Sealed or Vented Central Heating Systems
Sealed or Vented Central Heating Systems
Before you purchase a central heating system you need to establish what type of system and central heating boiler you will want. To help you visualise the choices available we will outline the main variants of system. When you buy a central heating system you are essentially buying a collection of different component parts including a heating boiler and radiators.
Air conditioning systems are not yet a common feature in homes whereas every northern European household is built with a form of central heating. Virtually all new housing developments incorporate central heating systems as a regular fixture within the dwelling.
Whilst we tend to forget about the central heating system it will be operational day-to-day to provide hot water and comes to the fore in the winter when heating your family. Most homes are transformed when the heating system is switched on delivering a comfy temperature. In addition to warming the family the central heating system will be used to furnish hot water when required. You need heating and hot water every day so you need a system that you can reckon upon. You will want an efficient system that functions in the background without any niggling breakdowns.
You will find two main system forms, vented and sealed central heating systems.
The pumped or vented system is most often seen. You will find that this configuration incorporates a feed and expansion tank in addition to a hot water cylinder. Hot water expands and in this type of system flows back to the expansion tank. If you look for the expansion tank in an existing system you will most commonly find it in the loft.
If you purchase a new home you may now find that it incorporates a sealed central heating system. An advantage of a sealed system is that it has no demand for an expansion tank. A sealed Central Heating System is connected to the mains water supply to allow the removal of the water feed tank. if you embrace this system you don’t need to use your attic for housing in the expansion tank thereby saving space, the whole system is sealed, its unvented, which has its benefits:
- as the pipework is removed from the loft it will not be in danger of freezing in the wintertime
- your upkeep requirements are reduced as there are fewer components
- less chance of piping developing leakages
- as the system is sealed there is less chance of air incoming leading to corrosion or airlocks
Typical variances of pressure can be allowed in a sealed system through a pressure vessel that holds compressed gas. Valves allow cold water to enter and top up the system when pressure falls, other safety mechanics open valves if the interior pressure is to high.