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Immersion heaters and hot water tanks


The hot water tank shown in the diagram has three ways of heating the water.
(a) a heat exchanger coil
(b) a small immersion heater (A)
(c) a larger immersion heater (B)


(a) very hot water from the boiler travels through this copper coil. It loses heat energy to the water in the cylinder by conduction through the walls of the tube.

(b) this small immersion heater only heats the water at the top of the tank because hot water rises. You should use this one if you only want a little hot water, for example for washing in the morning.

(b) this larger immersion heater will heat all the water in the tank and should be used when you want a lot of hot water. Of course the bigger energy output means that it costs more to run.


 

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© Keith Gibbs 2020