Traditional Central Heating
Gas central heating is used by over 93% of UK households, making it by far the most popular choice of heating.
Oil-fired central heating is the next most popular form of heating, accounting for approximately 4.5% of households. These days it is normally only installed in rural areas where there is no mains gas supply available.
Radiators
Both systems use boilers to heat water, which is then pumped around the house to radiators to provide a background heat. The heat output is controlled by a mixture of wall-mounted and radiator-mounted thermometers, enabling heat to be comfortably set in different rooms depending on usage and personal preferences. Traditionally, living areas are set to a higher temperature than bedrooms.
Heat & Domestic Hot Water
The boilers have a dual function as they are also used to heat hot water for domestic uses like personal hygiene & cleanliness, bathing, laundry and washing up.
Gas Boiler Types
Traditionally there are two main types of gas boiler in use in the UK. Conventional and Combi-boilers.
Conventional boilers were once fitted as standard for all gas central heating installations. If your gas central heating was first installed over 20 years ago, your boiler is most likely to be this type. Conventional boilers heat water in advance of use, and require an expansion water tank in the loft and a separate hot water storage tank. Hot water can be supplied to several different taps at the same time.
Combi-boilers have become very popular in recent years, and tend to have been fitted with all new heating systems installed since the 1990s. They do not need a separate loft expansion tank and hot water storage tank, as water is heated on demand and supplied directly from the boiler itself. Depending on mains pressure, may not be able to deliver hot water to more than one tap at a time, and it may take a few seconds for water to get hot.
Conventional boilers are probably best suited to larger homes with more than one bathroom, whilst Combi-boilers are ideal for smaller homes with a single bathroom.
CONVENTIONAL HEATING