Before you are able to get a quote on a replacement boiler, firstly you need to establish what type of system you have in at the moment. There are three different variants of boiler type all of which will be demonstrated below along with handy tips of how you are able to identify what boiler type heats your home!
Combi boiler
With a combi boiler, you get instantaneous hot water when you open a tap. In most cases you wont have any tanks in your property with a combi boiler, it will simply be a boiler on the wall which controls your heating and hot water. Combi boilers have 6 pipes going into the bottom and if your combi boiler was manufactured within the last 15 years, it may have a 7th pipe. This is generally a white condensate pipe. Please see an image below of a recently completed combination boiler installation demonstrating the number of pipes as mentioned above.
Heat only boiler
Unlike a combi boiler, in order for a heat only boiler to work, you generally require three (or two if its been converted to a sealed system) tanks. These tanks are your hot water cylinder combined with two cold water storage tanks, one for your heating circuit and one that supply’s the water to your hot water cylinder. In addition to this, you should be able to locate a central heating pump which is generally within proximity to your boiler or your hot water cylinder. Please see an image below showing a recently installed heat only boiler.
System boiler
A system boiler is similar in design to a heat only boiler with the only difference been that a system boiler operates on a sealed, pressurised system and has an internal pump and expansion vessel. Because it operates on a sealed system, you wont have a cold water storage tank for your central heating system as the system will require manual filling via a filling loop. Dependant on the type of cylinder you have (vented or unvented) will also determine whether you have a cold water storage tank to feed your hot water cylinder or not. See below an image of a recently installed system boiler.
If you’re still unsure about what type of boiler you have at your property, please feel free to speak to a member of our team who will be best placed to advise. It’s worth noting that there are many variators to the system design and configuration of all three types of system.
