LPG Water Heaters / Propane water heater range

LPG (Propane Gas) Water Heaters from Flexiheat UK

Water Heaters LPG Fired

LPG gas water heaters– What are they, and what are the benefits? An LPG (Liquefied Petroleum Gas) water heater is a gas fired water heater that heats domestic hot water instantaneously to multiple points around your home or building. This lpg hot water heater range allow you to connect the energy efficient water heaters to a number of hot water outlets throughout your domestic properties or home or even a commercial building and provide accurate hot water temperature and continuous flow rates.

On demand or continuous flow propane gas water heater?

This type of lpg water heater, provides a simple and proven solution for providing instantaneous domestic hot water on demand, without the need of an indirect cylinder and a propane gas boiler. This liquefied petroleum (LPG for short) gas fired water heaters, which are available in propane (LPG) or as a natural gas water heater are simple, with high energy efficiency and clean combustion. These gas fired water heaters when powered by propane are often called lpg tankless water heaters and provide many benefits with higher energy efficiency than storage gas water heaters.

These gas water heaters are also an energy saving solution to more traditional domestic hot water storage systems, as they only heat the water when its required. These facts have made the lpg flow water heaters not only the customers propane water heater of choice, with great user comfort, to deliver hot water on demand in the most economical and energy-efficient method possible,but also the plumbers / heating installers choice as well.

BioLPG Fuel

BioLPG, additionally referred to as biopropane or renewable propane, is an exciting, ecologically friendly alternative to standard LPG or natural gas. It is both renewable and sustainable, and it may reduce your carbon footprint by up to 90%. BioLPG is identical in its use to conventional LPG so is a ‘drop-in’ solution.BioLPG is inexpensive, energy efficient, and convenient replacement for standard LPG Gas (Propane) and our propane instant hot water heater range will run on this fuel.

Click here for more information on BioLPG

Propane Water Heater? What are the benefits

• High performance mains water pressure to all warm water outlets
• ErP Class “A” energy efficiency for your domestic hot water requirements – Save money and save the environment with our lpg instant water heater range
• LPG tankless heaters -no cylinder required -Tankless lpg water heater systems are far more efficient than storage cylinders and boilers.
• Low NOx or condensing LPG fired water heater – less polluting and better for the environment
• High hot water flow rates of up to 29 litres per minute with a hot water temperature water rise of 33 Degrees C
• We can supply Propane gas or Natural gas fired versions at great prices.
• Internal (indoor lpg water heater) and externally (external lpg water heater) mounted gas fired water heaters are available

External or outside gas fired water heaters from Flexiheat UK

• Modular – Flexibility of usage – multiple heaters can be used to supply greater hot water demands, in cascade.
• These high energy efficiency propane water heaters are suitable for domestic and commercial applications such as domestic properties, cafes, pubs, restaurants, offices or shops
• These propane gas water heaters are simple to install and maintain in any small or limited space location.

LPG DOMESTIC HOT WATER HEATERS

Our range of instantaneous tankless water heaters, are available in either natural gas or LPG Gas. LPG (Liquefied Petroleum Gas) is a gas that exists in a liquefied form, and is a very popular fuel for heating homes, and also in commercial applications such as caravan parks, leisure parks and any other categories where mains gas supply is not available.

The most common LPG (Liquefied Petroleum Gas) gas used for water heaters is propane, as this gas is ideal for outdoor use, as it is not affected by cold weather conditions that we can have in the U.K and Northern Ireland.

This gas has a classification of “G31 Propane”, and can either be stored in larger tanks or mobile cylinders.

Should you wish to run your flow water heaters on (LPG) propane gas, we would recommend a bulk gas tank, however you can run these units of gas cylinders for example – a 47kg propane cylinder maximum continuous off take rate is per hour 32.94 KW, for heaters rated above this input, your LPG hot water heating system will require more than one and thus automatic changeovers valves sets are used or a bulk lpg tank.

For the above reasons, our LPG gas water heaters are very popular in camping and caravan sites, for shower blocks or restaurants and with sports / leisure facilities, such as football and rugby clubs, again for showering facilities, as these water heaters can be used in multiples or in a cascade configuration to give its official name.

CONDENSING OR NON-CONDENSING LPG GAS WATER HEATERS?

For gas fired water heaters to work correctly and condense, the water coming into the contact with the heat exchanger, must be under the dew point of 54°C or lower for propane gas– the maximum incoming cold water temperature, even in the height of summer is 20 Degrees C for the UK, meaning you’re going to have the water heater operating in the condensing mode all year round! and benefit from high energy efficiency.

