Some basic info on heating sytems

[ezekiel]

on a backboiler system with a hot water tank in airing cupboard, is the same tank used also as an immersion? just found switch that we didnt know existed which powers a supply next to the cylinder

 

[Space cat]

It would be unusual to find two hot water cylinders where one will do --

But it isn'it unusual to find an immersion heater in a tank that's heated by a back boiler. If in doubt, follow the pipes. Alternatively, you could shut down the boiler and see if that tank goes cold.

 

[D_Hailsham]

on a backboiler system with a hot water tank in airing cupboard, is the same tank used also as an immersion? just found switch that we didnt know existed which powers a supply next to the cylinder

Does your tank have two pipes going into the side, one about halfway up and the other directly below, near the bottom? If so, they are the connections so the HW cylinder can be heated by the boiler.

Is there a cable going from the switch to a connection on top of the cylinder? That will be the immersion heater connection. The immersion is there as a standby - in case the boiler goes wrong.

 

[ezekiel]

yeah cable goest to (stat) on top and theres also one attached near bottom.

thanks

 

[Space cat]

-- and theres also one attached near bottom

That one will be a tank stat connected to some kind of motorized valve. What kind of back boiler do you have: gas or solid fuel?

 

[ezekiel]

used to be coal then coke fire but changed to gas few years ago, was my parents old house

 

[Space cat]

That's OK then. If the boiler supplies only the tank, that lower stat will turn off the gas when the water is hot enough - something you can't do with a solid fuel boiler. If the boiler supplies anything else, like radiators for example, there should be a motorised valve somewhere. The stat will close this to stop any more boiler water from reaching the tank.

 

[D_Hailsham]

If you can post a pic of your airing cupboard, showing all the components, we will be able to tell you what type of system you have.