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Heating & Hot Water Installations

Heating your home – advice on boilers and heating controls

Choosing a new appliance to heat your home can be a daunting task, raising questions such as:

• Which heating product do I need? • Which type of heating system? • What‘s the back-up like?

Boilers – all you need to know

Efficiency
If your boiler is over 15 years old and your annual fuel bill is high, you might want to consider getting a new one installed. Householders who have had their existing boiler for ten years or more could save up to £250 a year*, by simply upgrading to a condensing model.

Worcester’s Greenstar range of gas and oil-fired boilers are all over 90% efficient and ‘A’ rated for efficiency, which means they are better for the environment as well as reducing fuel bills.

Temperature controls
Depending on the size of your boiler and the heating load within, the operating efficiency of a condensing boiler can be significantly enhanced by up to 13% when installed with the correct controls. By reducing the temperature on your thermostat by 1°C you could save 10% off your annual fuel bill. The value of getting the correct heating controls is often overlooked so talk to one of our installers who will be able to advise you.

Drayton brings you 2 programmable room thermostat wireless systems, a breakthrough in programmable thermostats. Easy to install, easy to use and offers a wealth of big pluses for both installers and users together with a supreme level of heating control and comfort.

How do I decide which type of condensing boiler best suits my needs?

There are 3 different types of high-efficiency condensing boiler:

• Combi
• Regular (a regular boiler is often also referred to as a “traditional” or “conventional” boiler.)
• System

Each type delivers all the benefits of high-efficiency technology, but which one you choose will depend on several factors, including your property, your lifestyle and the professional advice of one of our Gas Safe Register installers.

What is a combi boiler?

An example of a central heating and hot water system layout using a combi boiler.

The high efficiency condensing combi or combination boiler is an ingenious space-saving idea, and an increasingly popular choice in UK homes. In fact, combis now account for well over half of all the new domestic boilers installed in Britain every year.

The major difference between a combi and any other type of boiler is that a combi eliminates the need to store hot water - so no hot water cylinder in the airing cupboard. It is both a high-efficiency water heater and central heating boiler, combined (hence the name) within one compact unit which usually sits in the kitchen or utility room, or sometimes in the airing cupboard.
The space savings result from the fact there is no hot water storage cylinder, cold water storage cistern or other familiar components of a regular (conventional) heating system.

The further benefits of this are a significant saving on hot water costs, and the fact that hot water is delivered through your taps or shower at mains pressure. So you can enjoy powerful showering* without the need for a pump. Another combi benefit is that it can generally save you money on installation time and costs, since no tank in the roof space means less pipe work and a shorter installation time.

*a thermostatically-controlled shower safeguards against sudden changes in water temperature.

What is a regular boiler?

An example of a central heating and hot water system layout using a regular boiler.

If you are replacing an older model of boiler, the chances are that you will have a regular (conventional) boiler. A typical conventional system incorporates a boiler and extended controls, a feed and expansion cistern, and a hot water cylinder (usually in the airing cupboard) which is often fed by a cold water storage cistern located in the loft.

What is a system boiler?

An example of a central heating and hot water system layout using a system boiler with an open-vented hot water cylinder

An example of a central heating and hot water system layout using a system boiler with a pressurised unvented hot water cylinder.

Unlike a combi, both a system boiler and a regular (conventional) boiler work on the principle of stored hot water - but a system boiler differs from a regular boiler in some important respects.

Firstly, many of the major individual components of the heating and hot water system are built in, which means that installation is quicker, neater, easier and more efficient.
Secondly, the hot water is pumped from the boiler through the system to the radiators and hot water cylinder, resulting in a fast response and more economical running costs. The system boiler removes the need for a feed and expansion cistern.

Here are a few examples and guidelines to think about and help you identify the type of condensing boiler most likely suited to your needs.

Consideration	Most suitable boiler
You want to use your loft space for a room conversion or other purpose	COMBI
You live in a flat or bungalow (i.e. have very little or no roof space)	COMBI
Your home has more than 2 bathrooms	REGULAR OR SYSTEM
Your main water pressure is low	REGULAR OR SYSTEM
You want to replace an old boiler to improve an existing conventional central heating system	REGULAR, SYSTEM or COMBI
There is a need to have hot water available on tap without waiting for it to heat up.	COMBI

www.worcester-bosch.co.uk

Hot Water

Unvented hot water systems

Unvented water heating is the fastest growing sector of the UK market. Unvented systems are fed directly from the cold water mains supply and offer a number of benefits compared to conventional systems. Chief among these are: no cold water storage of water is required, higher pressure and flow rates at all taps therefore no shower pumps required; balanced hot and cold water supplies; no requirement for special taps.

Including trade names of

Megaflo
Ozo
Gledhill

Also available for solar applications.

Megaflo is one the brand leaders in unvented domestic water heating.

In addition to the basic advantages of unvented systems, NEW high efficiency Megaflo HE offers a number of features that place it well ahead of the competition in terms of performance, quality and reliability.

The NEW high efficiency Megaflo HE now boasts numerous innovative features designed to ensure superior levels of operating efficiency, delivering even more hot water – just when you need it!

Thanks to the high-performance ‘coil in coil’ heat exchanger; more hot water is available quicker than ever before.