Room sealed lpg water heater

23rd September 2022/in News /by flexiheat

Room sealed LPG water heater – Flexiheat UK

Room sealed water heater

A room sealed LPG water heater is water heater that draws combustion air from outside, and any waste gases ( also know as combustion gases or flue gases ) are sent outside rather than into the room.

Thus, when you have a room sealed water heater, this means that you can work or sleep in the same area, such as shower rooms or bedrooms, where the room sealed LPG water heater is installed in total safety, without the risk of fatal carbon monoxide poisoning.

Today, most LPG water heaters are room sealed and use full electronic ignition for maximum energy savings, ensuring minimal gas consumption and maximum savings as compared to the older pilot light type of LPG water heater.

The pilot light, or pilot flame, remained on all the time in older LPG water heaters. This consumed and wasted gas, which was not good for the fuel bills and the environment due to the constant burning of the pilot flame.

“Which” consumer magazine did a costing a few years ago, which showed that a pilot light cost an astonishing average of £97 per year just to operate.

That’s why these days a full electronic ignition LPG water heater are favoured and are standard unit for virtually any location such as a static caravan, log cabins, shower rooms or any suitable place that requires efficient water heating for their domestic hot water requirements.

Propane or LPG gas

Propane gas or LPG gas water heaters are used predominately in areas where mains gas, which is natural gas, is unavailable, such as log cabins , static caravan parks or we have even supplied our room sealed LPG water heater range for shepherd huts, as the maximum power consumption is a very low 36 Watts for our most common room sealed water heater, which is our SF14 model.

The unit can be powered by either an LPG gas cylinder or a bulk propane gas storage tank. An LPG gas cylinder is often used to power a static caravan and we have a dedicated webpage when using this water heater in a caravan here – Caravan gas water heater

Domestic hot water heater

Our most common domestic water heater that is powered by propane gas is our 24 kW , which is designated our SF14 Low NOx evolution model.

This unit will operate with an extremely low water pressure water supply (only 0.5 Bar is required ) and low flow operation.

This room sealed water heater can be used on a 12 volt electric system with the use of a small inverter due to the maximum power consumption only being 36 watts. So they can be fitted in virtually any location, such as horseboxes, shepherd huts with no mains electricity, in remote locations or even narrowboats, as the unit can be powered by a small inverter on a 12 volt system.

SF14 Low NOx instantaneous water heaters have the following features:

internal picture of a room sealed water heater lpg gas fired from Flexiheat UK

Internal picture of the room sealed LPG hot water heater ,showing the de-oxygenated copper heat exchanger with large 16mm water ways

Wet chamber de-oxygenated copper heat exchanger that prevents thermal inertia in low flow operation with large 16mm water ways
Excellent thermal efficiency for maximum savings and great flow rates.
LCD display shows the temperature of the water being generated, and displays any fault codes should they ever pop up. The fault codes will tell the user exactly what the problem is, such as low pressure etc. Problem finding and solving is easy.
Electronic control board with self-diagnosis-ensure constant monitoring of the room sealed LPG water heater. Water flow and water temperature are continuously monitored by a microprocessor to provide safe and effective water heating with minimal gas usage.
Electronic ignition: Automatic ignition ensures no liquefied petroleum gas is wasted on a pilot light and minimal gas consumption.
Ionization flame control with full electronic ignition.
Adjustable water temperature of 35 to 60 degrees Celsius on the LCD display.
Reduction of initial high water temperatures with low flow rates
It will function on an extremely low water pressure of only 0.5 bar and with low flow rates.
Industry standard horizontal flue kit or vertical flue options allow you to choose the suitable place to install the efficient water heating device in total safety.
Fitting kit: our standard fitting kit includes all of the copper pipework tails as well as an isolating gas valve, cold water flow valve, and hot water outlet valve, reducing installation time.
It can be fuelled by either LPG gas cylinders or propane gas cylinders. We recommend 47 KG propane gas storage cylinders as these can supply 33.8 kW of continuous domestic hot water heating per hour, which is more than the gas input of the SF14 water heaters, which is 24 kW.
Because they can use portable gas cylinders, they are the best option for instantaneous water heaters for log cabins or static caravans in remote locations without a mains gas supply.
A direct replacement for replacing older Morco or Forcali water heaters.
Maximum power consumption is only 36 watts.
Install in virtually any location in total safety – shower rooms, shepherd huts or a static caravan etc.

