When it’s working well, we hardly ever think about it – but central heating is an integral part of most homes, especially during those colder months. Connected to acombi, regular or system boiler, central heating transports hot water around the house to keep the temperature just how you like it.
But beyond this, what is central heating? What are the systems it uses, and how do they work? How do you control it? Read on to find out!
Keeping Britain Warm: Types of Central Heating Systems
Generally speaking, there are three main types of central heating systems, and the wet central heating system is by far the most popular in the UK. However, as well as the UK’s standard, there are a couple of other options available: warm air systems and storage heaters. Let’s have a look at each of these:
Wet systems
As the name suggests, ‘wet’ central heating systems rely on water. The system is built around a boiler which burns fuel to heat water. This hot water is then distributed through a network of pipes.
Often, the pipework feeds into radiators, which heat the room via a process called ‘convection’. This means that the radiator heats air around it, causing the warm air to rise, and cold air to fall. This cold air is heated in turn, and a circulating system of heat energy moves around the room, warming the space.
Sometimes, a wet central heating system may link to a large tank, known as a hot water cylinder. This will depend on the type of boiler you have.
Warm air systems
Warm air systems are more popular outside the UK, however they were occasionally installed in Britain during the 1960s and 70s. With a warm air system, the central boiler heats air, usually by burning natural gas or a fossil fuel. It then distributes the hot air to a vent in the floor or wall. The system requires a heat pump on the wall outside to perform the heat exchange. Heated air systems can also double as air conditioning systems, and you’re most likely to see them in large commercial buildings.
Storage heaters
Storage heating systems are powered by electricity. They use special bricks, which are designed to hold large amounts of heat. The system is linked to the electricity grid and the bricks are heated at lower-cost, off-peak times: late at night, for instance. They then slowly release that heat over the following day.
Types of Boiler
There are three main types of boiler used to power central heating systems, and the type of boiler used will depend on the age of the building, the age of the system, or the preferences of the owner.
Combi boilers
Combi, or combination boilers, are usually the quickest, most efficient and most cost-effective option available. They’re able to run the central heating and provide hot water on demand from a single gas boiler unit. Combination boilers heat water instantly, meaning there is no hot water cylinder or storage tank to think about.
Regular boilers
Regular boilers, sometimes called conventional boilers, are the traditional system, more typically found in older homes. Hot water and central heating are controlled separately. Regular boilers heat water and store it in a hot water cylinder ready for use in cold weather. The gas boiler itself, as well as the tank, are usually located in an airing cupboard or the attic.
System boilers
System boilers are incredibly reliable, and typically run without issues for at least 15 years. Like regular boilers, system boilers need a tank and hot water cylinder. They are often the best choice for larger homes with greater hot water demands.
In most cases, heat generation occurs by burning natural gas, and though they do burn fuel, these modern central heating systems have impressively high efficiency ratings. However, if your system boiler is more than fifteen years old, there’s a good chance it is not the most economic or energy-efficient system available. This can mean that when you turn on the central heating, it’s costing you more than it needs to. Find out if replacing your boiler could save you money.
Ways of Controlling the Central Heating
The system you have in your home will affect the way you control your central heating (and hot water).
Thermostat
This is the small box with a dial on the wall, usually in the living room or hallway. The thermostat measures the central heat inside the house and, depending on your selected setting, starts or stops the boiler sending hot water around the central heating system to the radiators.
Radiator valves
Not all the radiators need to be running the same temperature. You can adjust them using the radiator valves. These are located on the side or back of individual radiators. They are used to adjust and control the temperature of specific rooms. Essentially, they block off the flow of hot water when the radiator gets up to temperature. It’s not very efficient to twist the radiator valve to completely ‘off’ or fully ‘on’; better to use the middle range of settings to find the perfect temperature.
Programmer (or scheduling system)
The programmer is a control panel, located somewhere in the system, giving you control over what time the system turns on and off. Using the programmer is a great way to increase efficiency and reduce your carbon footprint. For a combi boiler, the programmer controls only the central heating. In other systems it may apply to the hot water, heating, or both. Modern boilers use an electric or digital programmer. Older models tend to have an analogue clock which uses pins.
Boiler thermostat
This is a thermostat located on the side of the boiler itself. It is used to control the temperature that the boiler heats water up to, before it gets sent to the taps or around the central heating system. Combi boilers will have two thermostats on them, to control the hot water temperature and the central heating temperature independently.
Cylinder thermostat
If your system uses a hot water cylinder, there will be a thermostat fitted to the side of this unit, too. It is there for you to adjust the temperature of the water inside.
Central Heating: Warmth When You Need It
Whichever system or controls you have in your home, understanding what’s going on when you flick on the central heating is a great way to save on your energy bills and help reduce the effects of global warming. A little knowledge goes a long way, and getting to know your central heating system means understanding what’s happening behind the scenes.
Is your boiler affecting your monthly bills? Need a new central heating system to stay on top of costs?Get in touch with Bbright today for a quote. We’re here to help with all aspects of home heating.
Used to monitor number of Google Analytics server requests when using Google Tag Manager
1 minute
_gac_
Contains information related to marketing campaigns of the user. These are shared with Google AdWords / Google Ads when the Google Ads and Google Analytics accounts are linked together.
90 days
_gid
ID used to identify users for 24 hours after last activity
24 hours
_ga_
ID used to identify users
2 years
_gali
Used by Google Analytics to determine which links on a page are being clicked
30 seconds
_ga
ID used to identify users
2 years
__utmx
Used to determine whether a user is included in an A / B or Multivariate test.
18 months
__utmv
Contains custom information set by the web developer via the _setCustomVar method in Google Analytics. This cookie is updated every time new data is sent to the Google Analytics server.
2 years after last activity
__utmz
Contains information about the traffic source or campaign that directed user to the website. The cookie is set when the GA.js javascript is loaded and updated when data is sent to the Google Anaytics server
6 months after last activity
__utmc
Used only with old Urchin versions of Google Analytics and not with GA.js. Was used to distinguish between new sessions and visits at the end of a session.
End of session (browser)
__utmb
Used to distinguish new sessions and visits. This cookie is set when the GA.js javascript library is loaded and there is no existing __utmb cookie. The cookie is updated every time data is sent to the Google Analytics server.
30 minutes after last activity
__utmt
Used to monitor number of Google Analytics server requests
10 minutes
__utma
ID used to identify users and sessions
2 years after last activity
Clarity is a web analytics service that tracks and reports website traffic.
Persists the Clarity User ID and preferences, unique to that site is attributed to the same user ID.
12 months
_clsk
Connects multiple page views by a user into a single Clarity session recording.
12 months
CLID
Identifies the first-time Clarity saw this user on any site using Clarity.
12 months
ANONCHK
Indicates whether MUID is transferred to ANID, a cookie used for advertising. Clarity doesn't use ANID and so this is always set to 0.
Session
SourceBuster is used by WooCommerce for order attribution based on user source.
Name
Description
Duration
sbjs_migrations
Technical data to help with migrations between different versions of the tracking feature
session
sbjs_current_add
Timestamp, referring URL, and entry page for your visitor’s current visit to your store
session
sbjs_first_add
Timestamp, referring URL, and entry page for your visitor’s first visit to your store (only applicable if the visitor returns before the session expires)
session
sbjs_current
Traffic origin information for the visitor’s current visit to your store
session
sbjs_first
Traffic origin information for the visitor’s first visit to your store (only applicable if the visitor returns before the session expires)
session
sbjs_udata
Information about the visitor’s user agent, such as IP, the browser, and the device type
session
sbjs_session
The number of page views in this session and the current page path