Question:
HELP ME - INDIRECT AND DIRECT WATER SYSTEMS?
Matthew
2012-09-12 08:34:14 UTC
Hi guys, I'm sooooo stuck, I've literally just learnt what a direct hot and cold water system is as well as indirect but i thought the point of a direct system is to eliminate the need for a cistern for cold water, but so many diagrams online have a cistern/storage tank for cold water despite it being a direct system, and the same for hot water, the direct system diagrams online show a storage header tank, but thought the whole point of being a 'direct system' is that there is no tank!!!??? Help!!!!!
Three answers:
Robert J
2012-09-12 09:45:55 UTC
You getting confused between Combi systems and 'Classic' systems.

(A Combi is still 'indirect' heating, by the way).



In the days of back boilers, the boiler was generally connected directly (via pipes) to the hot water cylinder, so there was no separation between water in the boiler and at the tap, and a single header tank fed the hot cylinder.



That's an original Direct system.



When central heating gets added to that, the water in the radiators is also mixed with the hot water system - so crud from the radiators can come out the tap, and you can't use anti-corrosive additives...



There was an intermediate system (which I can't remember the proper name of) that had a bell- or inverted bucket style baffle in the hot tank, that was supposed to help keep the flow from the boiler separate from the tap supply, but there was no actual barrier and everything still fed off the same header tank.





Indirect systems use a copper coil in the hot tank, to transfer heat from the boiler & heating side without allowing that water to mix with the tap supply.

They use a header for the tap water supply to the tank, and a smaller header (or sometimes a pressurised / sealed system) for the boiler & radiator circuit.





A combi is actually a small version of that system.



They have a (very small) internal tank for the hot tap water reserve, with a heat exchanger coil fed from the separate, sealed, boiler & heating circuit.



The main difference is that the boiler heat output modulates, together with the diverter valve operating, to give the required hot water temperature rather than just switching a boiler on & off via a thermostat with the big hot tank setup.





Edit - I'm only referring to hot water / heating systems above, not direct/indirect cold water.
maleszka
2016-10-30 04:08:20 UTC
Indirect Heating System Diagram
Robert
2012-09-12 08:44:48 UTC
Its used to create suction so the tank contains a filtration system within the hub, these are only seen on large plants, industrial more than not, the cylce always changes depending on the flow of contents, water/waste/treatment.


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