Thus, this gas fired condensing water heater process will deliver hot water with up to 105% net thermal efficiency, resulting in significant energy savings when compared to conventional non-condensing gas fired water heaters.

Ultimately, condensing propane water heaters just make perfect sense. They are slightly more expensive than non-condensing versions, but that price is warranted with lower running costs and lower impact on the environment.

We do however, produce one unit, which is a non-condensing water heater for the cost conscious, our “SF Low NOx Evolution” model, which is available with a power output of 24 kW. This has been a very popular model for the domestic water heaters/ caravan water heater market, although most consumers can now see the benefit of the condensing hot water heaters, with the UK market moving towards this type.

Our range of instantaneous tankless water heaters, are available in either natural gas or LPG Gas. LPG (Liquefied Petroleum Gas) is a gas that exists in a liquefied form, and is a very popular fuel for heating homes, and also in commercial applications such as caravan parks, leisure parks and any other categories where mains gas is not available. We have many customers who just want to supply just one bathroom or multiple bathrooms – which we can achieve.

The most common LPG (Liquefied Petroleum Gas) gas used for water heaters is propane, as this gas is ideal for outdoor use, as it is not affected by cold weather conditions that we can have in the U.K and Northern Ireland.

This gas has a classification of “G31 Propane”, and can either be stored in larger tanks or mobile cylinders.

Should you wish to run your lpg gas water heater on (LPG) propane gas, we would recommend a bulk gas tank, however you can run these units of gas cylinders for example – a 47kg propane cylinder maximum continuous off take rate is per hour 32.94 KW, for heaters rated above this input, your LPG hot water heating system will require more than one and thus automatic changeovers valves sets are used.

For the above reasons, our LPG gas water heaters are very popular in camping and caravan sites, for shower blocks or restaurants and with sports / leisure facilities, such as football and rugby clubs, again for showering facilities, as these water heaters can be used in multiples or in a cascade configuration to give its official name.

FACTORS TO CONSIDER WHEN SELECTING / SIZING YOUR PROPANE WATER HEATER

There are three important factors to consider when selecting the correct water heater for your requirements.

The standard water temperature for bathing or washing is 40 Degrees C

In essence, it’s just a simple matter of the law of physics – the larger / more powerful the lpg water heater, the greater the flow rate of hot water. This is especially true, when in the winter months, as the mains cold water entering temperatures drops, and this is an important factor to consider in UK.

Thus, the amount of warm water the lpg gas water heater will produce and directly related with the temperature rise that the water heater is required to achieve (more on this in point 2). You basically need to cover the flow rates of your hot water appliances, with your usage patterns.

Flow rates

Kitchen sink taps – 4 to 6 litres per minute

Sink taps – 4 litres per minute – standard type

Basin / cloakroom “spray taps” – 2 litres per minute –

A standard shower head has a hot water demand of 7 or 8 litres a minute,

Bath mixer taps – modern bath taps have an approximate demand rate of 12 Litres per minute

So be adding all of your potential hot water outlets, then applying a diversity factor (a factor that not all of the hot water outlets will be used at the same time) you can calculate your hot water demand

Water Heating – Temperature rise

The temperature rise that the gas water heaters have to achieve. This is also known as T ° variation or delta T which when abbreviated looks like this “ΔT”. Quite simply the amount of hot water produced by any water heater, is directly affected by the temperature rise of the hot water required. An example of this is –

If you set the hot water temperature to 35 ° C and the cold water entering the multipoint gas water heater is 15 ° C, then you have a variation of temperature or delta T of 20 ° C (35 ° Degrees C minus 15 ° Degrees C). Alternatively, if the appliance was set to a desired hot water temperature of 40 ° C, then the temperature rise or delta T would be 25 ° C (40 °- 15°) and thus the flow rate achievable changes.

Mains cold water temperature for the UK

The incoming mains cold water temperature for the UK, for various regions is as follows –

We have two sources of information here –

Mains cold water inlet temperatures for the UK by region Source – Energy Saving Trust – 2008

Or the blue line on the following chart

Please see the blue line for the average mains cold water temperature for the UK over a 12 month period

The above chart shows the coldest water temperature in January at around 5 Degrees C – Source TUV

Please use whatever data your comfortable with

LPG Fired Water Heater Range

We do both a domestic LPG water heater and a commercial heater range, both of which have great temperature control, energy efficiency and capacity.

Unlike a lot of our competitors, we are more than proud to publish our performance data at many different temperature increases, as there may be applications – such as commercial kitchens or other applications which require the water to be produced at higher temperatures, such as industrial hot water systems.

