A Concise Classification of Water Heating Devices

Heat is a highly valuable form of energy which is generated from a large number of sources and transmitted making use of different means for varied applications. Combusted fuel, electricity and sunlight are the most commonly utilized sources of heat. Depending mainly upon the agent utilized to transfer the heat, the performance of these sources might differ.

Steam and are most popular agents of the distribution of heat in a thermodynamic system.

They are heavily used in both industrial and residential boilers and even water heaters. Their capacity of transferring and dispersing heat is deeply influenced by various other components that the system is equipped with.

Major types of water heating systems or appliances include the following-

• Storage water heaters (tank-type)

• Point-of-use (POU) and centralized hot water

• Tankless heaters

• Electric shower heads

• Solar water heaters

• Geothermal heating

• Gravity-fed system

Residential and Commercial Water Heaters

Commercial water heaters include gas, oil or electric-fired devices which are used to heat up water for both commercial and sometimes even residential use. The most common types of these devices include-

• Storage water heaters

• Demand water heaters.

Storage devices consist of an aptly insulated vessel or tank which is coupled with a thermostat and an immersion water heating element or any other heat generating source. They heat up water inside the insulated vessel on a fully controlled temperature. The use of a heated reservoir produces bigger quantities of hot water readily available.

Salient advantages: fuel flexibility; high flow capacity

Disadvantages: standby energy loss

On demand heaters are the devices which provide instant hot water with no need of any storage tank. This device makes use of gas, electricity, or even propane as the energy source to heat up the water while reducing energy consumption. On demand heaters also eliminate the standby losses which are often caused by unused hot water in a tank.

An on demand water heating device is also known and recognised as a tankless water heater which constantly delivers hot water by triggering off the device with the fast flow of water.

Advantages: Energy-efficient; smaller footprint

: d Disadvantages: Delay time; flow rate limited by heater output

Electric water heaters equipped with heating elements are the most used devices that can range from a 2.5 gallon to 80 gallon tank in size.

Most electric water heaters available in the market today have features which have substantially enhanced their efficiency and safety.

The principal features include the following:

• Polyurethane foam insulation that considered to be environmentally safe, and that increases heat conservation

• They come with a polybutelene tank having a layered fiberglass exterior

• Automatic thermostats which lets users to set water temperature at desired levels at different time points

Kunal Verma is an avid reader and pertaining to use of various Heaters market expanse and related information.