Dimensions for the SF14 tankless heaters

For warranty purposes and safety all of our lpg water heaters should be installed by a LPG qualified gas safe engineer.

Download the SF14 Low NOx gas fired water heater manual Flexiheat UK

Flue kit

The industry standard horizontal 60/100mm balanced flue kit.

or vertical flue kit option

Water heating with combustion sealed LPG water heaters

Should you require any more support, selection advice, or cost/quote on our room sealed LPG water heater range with flow rates, then please use the contact us form page on the website, or feel free to give us a call on 01202 822221.

Domestic hot water storage tank

9th September 2022/in News /by flexiheat

Domestic hot water storage tank or vessel

With regards to a domestic hot water storage tank or vessel , first we have to define what domestic hot water is in relation to a storage hot water tank or hot water cylinder.

They are a hot water storage tank / hot water storage vessel / hot water accumulator tank or thermal store dhw tank to provide hot water for commercial buildings or process applications that have a requirement for large peak demands of sanitary grade warm water for multiple bathrooms in hotels etc or a process application.

Domestic hot water

Domestic hot water is the heated potable water that feeds taps, showers, baths, or the kitchen hot taps. It is also referred to as sanitary hot water. The hot water is heated up from the cold water mains temperature to the recommended temperature for storing hot water of at least 60 degrees C.

The cold water enters or that feeds the hot water tanks can either be mains water supply at mains water pressure or via a cold water storage tank/cold water tank – (often called a header tank) that is used on a vented hot water cylinder.

It is then heated up by an external heat source such as an energy efficient water heater , which can use various heat sources such as gas, oil,heat pump or an electric heating system to heat water directly. This hot water is then stored in a hot water storage tank, which is designed to retain heat as a thermal storage tank for use when there is a demand for the hot water, which is often a large load, in a short period of time.

They essentially serve as water reservoirs, and they’ll be connected to either an indirect or direct fired hot water system to increase hot water storage volumes to accommodate high demand applications with thermal storage in hot water cylinders.

A hot water storage tank or hot water storage vessel is also known as a hot water buffer tank because it “buffers” hot water loads during peak hot water demand.

Hot water storage tanks

A hot water storage tank or vessel, just like its counter parts, such as indirect cylinders or heating products, must also be energy efficient water cylinders and must carry an ErP energy efficiency rating for standby heat loss.

Any hot water storage systems must comply with the Eco-design ErP Directive.

On September 26, 2017, restrictions on hot water storage tanks’ standing heat losses (heat lost to the surroundings equals wasted energy) were implemented to ensure maximum efficiency.

Storage tanks, or cylinders with a capacity of 2,000 litres or less must meet a minimum energy performance standard in order to be sold legally in the UK and the EU. The same applies for a thermal store.

The rate of heat loss determines the energy rating of a hot water storage tank , which is measured in watts. The insulation of the hot water tank is crucial to achieving a high efficiency band since each efficiency band has a minimum and maximum heat loss proportional to capacity. The best hot water tanks have a thick layer of high-performance polyurethane foam to cover the gap between the tank and the cover.

As part of the energy labelling directive, which says that all energy-related products, like home appliances, must show their efficiency rating in a clear way, hot water storage tanks with a capacity of 500 litres or less must also have energy labels.

Our entire hot water storage tank line complies with both ErP and the energy labelling directive and can be fitted with additional electric immersion heaters or a single immersion heater as additional heat sources to top up or as a backup heating system to the primary water heating system.

hot water cylinder

Is it a hot water cylinder, a thermal store, a hot water tank,hot water holding tank or a buffer tank?

Ultimately, they are just a storage tank for hot water—you can call them what you want.

In simple terms, they are hot water storage tanks heated by other heat sources designed to store hot water for peak hot water demands or loads, normally for domestic use hot water or a process water heating system such as warm washing down systems demand etc.

They are not an indirect hot water cylinder heating system that uses a boiler (normally condensing boilers) or solar panels to heat the surrounding water in the hot water cylinder via a heat exchanger coil within the storage tank or hot water cylinder. Thus the term an indirect cylinder.

