Gas & LPG Heating Engineers. Bathroom fitting & Design. General Plumbing.
Serving Burton Upon Trent, Lichfield, Ashby and surrounding areas.
FAQ’s
A condensing boiler produces condensation by re-using some of the hot gases that are normally expelled out of the flue. This makes better use of the heat that is normally wasted. In turn this produces condensation that is drained away from the boiler via a pipe.
In 2005 the government made it compulsory to fit condensing boilers in the UK. All boilers are now condensing boilers. You can have a “condensing combi”, a “condensing regular boiler” or a “condensing system boiler”.
A Combi Boiler does all your heating and hot water on demand. E.G. Turn on your hot tap – the boiler heats up the water as you need it. This kind of boiler means that there is no need for a tank in the loft or airing cupboard. There are advantages and disadvantages with a combi – so please contact us for details.
A combi boiler is pressurised, so if you are swapping a boiler over from a “gravity fed system” to a “pressurised system” any existing weak points in your system could be discovered!
This is where you have a separate boiler, separate water tank, normally in the airing cupboard and normally a cold water storage tank in the loft. There will be a separate pump and separate motorised valve(s). The boiler will heat the radiators and the hot water controlled by a programmer. This is sometimes referred to as a traditional ‘open vented’ or ‘gravity fed’ system.
This is similar to a combi, it is pressured, the pump and other components are built into the boiler but you will still need a separate hot water tank for your hot water needs.
There are many advantages and disadvantages of each system. Different systems suit different individuals depending on their circumstances and lifestyle.
“A Rated” means approx 90% efficiency or above. E.G. £100 gas bill – £90 converted to heat in the home. £10 expelled through the flue. A lot of old boilers can be anything as low as 60% efficient.
When rain falls, it runs into the ground where it absorbs minerals from the rocks in that geographical area, normally limestone. These minerals come out of the water and cling to surrounding surfaces, pipes, showers, boilers etc. This process is accelerated when the water is heated. An example of this is the element in your kettle. Photo shows the effects of limescale on the outlet of a hot water tank.No, they do not. Older radiators were less efficient and had to be bigger to produce the necessary level of heat. Newer radiators have been designed to produce sufficient heat, with a smaller surface area. But obviously, the bigger the new radiator, the more heat it will produce. We will size the new radiator for you.
Zoning is where different parts of your system can operate independently so the whole house doesn’t have to be on when you are perhaps sitting in the lounge. E.G. Upstairs on one circuit, downstairs on another, under floor heating on another circuit in the conservatory. All 3 (or more) zones can be controlled by a central programmer with a room thermostat in each zone which regulates the temperature.
A TRV is callibrated so that it opens and closes automatically at certain temperatures. It senses the “air temp” of the room and turns the radiator off when the room is warm enough, and turns the radiator back on when the room cools down. E.G. Bedroom TRV set to number 3 – this is approx 15 degrees, so when the room reaches 15 degrees the radiator goes off, when the temperature drops below 15 degrees the radiator goes on. This is useful for keeping the ‘chill off’ in spare rooms that aren’t used regularly. The boiler won’t have to work so hard – so cost savings are made.
Please take a look at this condensation pipe upgrade for further info.
Any other questions please ask and you will get a quick response.