Essential Guide To Central Heating Installations

Installing A Modern Central Heating System

Modern boilers and heating systems come with a whole host of options which can be used to create a central heating and hot water system that is best suited to your home, personal usage requirements and budget. So, with so many options, where do you start and how do you decide what is right for you?

First and foremost, you will need to consider your own circumstances. There are of course many factors to consider, but let’s start with the most important, fundamental considerations.

How many radiators do you anticipate having in the rooms?In considering your property, you will need to consider the number of floors, rooms and bathrooms which the boiler and central heating system will need to provide for.

• What about the entrance lobby, hallways or stairway landings?
• How many bath or shower rooms are there?

Okay, so now you have an idea of the scale of things. The next step is perhaps one of the biggest considerations; your usage requirements. This is of course is dependent on the size of your home and the number of people in your household. Apart from heating your home, you will need to consider the amount of hot water you will typically use on a daily basis and how it is likely used. A common consideration in households with more than one bathroom, is whether you will need to use the hot water simultaneously.

By understanding the nature of your usage, it will help to determine the type of boiler that is most suitable for your requirements and whether or not you will require a hot tank /cylinder to be installed as part of your heating system. Essentially there are three main types of gas central heating system set-ups to consider, each of which comes with it’s own advantages and disadvantages.

Heating Systems With Combination Boilers

In general, Combination boilers are suitable for flats and houses where the hot and cold water requirements are limited to ideally one bathroom / wc and a kitchen (maximum 2 bathrooms). This is simply because Combi boilers are mains-fed, and so using water from multiple locations or ‘draw offs’ can cause an issue with the water supply.

Heating Systems With Conventional Boilers

Conventional boiler systems tend to be found in older properties. These normally comprise of a heat-only boiler, a copper cylinder which stores the hot water, a cold water storage tank and a Feed and Expansion tank. The mains water will supply both of these tanks, the kitchen sink cold tap and usually no more than that. The advantage of a conventional boiler systems is that they do not suffer the pressure drops that combination boiler set-ups can sometimes experience. This is because there is a supply of stored water in the system.However, the space required for all the aspects of a conventional system can be quite extensive and the running costs can out-weigh the benefits in relatively large home if there are only one or two people in the household.

Heating Systems With System Boilers

Finally, a central heating set up that comprises of a System boiler is quite similar to that of a conventional boiler system, but usually the cylinder is an Unvented Cylinder (eg. a Megaflow). This means that there are no cold water storage tanks or Feed and Expansion tanks. The cylinder is mains fed so the pressure at the hot tap will be similar to the mains cold feed entering the property. The advantages of this are the space savings that can be achieved by not having the tanks and the greater flow rate at the hot tap. These cylinders can also be stored in garages and in attics. The disadvantages of this system can be the cost and the requirement of a mains water flow rate of 22 litres per minute.

You may find it useful to read our brief guide to the different types of boiler systems ‘Which boiler system is right for your home?‘ for more information.

Of course there are other aspects of a heating system to consider. At Plumbing Wise we welcome the opportunity to provide you with free impartial advice and a quotation for a practical and efficient central heating installation designed to suit your specific requirements. At Plumbing Wise our Gas Safe Registered central heating engineers are fully trained and qualified to design, install, repair and service your gas central heating system for you. Our estimates are free of charge and are provided in a quick and easy to read format with a breakdown of  everything that is included in the installation.