Hot water tank range

We do various types of cylinder or tank, these being – a glass lined hot water tank ( vitreous enamelled ) or stainless steel in construction-

Vitreous enamelled DHW / glass lined hot water tanks

Vitreous enamelling is an impermeable, food-safe coating that looks like porcelain and protects the metal surface of a storage tank when it comes in contact with water.

Vitreous enamel, commonly known as porcelain enamel, is a material created by burning powdered glass onto a substrate at temperatures ranging from 750 to 850 °C. The powder melts, flows, and hardens to form a smooth, long-lasting vitreous covering, thus these units are also known as glass lined hot water storage tanks.

In addition to the test temperature required by current standards (22 degrees C), our vitreous enamel has a food grade certification at 120 degrees C. This makes sure that it is of the highest quality, even at high operating temperatures.

The maximum operating temperature of an enamelled storage tank

Because of their capacity for molecular interaction with the steel surface, these hot water storage tanks can withstand a maximum DHW storage heated water temperature of 95 degrees C without deterioration or detachment.

Pressure rating and warranty period

These warm water storage tanks, are 8 Bar pressure rated and come with a 5-year warranty

hot water storage tank 200 to 1500 litre dimensions – these cylinders are fed by a sperate water heater often tankless water heaters or instantaneous water heaters which heat the water and then it is stored in one of these tanks or cylinders

200 to 1500 Litre Warm Water Storage Tanks – CV-R range

Dimensional detail of our hot water storage tanks – The “R” range have a inspection / clean out port which is 146mm in diameter as standard – item “J” on the drawing – we can also fit an immersion heater in this port as well.

Rigid, mould-injected PU thermal insulation that has demountable sections that allow you to get the 800 and 1000 litre hot water cylinders through a standard 800mm doorway.

800 and 1000 litre hot water cylinders that can fit through a standard 800mm doorway

Demountable thermal insulation on the 800 and 1000 Litre

The full range can be seen on the following brochure – Please see page 10 for units from 200 to 1,500 Litres , and page 36 for 1,500 to 6,000 Litres of storage cylinder capacity.

Download the Vitreous Enamelled DHW storage tanks or vessels brochure

Commercial hot water storage tanks

We do a full range of commercial hot water storage tanks or industrial hot water tanks all the way up to 6,000 litres

These large-capacity commercial and industrial hot water storage tanks have both side and top DN 400mm manholes to access the interior of these large hot water storage tanks for inspection, cleaning, and maintenance tasks.

Thermally insulated with rigid, mould-injected, 80 mm-thick, polyurethane foam, with an insulating piece in the same material on the DN400mm side manhole.

As standard our storage hot water cylinders are fitted with a cathodic protection system by sacrificial anodes with a charge meter , the anodes must be checked periodically for wear and replaced if necessary.

The anode charge metre is a straightforward and convenient method for determining the state of the anode. Check whether the dial indicator is in the green zone (anode with sufficient charge) or the red zone (anode with insufficient charge, requiring replacement of the anode).

As an option on our industrial hot water storage tanks, Correx permanent anode (cathodic) protection units can be included, which are special titanium anodes that emit the necessary current for the metal surface to be protected via an automatic potentiostat connected to the main power supply.

Maintenance free: since the cathodic protection system is permanent, unlike sacrificial anodes, there is no degradation, and no replacement of the anodes is necessary.

commercial hot water storage tanks 1500 to 6000 litres by Flexiheat UK

1,500 to 6000 litres commercial or industrial hot water storage vessels, tanks or cylinders

Dimensional detail of our commercial hot water storage tank range

stainless steel hot water storage tank

Stainless steel hot water tanks have become an increasingly popular type of domestic hot water storage tank as they have many benefits.

Stainless steel hot water storage tanks do not require a sacrificial anode for normal potable water conditions , unlike an enamelled or glass-lined hot water tank or hot water cylinders. However there is an exception:
Aggressive agents such as >150 mg/L chlorides in the water with storage temperatures of >75 ºC – in these circumstances cathodic protection is required.
This means that the inspection and maintenance regime of a stainless steel hot water tank is less than that of enamelled hot water cylinders.
Stainless steel storage tanks or hot water cylinders used to have a working pressure advantage over enamelled storage tank versions, but these days the hot water tanks are equal in the pressure rating.

