How to connect our burner to your existing hot water and central heating systems.
Connecting our boiler to existing domestic central heating and hot water systems is usually straightforward but some installations might be more complex, your plumber can advise on these. These diagrams show a typical installation where a LPG combi boiler was replaced by one of our boilers, with standard radiator system.
These diagrams have been kept as simple as possible and do not show the changes made to disconnect the pipe work from the existing boiler and connection to the wood burning boiler. These changes are easy enough for a plumber to carry out.
Also no electrical connections have been shown, these are simple and easy to install by a qualified electrician.
If the existing boiler is to be kept then gate vales will need to be installed to divert water flows. However it is very unlikely that the existing boiler needs to be retained, our boiler heats from cold in less than two hours, there is much less to go wrong with it than a LPG or oil boiler and it is a lot cheaper to run !
As you can see it is very simple and straightforward, no need for expensive and complex pipes, manifolds and huge accumulator tanks. This makes installation and future maintenance very straightforward and much less expensive.
Hot Water Supply
A new tank is required with a built in heat transfer coil. This type of tank is necessary as the hot water in our boiler is in a closed loop system as it is not suitable for domestic use due to possible contaminants.
We use and recommend Huch tanks which we can supply in sizes from 200 litres. We have found 200 to 300 litres suitable for use in a household with four adults. There is no need for the massive (and very expensive) "accumulator" or "buffer" tanks seen in ground source or solar panel installations.
To keep the diagram simple, this coil is not shown in the diagram. Also not shown is a pressure vessel which must be fitted on the hot water feed from the hot water tank to the domestic hot water supply.
Left side of diagram
Hot water is pumped from the boiler and enters the coil at the bottom of the tank, transferring heat to the clean domestic water in the tank. At the top of the coil the cooler water returns to the boiler. The pump is switched by a thermostat on the tank to maintain the temperature of the water in the hot water tank to 60 degrees centigrade.
Right side of diagram
When hot water is required in the house it leaves the top of the tank. Mains pressure cold water then enters the tank from the bottom to be heated by the coil. The heat transfer is fast, and even after running a deep bath the water in the tank is back up to 60 degrees within 20 minutes or less.
Central Heating
Once again this diagram has been simplified for clarity. For a typical central heating system using radiators we recommend the use of a plate heat exchanger to transfer heat to the closed radiator loop. It is possible to pump the boiler water around the radiator system but we prefer to use the heat exchanger. Your plumber can advise dependant on your particular set up.
The set up is similar to the hot water set up in that hot water from the boiler is circulated through the heat exchanger, transferring heat to the central heating water using a pump. However this pump runs continuously. There is a second pump on the radiator side of the heat exchanger, to circulate hot water to the radiators. This pump is switched by a normal central heating thermostat.
The plate heat exchanger has no standing water in it so is much smaller than the water tank, we can supply these heat exchangers.
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