HOT WATER SYSTEMS

Hot Water Systems are usually one of the following types of systems. Click on the type of system you have in your property to see more detailed information for that type;

 

    ELECTRIC

 
ELECTRIC STORAGE

This basic type of hot water system uses a storage tank and operates in the following manner.

Water is delivered into a storage tank from the cold water supply. The water is then heated up with electricity as the energy source, to a preset temperature where a thermostat will then shut off electrical energy into the unit. The delivery pipe from this unit then supplies HOT water to the house. The water that is heated inside the storage tank is the water that you actually use when you turn on a tap.
A system such as this usually looks like the picture below;

 

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Typical Electric Storage Hot Water Unit

 

 

 ELECTRIC HEAT EXCHANGE( storage )

Water is delivered into the system via the cold water supply pipe at the inlet to the unit. The Hot Water Unit has a stored supply of water that remains inside the unit. As the water passes through the cold water pipe into the unit it is connected to a coil of copper pipe that is submerged in the hot water inside the unit. The outlet of this pipe then becomes the hot water delivery pipe to the house. As the water passes through this pipe it draws off heat from surrounding water by conduction. By the time is passes out through the system it has been heated up and this is the water that you use.
A unit as described above looks like the following Photograph;

 

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Electric Heat Exchange Hot Water Unit ( Storage )

 

ELECTRIC INSTANTANEOUS

These units operate by the flow of water through the unit. It triggers heating device to operate and it heats up the water as it passes through the unit.

This type of unit is normally installed in commercial applications and looks like the unit displayed below;

 Picture Not available at this stage

 

 

GAS

GAS STORAGE

This Hot Water Unit works in a similar manner to the Electric Storage Hot Water Unit but simply differs in the energy source that it uses to heat up the stored water. It uses GAS as the energy source to heat up the water inside the unit.

Typical units of this type usually look like photograph below;

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Typical Gas Storage Hot Water Unit

GAS INSTANTANEOUS

This type of unit works similar to the Electrical Instantaneous hot water units. The flow of water through the hot water unit will cause main gas Burner to ignite and heat up water as it is flowing through the unit. GAS is the energy source that heats the water up. These units are fairly common in domestic installations and usually look like the following photograph;

gas_instantaneous_hot_water_unit_small_400

Typical Gas Instantaneous Hot Water Unit

 

      SOLAR

SOLAR HOT WATER UNIT

The basic way in which a SOLAR hot water unit operates is simply that it absorbes the Solar Enegry from the SUN into what is called the Collector Panels.

The heat is then transferred by conduction into pipes embedded inside the collector panels. This heat is usually then circulated by convection into a storage tank situated directly above the panels. By this process the water circulates and is continually heated from available Solar Energy.

Hybrid or Combined System 

In a system such as this it usually is a combination of two or more of the systems described above to give a more flexible type of system and usually to enable more energy efficient applications.

 

For further details on how we may be able to assist with your HOT WATER  requirements please contact our Office via email or during Business Hours by telephone .

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