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Central heating systems |
Article Submitted by: Joanna Harris
Wednesday, 18 November 2009
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One of the major necessities in buildings nowadays is that of central heating systems, especially in countries with a cold climate. A central heating system is the one which provides heat and warmth to the entire building from one central point. It is different from local heating in a sense that the entire heating process is done at one centralized place in the building and then sent to various rooms via ducts. The heating can be done by various methods but the most common one is that of burning or combustion of fossil fuels in a boiler or furnace. This is then supplied to the rest of the building through ducts by air, heated water or steam circulating in the pipes. The heat in the furnace is fuelled by combustion of coal, oil or gas. Apart from this method, there are also other methods such as electrical heating systems. But these systems can sustain only in places with low cost of electricity or with usage of geo thermal heat pumps. The various types of central heating systems available are: 1. The conventional heating system: it requires 2 tanks: one - a Cold Water Storage Tank, the other - an Expansion / Feed tank. The hot water in it is available for immediate use but once it is over, there is a time lag of 1 hour to heat up more water. It is also very inefficient due to heat loss from boiler to pipes and between cylinders. 2. Electric and gas fired heaters: in this method, electricity is directly converted into heat. The air circulates around heating elements and then it is transported through ducts. This is naturally a quite expensive method as the electricity is not cheap. 3. Hydronic and steam heaters: these types of heaters circulate hot water for heating. The steam systems are the same as hydronic ones except for the fact that it uses steam instead of hot water for heating. Whatever type of central heating is used, the environmental aspects must be kept in mind. It is useless to provide a central heating to a building where only a portion of it needs to be heated, since central heating leads to distribution losses. It would be wiser to have an individual heater or a fireplace in such cases. One more consideration to be kept in mind is the emission of carbon monoxide, which is a toxic product of combustion. It is deadly so its build up should be prevented. This makes it important to have a carbon monoxide detector fitted in the house which will go off once the level of the gas becomes high. Selecting the right type of central heating for your requirements may seem a mammoth task at hand, but the efforts put in will help to ensure that the running costs are not too high and that the heating keeps you cosily warm all through the winters. http://www.plumberelephantandcastle.co.uk Article Source: http://www.ArticleBlast.com |
About The Author:
Joanna is a well renowned Polish Journalist specialising in Polish, Russian and English translation services. She has been residing in UK for 3 years where she has made her home among the Polish community in Tooting, South West London.
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