The first and smallest unit is our SF14 propane tankless water heater model which is a 24kW non condensing low NOx model domestic water heaters- this unit benefits from-

• 16mm diameter heat exchanger water ways – the largest we know of on the market (except our condensing lpg units – which are an incredible 28mm in diameter) this size ensures very low pressure drops, guarantees lower risk of clogging, greater thermal energy efficiency, and greater ease of cleaning. – especially important in areas with hard water – and all this with great prices on our gas fired water heaters.
  

  SF14 – LGP tankless water heaters from Flexiheat UK – Internal picture of the domestic hot water heater

   

• Wet chamber copper heat exchanger that prevents thermal inertia
• Reduction of initial water over temperature with low flow rates
• Very low NOx emissions, maximum 50 mg / kWh – better for the environment.

DHW performance for the SF14 unit is –

We class the Red figure – as worst case winter performance , and the Yellow figure as the height of summer performance

SF14 Low NOx water heater hot water performance by Flexiheat UK

The SF14 model are our most popular domestic water heaters and are the perfect solution to the hot water requirements for domestic properties.

Please note due to recent regulation changes the SF14 gas water heaters can only be used in domestic water heating applications for houses or flats etc , if the water heater is in a commercial water heating application, the unit must be a condensing water heater – see this dedicated webpage for further information.

The next range is our condensing lpg instantaneous domestic hot water heaters , which are the most efficient that you can find on the market- there are 3 models in this range, and two different options. All unit will require a condensate drain

SFC range – for direct feed to the hot water outlets (the most common application)

SFK (for dhw recirculation systems) with an in inbuilt pump, the larger 50 water heater model is only available with the inbuilt pump, its up to you whether you use it or not.

The performance is the same for the direct feed and pumped versions of our propane tankless hot water heater.

28kW Propane tankless water heater model performance data

SFC and SFK28 LPG Domestic hot water performance by Flexiheat UK

34kW Propane tankless water heater model performance data

SFC and SFK34 LPG Domestic hot water performance by Flexiheat UK

50kW Propane tankless water heater model performance data

SKF50 LPG Domestic hot water performance Flexiheat UK

Flue Options

We do various flue options, the most common is a co-axial , which takes the combustion air from outside , and flue gas from the device to the outside – making these units room sealed

The most common flue kit is our horizontal co-axial flue kit

Horizontal Flue Kit – Co-axial room sealed by Flexiheat UK

Or the vertical flue kit

Vertical Co-axial flue kit from Flexiheat UK

Using a split flue system, we can achieve flue routes of up to 60 metres for our lpg hot water heater range.

LPG tankless water heater UK

We carry stock, and use a small pallet service to deliver anywhere in UK and Northern Ireland.

For more information, advice or to find /learn more on our energy efficient hot water heating units, which are lpg gas water heaters / propane gas water heaters with indoor or outdoor versions at great prices and quality, or for delivery times, to place an order, get prices then email us at sales@flexiheatuk.com or give our sales team a call on 01202 822221.

Combi boiler for a large house

Combi boiler for a large house – natural gas or propane gas

Looking for a combi boiler for a large house? Here we go through the issues that you need to consider when selecting the best combi boiler for a large house to suit your requirements. Selecting the correct combi boiler size for any home, is critical, especially when your residence is a large house, with multiple radiators, or an underfloor heating system and multiple bathrooms, it then becomes vitally important if you require a high efficiency and economical boiler with exceptional hot water flow rates then we have the perfect high heating efficiency  gas boilers for your large house / home/ property.

In a nutshell combi boilers heat water for the central heating system and hot water demands, normally without a storage hot water cylinder. For this reason, they can struggle to cope with the hot water demands of multiple bathrooms properties that you might have in a 5 bedroom house for example. But we have a solution to this issue with the best combi boilers for a large property -please read on

What are combi boilers, and what do they do ?

Firstly, we need to establish, what a combi boiler is? Well the boilers official name is a combination boiler – but over the years this has been shortened just to “combi boiler “. These boilers are now the most popular type of boiler for homes, flats etc in the residential market for the UK. A combi boiler not only supplies the heat for the central heating of the home ( i.e. central heating system ) , but also heats the domestic hot water demands instantaneously as a hot water tap is opened.

If you already have a regular boiler installed in your property, that is coupled up with a hot water storage cylinder that requires a cold water tank in the loft space (if the hot water storage cylinder is a vented cylinder), then installing a combi boiler means you no longer need this cold water tank anymore and recover some loft space.

Generally Combi boilers need to be more powerful than regular and system boilers to do the same job, as they use a hot water cylinder to store hot water.

Another benefit of a large combi boiler is that the hot water is fed from the mains water supply, eliminating the need for a feed and expansion tanks, and thus the water pressure is often higher, resulting in better hot water performance and higher energy efficiency, without the need to store hot water.