Dimensional detail of our stainless steel domestic hot water storage tanks

For example our 500 litre hot water storage tank in stainless steel – is 770mm in diameter and has a height of 1690mm

Our range of stainless steel domestic hot water storage tanks are detailed more in the following brochure

Stainless steel hot water storage tank brochure

Insulation of the DHW storage tanks

The insulation keeps the temperature of the DHW storage at a constant level for extended periods of time without requiring extra energy input. It is an over-sized, rigid, mould-injected PU thermal insulation. This results in fewer external energy source start-ups (such as tankless water heaters), which reduces energy usage, which directly translates into actual energy cost savings when using an insulated hot water storage tank.

Hot water system

A vented cylinder must feature a vent pipe that allows the water to expand as it warms up in the storage tank and safely condenses any residual warm water into the cold tank. To maintain water pressure to the vented cylinders, there must be “head” or distance above the tank or vessel, which is why the stored cold water tank is often located in the attic space in UK homes for vented cylinders.

On the other hand, unvented cylinders, or buffer tanks, are a sealed domestic hot water heating system. The expansion of the domestic hot water as it heats up is taken up by an expansion vessel in an unvented cylinder or unvented cylinders.

Should you require any more support, selection advice or costs/ get a quote on our domestic hot water storage tank range , with fast delivery times then please use the contact us form page on the website, or feel free to give us a call on 01202 822221.

Dual Fuel Boilers – Gas and Oil Fired

4th September 2022/in News /by flexiheat

Dual Fuel Boilers – Gas and Oil Fired

duel fuel boilers natural gas and oil fired for hot water systems from Flexiheat UK

Dual Fuel Boilers – Natural gas or propane gas (LPG) and oil fired

Dual fuel boilers can keep a critical heating system operating, such as a hospital, for example, even if the primary fuel supply fails or is unavailable. They are often referred to as “dual fuel heating system”.

When it comes to hospitals and industrial operations or processes, where boilers provide heating hot water and/or domestic hot water, any loss of these vital processes can have a big effect on the health of patients and the bottom line of a company.

The other benefit is that a dual fuel boiler heating system allows you to swap your fuel depending on what’s the cheapest option. You have the choice to reduce your energy bills by using whatever is the cheapest option when using these heating systems, either as a short or long term solution.

Also, fuel security benefits: should there be an issue with supply problems of either gas or oil, you can simply swap over to what is available without having to buy a new boiler or new burner, which cuts down installation costs . You could even call duel fuel boilers a hybrid system or hybrid heating as such.

Why use a dual fuel boiler?

While most boiler installations have some form of backup system, normally in the form of additional boilers for the heating systems , in the event of a fuel loss rather than a boiler breakdown that interrupts vital heating system operations, a second boiler that utilises the same fuel will not offer any degree of redundancy to the boiler system.

Therefore, the requirement for a dual fuel system to eliminate this potential failure of a single fuel heating system or boiler system.

The dual fuel or dual energy boiler is better: if one fuel supply fails, the second quickly takes over, and your facility’s heating and hot water output are unlikely to be interrupted.

Changing from one energy source to another based on which is more economical for your dual fuel boiler is a great choice for property owners.

Where essential processes exist, a dual or multi fuel boiler that can use a consistent supply of natural gas in normal operation and convert to a secondary source of fuel (such as oil or LPG) if the natural gas supply fails provides a high level of redundancy.

Dual fuel heating system

The most popular dual fuel boilers are a combination of gas and oil . The gas side of the dual fuel burner can be natural gas, which is your mains traditional gas, or propane liquid gas, also known as LPG gas.

For any old or new boiler, annual servicing by a heating engineer is recommended to ensure that the central heating systems are operating effectively, efficiently, and ready for the colder months.

Dual fuel commercial boiler

All heating boilers from 70kW to 400kW have to be condensing to comply with the UK Part L building regulations (Conservation of fuel and power-standards for the energy performance of new and existing buildings) for commercial buildings, which have strict energy efficiency requirements to help reduce carbon emissions , whether they are an oil boiler or a gas boiler or LPG fired boilers. The single fuel type doesn’t matter-they all must comply with the regulations.

