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Basic questions on heating and hot water

  • 23-05-2014 10:06am
    #1
    Registered Users Posts: 12


    Hi,

    I’m looking to buy a house, and am really confused about heating and hot water systems – what to look out for/questions to ask the estate agent.
    I hear about tanks, pumps, boilers, cylinders etc, but don’t understand how they all work.

    Sorry for the dummy questions, but in a standard house does it work like this :
    • Gas boiler, located against an external wall somewhere
    • The boiler heats both the radiators and the water. Is this a “combi-boiler”? Are there some boilers that only heat radiators?
    • If your boiler heats the hot water, would you ever use the immersion (in the hot press) to heat your water? I guess the boiler is heating the hot water which is in the tank in the hotpress?
    • Radiators :
    o How can you tell if they need to be replaced? I know there are newer ones (TRV) with numbered controls (0-5). But if they are not TRV, how can I tell if they are in good enough condition?
    • Shower :
    o Where I live now (apartment), I have constant hot water – I never turn on an immersion etc. What would I need to have constant hot water in a house too – e.g. a boiler on a timer? Or set a boiler temperature, and the water stays at this heat?
    o If a house has an electric shower, is this not using water which was heated by the gas boiler? i.e. its using cold water from the tank in the attic?
    o If I’d like to have a really strong pressure power shower, can a pump be set up in conjunction with the gas boiler?

    Sorry for how basic the questions are! Any insights are much appreciated.


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