These factors make a combination boiler one of the highest efficiency boilers on the market, with an attractive low cost purchasing price, along with the lower installation costs and continual lower running costs than the older type system boilers that were extensively used with hot water cylinders in previous times in larger homes or properties with complex heating systems.

There are two main elements to a combi boiler sizing, which need to be considered when selecting the correct size combi boiler –

1. The central heating side of the boiler– You need to establish how much of a heating load or requirement your large property will have. This is to ensure that our energy efficient boiler has sufficient capacity to heat your large home.
2. The Domestic Hot Water performance– This is the hot water that you use to bath, wash or doing the dishes / kitchen use – when preparing meals etc as your not storing hot water in a separate hot water tank with a combi boiler.

We will look at both of  these issues and give you the guidance to ensure that you have the best solution for your combi for a larger house or property with multiple bathrooms and high hot water demands.

Combi sizing for large house / homes / properties

The first part is the easier bit as they say. It doesn’t matter what heat emitters you are using to heat your home, whether it be a radiator system or an underfloor heating system or even a combination of both. The principle of heat loss sizing for your property doesn’t change for conventional boilers or combi boilers, or if it’s gas and oil boilers. 

Basically, the fabric of your home loses heat, depending on how well insulated the building materials used, such as the brickwork, the floor and the roof. This is known as the “U “value of the materials in question.

This” U “value is official expressed as the rate in Watts [W]) at which heat transfers through 1 square metre [m²] of the surface of a buildings material when there is a temperature difference of 1ºC between the internal and external environments.

So, if you have a property built from the late 1990’s onwards then you are safe to use this ready reckoner chart. This ready reckoner table is based on a brick and block cavity wall with mineral wool insulation having a total wall thickness of 312 mm has a “U” value of 0.3 W/mtr. The building regulation from the late 1990’s specify that this “U” value must be achieved, to pass the building regulations.

You need to ensure that you have the total floor area of your home, including the ground level, 1^st floor, 2^nd floor etc. It is the home’s / properties total floor area you need to calculate.

For example – If your 5 bedroom house or large home has a total floor area of 600 M/2, then you’re going to need a 48 kW Combi boiler (2 x 300 m2 = 2 x 24 kW – thus a 48kW output combi boiler)

If your total floor area is 440 M/2, then you’re going to need a 48 kW Combi (1 x 300 m2 =  24 kW  and 1 x 165 M2 = 13.5 Kw –always go up on the chart – you can turn a combi boiler’s power output down , if you have it there , but you can never turn it up , if it doesn’t have the capacity – thus 24kw + 13.5 Kw = 37.5 kW  total boiler output

Our combi boilers for large homes are modulating boilers, which means they will automatically ramp up and down the boiler’s power to suit the central heating ( radiators or underfloor) requirements. They are very clever combi boilers these days !

Domestic hot water performance of the boilers

Ok, now for the second part of a combi boiler for a large house– the domestic hot water performance / sizing – and this these days is the most important factor when selecting the best boiler to suit your requirements.

Traditional combi boilers use a plate heat exchanger to heat the domestic hot water up to temperature, from the “heating water side of the boiler “. They have benefits in that they only heat the hot water when there is a demand, and we do a range of this type of combi boilers up to 50kW of output which is an “A” rated boiler for the heating system and hot water , these are listed on this webpage 50kw combi boilers

50kW Combi boiler or Combination boiler – gas fired – from Flexiheat UK

But they also have some minus points, which really come into factor when trying to fulfil the hot water demands when used in larger homes, with multiple bathrooms, or many hot water taps.

Because a combination boiler draws all of its water supply directly from the mains water supply, these boilers struggle to meet high demands for the hot water. An example of this, is when multiple hot water taps are turned on in various bathrooms, the kitchen or other rooms within the house, you will often see a dramatic reduction in the water pressure.

This is caused by the combination boiler not having the benefit of a storage hot water tank, which would meet these levels of demand. This situation used to be resolved by using a regular boiler commonly known as system boilers in conjunction with a hot water storage cylinder.

We’ll we at Flexiheat UK have solved that problem, we basically have a “hybrid combi boiler” or a “combi boiler with an element of storage”, which makes these powerful boilers especially suitable for larger homes, that usually have larger hot water demands via multiple bathroom or showers, that any gas safe registered engineer can install.

Another benefit of having an element of hot water storage is that the larger the property, the longer the hot water pipe runs tend to be, so depending on the property layout you can install a secondary domestic hot water return, which eliminates the delay for the hot water to get to the taps around the home, this also eliminates what is referred to as “hot water dead legs”.

