Here's a totally stupid question

[rebeccajo 14]

Okey dokey - We are moving house.

And I got to thinking about the differences between American homes and UK homes.

In the UK, lots of homes have those very cool-ish electric hot-water devices in the showers that heat up the water for the shower. Most American homes don't. Most homes in American have a hot-water tank that heats up water for the whole house. So if we want hot water, we just turn the knob on any tap and the tank dispenses it.

Now, I do realize that also in the UK, most homes are heated through radiators powered by a boiler. Hot-water heat.

Here's my dumb question:

If (in the UK) you have a electric hot-water device in your shower, how do you get hot water from the other taps in your house? Is it coming from the same lines that fill the radiators?

*waiting for the response that will make me feel stupid*

[john_and_marlene 162]

When I lived in Germany, I had the flash water heater for the shower. I also had flash water heaters for every other hot water tap.

[Mags 112]

Most homes have a Combination (Combi) boiler, it heats both the water and the rads. Basically, when you switch on the tap the boiler clicks on and water runs through the section of the boiler that heats up. Normally takes a few seconds to get hot water through the tap, but it is energy efficient simply because you only heat what you use.

I've never actually had one of those shower things, my shower's water supply always ran through the boiler.

Edit: The water comes from the same supply, but you aren't drinking or washing in the same water that circulates the heating system. That water that is rotated through the radiators over and over again on a closed supply. You just top it up when the pressure gets low, normally once a year or so.

Edited September 27, 2007 by Mags

[Sand 5]

I Got The Solution And The Best Way To Heat The Water.

Here's It.

Buy One Like This And Heat The Water In It.

:lol:

joke

[MrsBruce5 0]

Hi Rebeccajo,

That's not a stupid Q. I have often wondered that myself. I asked Mr. Bruce about it, and well...he's not the handiest guy in town !

LOL

Rose

[rebeccajo 14]

Hi Rebeccajo,

That's not a stupid Q. I have often wondered that myself. I asked Mr. Bruce about it, and well...he's not the handiest guy in town !

LOL

Rose

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Is that cultural? A hammer doesn't fit my husband's hand..........

[Fandango 1,439]

I don't know what the hell it is...we had a combi boiler for the tub & rest of the house, but the shower had that thingy....

[featherB 1]

I dunno (am clueless about such things), but I was very surprised to find that power showers just don't seem to exist over here! The husband was pretty impressed by mine - he spent a while grumbling about my stupid 'european' shower not being powerful enough like his marvellous American one, and was then won round by the discovery that he could stay in there for as long as he liked without ever running out of hot water. He does like to shower until there's no hot water left in the tank... so I realllllly miss having a power shower!

But, um, back to the actual question... no, I have no idea. (Not a stupid question at all!) All I know is that I could always have a hot shower, and that lack of hot water anywhere else in the house had no effect on the temperature, and neither did using the washing machine/running hot taps/flushing toilets. It was also good when the boiler/water heater/something (I forget) suddenly stopped working last winter. I might have been fecking cold and unable to do the washing up without boiling the kettle a lot, but at least I could have a nice hot shower to keep me warm.

[John & Annie 0]

RJ,

Congrats, you have been trying to get out there for a while.

You can have the best of both worlds if want.

They do make those little heaters over here, but I do not think you will find alot of people who know how to install them. They are typically made for sinks in industrial complexes.

Your best bet is to get a tankless water heater, then it will function the same way without having to hit the power button in the shower.

As for your other question, radiators get their heat from the boiler, the hot water for the taps is typically is from a tank that surrounds the heated water for the radiators. They are two systems that use the same. energy. there are many ways that this works, but you get the gist.

[Kez/JWolf 6]

The house I owned in the UK had a combi hot water system, like others have said it heats water for the taps as you need it and also heats the central heating system for the radiators... the shower I had was a cold fill system so yeh you never ran out of hot water...

Over here we have just had the water tank in our condo changed over to a tankless heating system... so now it heats the water as you need it and does not store hot water in a tank... also means there is no tank to burst as I have been told the tanks only last about 10 years and then they can burst... so they need to be replaced often...

I have not been able to find a cold fill shower system over here....

Kez

[ajames79 0]

I have been curious as well!!

Thanks for asking..I am enjoying reading!

[John & Annie 0]

The house I owned in the UK had a combi hot water system, like others have said it heats water for the taps as you need it and also heats the central heating system for the radiators... the shower I had was a cold fill system so yeh you never ran out of hot water...

Over here we have just had the water tank in our condo changed over to a tankless heating system... so now it heats the water as you need it and does not store hot water in a tank... also means there is no tank to burst as I have been told the tanks only last about 10 years and then they can burst... so they need to be replaced often...

I have not been able to find a cold fill shower system over here....

Kez

I just did a quick google and they are hard to find here. I shoud say they are not as common as tehy are over in the UK. The ones over here would not be the same.

The best bet is to go tankless.

[VisaJourneyLady 33]

I knew Home Economics would come in handy one day!!

In case you haven't figured it out already, the combi heaters work thus:

There is a tank of water with a heating element in it, this is the water for the showers / taps etc. Pipe going in at the bottom with the cold water, and out at the top where the hot water sits.

There is another pipe which goes right through the tank, with no break, the water flowing through this is the water for the rads. The heat from the water in the main part of the tank transfers to the water going through the inner tank, but doesn't actually mix with it. The water going through the central heating system is a closed system, so the same water just flows around and around.

does that answer the question?

[Mags 112]

I knew Home Economics would come in handy one day!!

In case you haven't figured it out already, the combi heaters work thus:

There is a tank of water with a heating element in it, this is the water for the showers / taps etc. Pipe going in at the bottom with the cold water, and out at the top where the hot water sits.

There is another pipe which goes right through the tank, with no break, the water flowing through this is the water for the rads. The heat from the water in the main part of the tank transfers to the water going through the inner tank, but doesn't actually mix with it. The water going through the central heating system is a closed system, so the same water just flows around and around.

does that answer the question?

That's not a Combi Boiler. A combi boiler does not have a tank anywhere.

A combi boiler is what a combination boiler is more popularly known as. It is a boiler that takes up very little space. The process of condensation in the case of a combi boiler is highly efficient. It is a very popular choice of domestic and household boilers in the United Kingdom. More than half of the boilers used nowadays in British homes are combi boilers.

A combi boiler is different from other boilers in the sense that there is no need to store hot water in a combi boiler. Hence it saves space in the airing cupboard, which would have otherwise been use to store a cylinder for heating water. It derives its name (combi boiler) from the fact that it is combined within a single compact unit.

There is no cistern for storing cold water either in a combi boiler, unlike in conventional boilers. A combi boiler, therefore, saves both energy and time, and enables the user to enjoy a shower that does not require a pump and yet is more powerful than a shower taken using water which is heated in a regular boiler.

http://www.blurtit.com/q933571.html

[John & Annie 0]

leave it to the crazy cat lady to sort it out.

thanks mags, i could not spit it out.