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Heating water

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JudithSH | 00:55 Mon 30th Aug 2004 | How it Works
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What is the differnece between an immersion heartyer and a boiler
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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,
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.
You win Ben - I didn't see you coming up on the inside lane.
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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?
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.
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

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