiple towels at once, or use the rack as a drying stand for the next time.
This towel rack can either stand on the floor, or it can be mounted to the wall to save space in a cramped bathroom.
When standing on the legs, it is about 13.5 inches deep. Wall mounting this product takes up about 5 inches, plus it leaves the floor for other things. The LCM towel warmer stands at 35 inches high and 22 inches wide, making it ideal for many different widths and lengths of towels.
Multiple towels warming at the same time may reduce how warm outer towels get.
Pros: Large enough to hold many towels at once, and dries towels faster than if you leave them out to hang on their own.
Cons: There is no auto shut off, so if you leave it on overnight, it eats electricity.
Bottom Line: Get a socket adapter with a timer to shut off electricity after a certain time to ensure that this product is not left on if you forget about it.
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Conair Therma Luxe PTW1 Towel Warmer
A warm bath or shower is best followed by a warm towel or warm pajamas. But putting either in the dryer is not only a waste of electricity, it defeats the purpose of having your garments right there to grab.
The Conair Therma Luxe towel warmer is perfect for putting your towels or pajamas to heat up while you relax. The unit is small enough to be conveniently stored in your bathroom, but big enough to hold towels, pajamas, or even a thinner bathrobe for warming.
This convenience makes the unit and ideal candidate for all your bathroom warming needs.
The soft white towel warmer is portable, as it connects to any standard outlet easily. Move it from your bathroom to your bedroom to warm up your outfit before you get dressed.
The heating element takes about 15 minutes to heat your clothes, and shuts off as soon as the internal temperature reaches a certain point. At that point, your towels should be good to go. It should be noted that this unit works best with thinner items, as the heating element is on the bottom.
Because of this placement, rolling up your towels will leave them cooler in some places, and warm in others.
Pros: Portable and small enough to put virtually anywhere makes this a great multi-purpose garment heater.
Cons: Because of where the heating element is, you have to be careful how you put your clothes in to get the most even heat.
Bottom Line: This unit works best for smaller items of clothing and thinner towels; thicker towels will not be heated as thoroughly.
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Warmrails HSKC Kensington 39.5 Inch Wall Mounted Towel Holder
Save space on your floor with this wall mounted towel rack. It is designed to hold on to your towels and give them a lightly warm feeling.
Ideal for colder climates, as the first rush of air right out of the shower can be a bit of a jolt. This Warmrails product is 39.5 inches high and 24 inches wide; enough to hold your towels, but not wide enough to take up a whole lot of space on your wall.
Installation is easy enough; as long as you have an outlet, this will run. Make sure to turn it off when you’re done, as this product does not have an auto-off switch.
This towel warmer has enough rungs to thoroughly warm your towels, and the bars do get hot to the touch.
Thicker towels will have wildly different results compared to thinner towels, but given enough time either kind will eventually get warm.
It’s a completely metal product, with the exception being the feet and the holders on the sides, so it retains heat for longer than other materials. It also runs at 105 watts, to help save energy.
Pros: Very long, enough to fit whatever you need on it.
Cons: It’s a wall mount only, which is not all that great for bathrooms with not a lot of wall space to spare.
Bottom Line: It’s a simple and effective towel warmer that works as advertised.
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Conair Towel Warmer and Drying Rack
The Conair towel warmer and drying rack is a product you put in your bathroom if you want style and function.
This product is a free standing structure that looks like a heat element, and is used to hold your towels while you shower. Its primary function is to warm your towels, so that when you exit the shower, there is a toasty warm towel waiting for you.
When you are done drying off, turn off the element and hang your towels to dry. Easy installation and use makes this product a must have.
It stands at 32 inches high and 24 inches wide, can hold two towels comfortably, and four towels if you don’t mind the ends dragging on the floor a little. Depending on how warm you want your towels, you can stack your towels so that the upper most towel traps in heat, thus making it warmer for the other towels.
Unfortunately, this warmer rack has decidedly mixed reviews: most buyers either say that it works great without issue, or it works terribly and only heats up the part of the towel that is touching. Of course, with these sorts of racks, it is the risk you run. Thankfully, there is a return policy if you aren’t happy.
Pros: If it works, it works well and leaves your towels nice and warm for when you get out of the shower.
Cons: If it doesn’t work, what you have is an expensive, but stylish, towel holder.
Bottom Line: It may be worth it to shop around first; there are other models that have much more positive reviews.
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Warmrails WHC Hyde Park 39 Inch Towel Warmer
Just like in the hotels, this luxuriously large towel rack is just what you need to have your towels perfectly placed for when you exit the shower.
This is a floor standing rack, and, like the name suggests, it is 39 inches high. It is also 24 inches wide, so while it will easily hold your towel lengthwise, you may need to fold it in half to get it to fit on the width.
This product can easily hold 2 towels for maximum warmth.
Of course, it is not limited to simply towels; you can hang your clothes as well to keep them warm, so that as soon as you are out of the shower, you are warm.
It plugs into any standard US outlet, and uses less electricity than if you were to dry your towels in a dryer. It’s handy and efficient for that out of shower burst of warmth.
This product has mixed reviews over all, but there are glowing reviews that state this product does everything they need and more.
Pros: Small enough to fit in medium and large bathrooms, and holds two thick towels for warming easily.
Cons: Depending on how the towels are hung, they may not be heated evenly.
Bottom Line: It’s a stylish towel warmer and rack that will look great in any modern bathroom.
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