A dual fuel boiler at this kW output range must also comply with the efficiency requirements just because its dual fuel makes no difference.

Even though both gas an oil are ultimately fossil fuels and produce greenhouse gas emissions, the use of a condensing boiler reduces these fossil fuels impact to the lowest possible level as the highly efficient boiler system extracts the most energy from the fuel source.

Heating boiler range

Condensing boilers are the only option for fixed or permanent duel fuel boiler installation with outputs ranging from 70kW to 400kW.

Our condensing dual fuel boiler range has some unique advantages or benefits in that you can have two different temperature heating circuits from the boiler: one can be a low temperature heating system such as a 50/30c flow and return temperatures , and the other can be a higher temperature heating system with an 80/60C flow and low and return temperatures, which is ideal for heating an indirect hot water cylinder for your domestic hot water requirements.

You need higher temperatures from your heating boiler to be able to heat the domestic hot water up to 60°C. If your boiler can only produce one temperature and is being used on a low temperature heating system of 50 °C, for example, that temperature would not be enough for the heat exchanger in the hot water cylinder. Electric heating in the form of an immersion heater would be required in combination to increase the temperatures further in the installation and achieve the 60 degrees C required for a stored hot water system.

And electricity is an expensive energy source to use for a heating system.

Condensing boiler option – from 66 kW all the way up to 1,550 kW of output dependant on temperatures run

boiler technical data for dual fuel heating systems

Condensing Boiler Option

We would always recommend our condensing boiler option for a few reasons

They are more energy efficient – 102% at full load 104% at part load in condensation mode
There is no lower limit on the return water temperatures
The combustion chamber and heat exchanger pipers are manufactured in stainless steel AISI 316L – this ensures long product life

internal picture of a commercial boiler Flexiheat UK

Internal picture of our condensing commercial boiler with stainless steel wetted parts

But technically, after 400kW of output, you don’t have to have condensing to comply with the building regulations – they must, however, comply with the following efficiency levels – but very few boilers do if they are not condensing.

Minimum heat generator seasonal efficiency for boiler systems in existing buildings part L regulations

Part L building regulations efficiency requirements

We also supply another range, which can be used in temporary on non permanent boiler applications – as they not require to meet the efficiency levels of Part L as far as we understand, but please do your own due diligence.

These boilers must always operate in forced circulation hot water systems and with a minimum return temperature of 55 °C. So, you need to use a shunt pump, which also provides an anti-condensation function for the boiler combustion chamber, installed between the flow and return connections, upstream on the heating systems with a 3- or 4-way mixing valve.

Dual fuel burner

At the heart of every dual fuel heating system is the burner.

Dual fuel burners give you the option of using gas (natural gas or propane) or oil as your energy source, depending on your business or operational needs.

The most popular dual fuel systems are natural gas and 35-second oil, which is also known as gas oil or red diesel . As such, you get two technologies or two burners in one installed unit.

dual fuel burner natural gas propane gas and oil options for dual fuel boilers Flexiheat UK

Dual fuel burner – Gas and Oil

There are various options for your dual fuel burner-

single stage burner option up to 232kW output-with high efficiency

For large efficient heating system demands, 2 stage Hi-Low burner, 2 stage sliding or fully modulating dual fuel burner options are available.
Manual changeover as standard or automatic fuel changeover as an option for your dual fuel boiler

Multi-fuel burner standards

All our dual fuel burners conform to all the relevant CE legislation and quality standards where applicable –

• EMC Directive 2014/30/UE

• LVD Directive 2014/35/UE

• Directive MD 2006/42/CE-2006/42/EG-2006/42/EC

• PED Directive (Article 4, Section 3)2014/68/EU

• EN676 (gas)-EN267 (liquid fuel)-EN746-2 (industrial thermo processing equipment technologies) are the reference rules.

If you require any products support, heating solutions advice, check stock, delivery times or require a price on our dual fuel boilers or dual fuel heating system from Flexiheat UK, then please use the contact us form page on the website, or alternatively feel free to give our customer service team experts a call phone number 01202 822221.All rights reserved Flexiheat UK.

Room sealed lpg water heater

Room sealed water heater

Propane or LPG gas

Domestic hot water heater