So this brings us to our range, and why our boilers are regarded as the best combi boiler for a large house

We do two models –

the 55 model – which is a combi boiler that modulates its output all the way from 12 to 55 kW for the heating side of the boiler and will produce 54 kW of heating power for the domestic hot water demand

or the largest model – our 65 unit – which is a combi boiler that modulates its output all the way from 13.5 to 65 kW for the heating side of the boiler and will produce 64 kW of heating power for the domestic hot water demand

Each of these boilers are available with a hot water tank in either 60 , 90 or 120 litres of storage , which can handle a domestic water pressure of up to 6 bar ( any more than 3 bar ,and a shower can start to get painful with that pressure , and your taps turn into powerful water jets , often with the water coming out at such a force , that it goes everywhere.

But here is the element which makes the combi boilers the best choice for a large house – the Domestic Hot water performance – it literally is phenomenal, remarkable or exceptional – however you want to call it.

To explain how good it is – here are some stats –

Baths

According to BS6700 a standard bath (1700mm x 700mm) full capacity is around 180 litres to overflow level, but most people fill their bath tubs to around half way to allow for the displacement of water when they get into the bath. So, the actual volume of water used is 100 litres.

The normal bath water temperature is around 40 Degrees C

When you have stored water, this is kept at 60 Degrees C to prevent legionella, which is then blended down with cold water to achieve the 40 Degrees C, at a ratio of 60% hot water and 40% cold water, or 60 litres of hot water and 40 litres of cold water to make up the 100 litres.

Thus, a bath cycle requires 60 litres of hot water, stored at 60 Degrees C

The 60 litre tank, would recover it’s hot water in 6.30 minutes, (which means you can start filling a bath 6 minutes 30 seconds after filling the previous one )  the 90 litre in 6.30 minutes ( one and a half baths ) and the 120 litre unit in 6.30 minutes ( two baths simultaneously )  , which is very impressive domestic hot water performance indeed, as these combi boilers have a hot water priority system.

Showers

The figures are even more impressive for showers –

According to all the data, a standard 5-minute shower approximately 45 litres of water at 40 degrees C, which uses 27 litres of hot water stored at 60 degrees C – with a standard shower head. From this data – our 60-litre hot water storage tank will do 2 shower – simultaneously – the 6 and half minutes later you could go again

Our 90 Litre – 3 showers, again simultaneously – 6 and a half minutes, you can go again

Our 120 Litre – 4 showers with a little spare, again simultaneously – 6 and a half minutes, you can go again

In reality , we would say , that the persons wouldn’t have even come out of the shower room or bathroom, as they need time to dry off , shave , clean their teeth , do their hair etc, before the unvented hot water cylinder has recovered all of the hot water, in this way you could almost say that you have infinite hot water and all at a great water pressures – no limp or poor showers here !

Water Pressure

As a combination boiler draws all of its water supply directly form the mains water supply, they can often struggle to meet high water demands, especially in large properties like a 4 or 5 bedroom house .We have all seen what happens when a person turns on a hot water tap when someone is having a shower, and the dramatic drop in water pressure , normal followed by a shout “ turn that hot tap off “ I’m having a shower , this is due to the fact that a true combination boiler has no hot water storage tank like our combi boilers, which overcomes this problem, and allows multiple hot water taps or outlets to be used simultaneously, at good pressures.

Full technical output details for our combination boilers with storage for larger properties

These combination boilers for larger properties – can be fired with either natural gas or LPG / Propane Gas

Control options for the boilers

Everyone now wants to be able to control their boiler, when they are out and about, be it travelling or at work or even on a plane – having the facility to turn your boiler on and have the house warm for when you return to it has now become almost standard. Well the good news is that a combi boiler can do this – they have a control panel is also what is called “OpenTherm Plus “compatible, which means you can control these combi boilers, via the use of an “OpenTherm” controller, such as a “nest” type or similar.

This means you can make your life simpler and control these combination boilers from either your mobile phone (android or apple) your PC or tablet, from anywhere in the world, as long as you have an internet connection.

The control panel on these combi boilers also has numerous inbuilt features such as –

• Frost Protection – Full protection against freezing of the heating and domestic hot water in low ambient temperatures
• Pump Protection system – Anti-blockage System -The circulation pump is activated automatically once every 24 hours and prevent any blockage
• Ability to operate according to different heat demands with the variable flow pump control
• Low fuel consumption and fixed combustion efficiency thanks to the PWM driver, high modulating fan and high modulating gas valve
• Ability to operate according to different heating system configurations

Last point is that all combi boilers when fuelled by gas should be installed by a gas safe registered engineer, not just a heating engineer to comply with the regulations and to ensure that the combi boilers are safely and correctly installed.

