The Conventional Boiler - A Review

Your boiler is probably the most expensive household appliance that you have in your home and replacing it is even more expensive. So it is imperative that you get the best boiler for your home and at a price your budget can afford. Below is a review of a conventional boiler and its benefits and drawbacks to potential owners and users.

Conventional Boiler Benefits

• Reliable as less can go wrong.
• Relatively simple controls
• Maintenance costs are very low
• Very versatile as they can be fed by gravity or pump and be installed in most property sizes.
• Normally the copper cylinder is fitted with an immersion element, so in the event that the boiler breaks down the user with not be with out hot water.

Conventional Boiler Drawbacks

• Can not supply hot water on demand, hot water must be stored.
• High energy consumption, meaning high emissions and high gas bills
• Three part system (Boiler, Copper cylinder and tanks), wasted spaces in your home.

Conventional boilers are three unit systems, you have the boiler which heats the water for your central heating and bathing requirements, a cylinder which stores the hot water and the tanks which are normally located in the loft which supply the water. They normally have very simple controls with an immersion back up switch on the cylinder in case the boiler breaks down or all the hot water has been used and you need to quickly heat some water for a quick shower or bath (immersion energy use is very high, and costly), so you are never without hot-water.

The simplicity of the appliance means maintenance costs are very low. They can be used in most properties sizes because they are very versatile and can be either used with a gravity or a pump system.

However, a conventional boiler system can not heat water instantly like a combi-boiler, the water has to be heated and then stored in the cylinder. Once the hot-water has been used by the user, the user has to wait for the boiler to heat more water and store it in the cylinder again, this can be very frustrating for households who need to use the hot-water one after each other.

Conventional boilers are very inefficient in both energy and space, as they are continually heating the water to the temperature the user has set. This means high emissions and high gas bills. For the latter, the boiler is three unit system and normally the cylinder will be placed in the airing cupboard, and tanks in the loft which in some properties is there only space available.

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