Heating water

[JudithSH]

What is the differnece between an immersion heartyer and a boiler

[BenDToy]

In general an immersion heater is an elctrical element which sits inside your hot water tank to heat up the water. A boiler heats water in a separate "closed" system. If it is linked to your hot water system, this water passes through a hollow pipe in the hot water tank and heats up the water in the tank. Hope this helps,

[Sylday]

Boiler is a general name for a water heater; it could be fuelled by coal, gas or electricity - or possibly even the sun. An immersion heater is an electric water heater, where the electric element is immersed in the water inside the boiler.

[Sylday]

You win Ben - I didn't see you coming up on the inside lane.

[JudithSH]

Thanks for this. Does a boiler keep the water heated at all times (according to a thermostatic setting? If only at the house at the weekend would it be sensible to turn the system off during the week?

[Sylday]

Presumably, you're referring to an immersion heater. Yes, when switched on, the water in an IH should stay at a constant temperature, controlled by the thermostat. But thermostats can fail, resulting in water over-heating, and in any case it would be a waste of electricity to leave an IH switched on while you're away. Personally, because there are only two of us, and we have a large IH tank, we tend to switch the heater on for 40 mins or so each morning, and then switch it off - which works well for us.

[norfolk boy]

If you want to leave the boiler off at any time during the winter, Make sure you have a frost stat installed or there's a chance of a flood if the wether gets very cold