What are you waiting for ! Call us, for the best combination boiler for large properties

So should you be looking for a combi boiler for a large 4 bed house or for a 5 bedroom house , with 2 , 3 or even 4 bathrooms , you can now see why our combi boiler is the best option , as the element of some hot water storage , which is as small as possible , and thus saving on wasted energy , but large enough to cope with the hot water requirements of a large home or property, then please don’t hesitate to contact us at Flexiheat UK for the best combi boilers prices, using the contact us function at the top of this web page, or alternatively give us a call on 01202 822221.As we believe we have the best combi boilers for large houses for sale on the UK and Irish market.

Electric Combi Boiler UK

Electric combi boiler UK? – are they available? do they work? Usually when someone says “electric boiler” the majority of people think about the water boilers used to generate instant hot water to a single tap, such as an over or under sink water heater, but these units only produce domestic hot water. Happily, in the UK, electric combi boilers are now a great solution, for not only your hot water requirements, but also your heating requirements.

Electric combi boilers by Flexiheat UK

As the boiler name suggests, they are an option to a gas or oil combi boiler that uses electricity as the energy supply. Despite the fact that technology is nearly as old as the invention of electricity itself, as of late electric combi boilers have seen expanded enthusiasm from people whose properties are not served by the national gas distribution system or who basically want to dispose of their gas supply and move to a greener energy to fuel their central heating and hot water requirements .

Electric combi boiler vs Gas

Knowing that natural gas is a fossil fuel, and therefore can’t be considered a green fuel source. With regards to electricity, if it is generated via renewable energy sources or if you use a wind turbine or solar panels to generate the electricity, you can go totally carbon neutral on your energy requirements. Utilizing electric combi boilers bodes well to individuals who have installed solar panels or wind turbines onto their property. Recent advances in the technology of solar and wind generation fields now make electric combi boilers a real solution for people who want to get off the national gas grid, or don’t want to use oil either.

Beside the fact that electric combi boilers in the UK, have the capacity to be eco-friendly, the other advantage is that an electric combination boiler is often smaller in size than an equivalent boiler fired by gas or oil, and will often fit in locations that a gas or oil boiler won’t , due to the fact that these boilers require a flue pipe or chimney system to operate.

Individuals who have previously experienced on demand electric water heaters, are usually disappointed with the DHW (domestic hot water) flow rate that they have seen.

This is solved with our 1 phase / 240 volt electric combi boilers as they can utilize an 80 litre indirect heated stainless steel hot water cylinder. This hot water cylinder allow these boilers a great hot water performance which are similar to their gas boiler equivalents.

When the units are over 15kW of output, you need a 3-phase electric supply – then you can produce enough hot water, both in temperature and quantity to not have a hot water storage element – but most properties in the UK, only have a single phase 240 Volt supply.

Cost of electric combi boilers in the UK

When it comes to the price of electric combi boilers in the UK, they are very similar to their equivalent gas fuelled equivalents, and are generally cheaper than their oil-fired equivalents, with prices generally in the £1,600 to £2,200 depending on the kW output of the boiler in question.  Obviously, they are more expensive than a heat only electric boiler, but when you add the necessary indirect cylinder required to do the domestic hot water requirements, and the controls required to achieve this, then they generally work out cheaper, than going for a split heating and how water system, that uses a heat only boiler and cylinder combination.

Electric combination boiler installation costs

The installation cost of an electric combi boiler in the UK, is often lower than their gas or oil alternative. No flue or chimney system has to be installed with an electric boiler, which cuts down on the labour required and should result in cheaper installation price. They include an inbuilt heating pump and expansion vessel, for both the heating and domestic hot water requirements, as well as safety valves, that ensure they security of your boiler. All that is required is the appropriate electric supply, with the required amps available, and a water supply and your ready to go as they say.

Electric combination boilers are a great choice in elevated buildings such as high-rise structures, as they don’t require a flue pipe system, as no products of combustion are given off with an electric boiler. Can you just imagine not only the logistical and high expenses associated with installing a gas boiler, in a high-rise block of flats, with scaffolding, and working at height legislation to comply with in the UK, just to name a few problems to overcome. These issues are just eliminated when choosing a combination electric boiler, making them a great solution to a complex problem.

Electric combination boiler reviews UK

When reviewing our range of electric combi boilers that we sell in the UK and Ireland, following are a few brief overview of the range we sell –

Our range of electric combi boiler can be powered by a single phase 240 Volt electrical supply from 4.5 kW to 15 kW, which is the largest power output we know of on the UK and Irish market.

We can go all the way up to 21 kW of boiler output, but from 15 kW to 21 kW you require a three phase 400 Volt electrical supply

We do a wall hung or mounted version, that has a 50 litre hot water internal storage vessel housed withing the boiler, thus ensuring good flow rates, and hot water that is hot enough for doing dishes – you require hot water at 50 degrees C to get rid of grease from cooking utensils and dishes. If you only have a shower in your house or flat, then this is the electric combi boiler for you.

We also do a floor mounted version, which has a larger 80 litre internal hot water vessel, again situated withing the boiler casing, this has enough capacity of hot water to run a bath at mains pressure, just as quick as a hot water cylinder would. If you have a bath in the property, again this is the combination electric boiler for you.

All of the boilers, have 6k W of dedicated electric heating power for the hot water production of the boiler.

These electric boilers can be set to a various output, for example the 45/90 model, can be set with an output of either 4.5 kW, 6 kW, 7.5 kW, or 9 kW to suit your heating requirements. These boilers are available in either wall mounted or floor standing versions.

The 10/15 boiler model, can be set to 10 kW, 12.5 kW or 15 kW output, giving you maximum flexibility to suit your needs

Whichever combination electric boiler you go for, all of them are highly efficient, at almost 100% efficiency (actually 99.8% to be precise)

For more full information, please see the following in depth dedicated web page https://www.flexiheatuk.com/product/electric-combi-boilers/

Should you require any more information or advice, on what we regard as the best range of electric combi boilers UK and Ireland wide, then please don’t hesitate to call us on 01202 822221 or send us an email via our contact form in the top tool bar

Industrial Unit Heaters –

Industrial unit heaters from Flexiheat UK

Industrial unit heaters come in a wide variety of types for the industrial heating industry, most are versatile in use to cover a wide variety of heating applications, whilst others are designed for specific or niche heating applications.

They are ideally suited to commercial or industrial space heating, as they have an integrated fan, which produces a high volume of air flow which distributes the warm air generated by these industrial unit heaters efficiently and evenly throughout the area of which the units are installed. Depending on the size of the area being heated single or multiple industrial unit heaters may be required, as the effective throw of the warm air has to be considered.

The use of an integrated fan on the unit heaters creates air movement over the heating element surface, quickly and efficiently, this factor ensures that when compared to an equivalent convector type heater, unit heaters are more compact in size, getting more effective warm air heat out of these types of industrial heaters. Our unit heaters are designed to hold up against the typical abuse often seen in commercial and industrial applications or environments being able to withstand dusty and dirty air conditions.

Industrial unit heater – sizing your warm air heating system

Sizing of the most appropriate model and quantity of these industrial unit heaters should always be done on the premises of gaining the optimum efficiency and cost effectiveness both in the initial purchase cost and also the running costs for the warm air heating system.

There are a number of factors, which effective the overall heat load requirement for any commercial or industrial building and the heat that is required to get to your desired working temperatures. The factors that influence this heat load calculation include –

1. How well insulated the building being heated is.
2. The amount of air changes per hour this building normally has – i.e. are large roller shutter doors open, and how often they are.
3. What is your preferred fuel preference – as unit heaters can be fuelled by hot water, electric, steam, natural gas, propane gas or even oil – they choice may be dedicated to you by buildings location and subsequently the available fuel on site.
4. The efficiency and level of control accuracy of the warm air heating system.
5. The normal ambient air temperatures you are likely to see in the winter periods – This is an important factor in calculating the size and number of required unit heaters – as you want to ensure that the heating system is adequate to handle the coldest environmental conditions it will endure.
6. The height of the building will also have an influence on the warm air system, as if the height is large, then the use of destratification fans, to push the warm air back to the ground level where it is required can be used to counter act this natural phenomenon and add to the heating system efficiency.

Should you require any more information on industrial unit heater sizing for your application, then we at Flexiheat UK would be please to help you size your particular warm air heating application. either pop us over an email to sales@flexiheatuk.com or give us a call on 01202 822221 to find out more.

Unit heater types

The heat emitted from these unit heaters can be generated by a variety of fuels, with the predominant factor often being the most readily available and or the most economical fuel source available to the premises.  The most common unit heater types are –

Hot water unit heaters – water fed unit heaters

Hot water unit heaters for LTHW/MTHW or HTHW systems from Flexiheat UK

Often called a “hot water fan heater” or “hot water air heater”- water fed commercial / industrial unit heaters are very commonly used in factories, warehouses, sports halls or workshops. The hot water is normally generated by a boiler which can be fuelled by gas , oil or electric or even a heat pump which heats the water up to the desired temperature before it is circulated via a piped heating system to the unit heaters often at a low pressure ( 3 bar or under )  – thus the term “low pressure hot water” – or LPHW air unit heaters .

They come with the various control options and ancillaries such as thermostats, which can control the operation of the unit heater fan and also can control the water flow to the unit heater by opening or closing a control valve feeding the unit. Commercial or industrial premises with multiple unit heaters can often be controlled by a single controller, which when coupled to external temperature probe can optimize or compensate for the external weather conditions and adjust the warm air heating system accordingly. This results in higher efficiency levels and reduced running cost of the commercial or industrial heating system.

These industrial unit heaters are available either with units made with plastic (EPP- expanded polypropylene) casings which ensures a modern design with high performance parameters, with outputs from 5kW to 70kW, and air flows up to 4,100 M3/hr or with metal casings with outputs from 6.5 kW to 344 kW in output.

These warm water supplied unit heaters can either be suspended from the ceiling or wall mounted, allowing you to expel the warm air either vertically or horizontally to suite your site requirements

Some of our industrial unit heater range can be supplied with drip pan and drain which means they can be used not only for heating, but also for cooling applications, when supplied with a chilled water supply.

For full information on the range of water fed industrial unit heaters , please see this page of our website – https://www.flexiheatuk.com/product/unit-heaters/

The second range of our industrial electric unit heaters are ideally suited to industrial premises, and are not wireless controlled. They should be used to electrically heat industrial areas with relative humidity of no more than 95% and an air dust concentration of up to 3mg/m3. They come with either a slot air diffuser as standard or can be fitted with a cone air diffuser which increases the range of the warm air stream. This range of electrically powered industrial unit heaters can be installed in either a horizontal position as a ceiling mounted unit heater or in a vertical position as a wall mounted electric industrial unit heater.

Industrial electric unit heaters from Flexiheat UK

This range has of industrial electric unit heaters, has a large range of accessories, such as roof or wall air intakes and air mixing boxes that allow the unit heater to be supplied with a mixture of fresh and recirculating air to these industrial units. They also have a range of temperature controllers that automatically changes the heat output depending on the temperature in the room and a time programmer for control of unit’s operation in a weekly mode.

For more information and detail on this particular range of electric unit heaters can be found here – https://www.flexiheatuk.com/product/industrial-fan-heaters-electric/

Unit Heater Types – Gas, Oil, Diesel, LPG and Propane Fired Heaters

These differ from the unit heaters mentioned previously as all of these industrial unit heaters have a combustion chamber within the heater, where the fuel is burnt and thus the heat is generated within the heater itself. They are designed for horizontal wall mounting or in vertical suspended configuration, which is useful if you are short of floor space to install a heater, or should you just want the heater up and out of the way. They have as standard an axial fan for free blowing heating applications or can be fitted with a centrifugal fan, that allows duct work to be attached to the heater, and this duct work channels the heat to the desired areas with the building.

Industrial gas unit heaters, available in either natural gas or LPG/ propane fired from Flexiheat UK

The gas powered unit heaters , (be it natural gas or LPG / Propane) details and further information can be found here- https://www.flexiheatuk.com/product/gas-unit-heaters-natural-gas-lpg/

Industrial oil unit heaters

And for the oil / diesel fired unit heaters – pictured above , the full information is here – https://www.flexiheatuk.com/product/oil-fired-unit-heaters-suspended-warm-air/

Industrial steam unit heaters

Steam as a medium is often seen as an old type of heating system, as it is often associated with the industrial past , but with many industrial factories using steam as part of their process – this steam is a great way of heating an industrial building , as it is exceptionally good at transferring the heat from the steam into warm air and with exceptionally fast warm up times to. Industrial steam unit heaters are very similar to water fed unit heaters, in that they have a heat exchanger coil , casing and fan assembly, but in the instance of a steam powered unit , the heat exchanger or coil itself is designed to changed the steam vapour into usable warm air energy , in in this process the steam often condenses as it transfers it energy into the air. The coils or heat exchangers used in industrial steam unit heaters must therefore be manufactured from steel with a bi-metal fin assembly to accommodate the higher pressures and temperatures associated with steam. We do a full range of steam unit heaters that have an output from 14.6 kW to 459 kW in output, depending on your steam pressure available and the entering air temperature. full detail on the range is here – https://www.flexiheatuk.com/product/steam-unit-heaters/

Industrial Steam Unit Heaters from Flexiheat UK

Requiring little maintenance, these steam powered industrial unit heaters are extremely tough and highly efficient, and are often wall mounted

Flexiheat UK – Your Unit Heater experts 

As you can see, we do a full range of industrial unit heaters, powered by various fuel sources, so if you have a requirement for heating an industrial or commercial building, then we will have a unit heater option to suit, so please don’t hesitate to contact us at Flexiheat UK