Winter brings along unbearably cold weather in many parts of the world and most of life’s activities are restricted to indoors. But even the indoors need to be maintained at the right temperature, without which it could become freezing cold inside buildings as well.
For this purpose, the main mechanism put in place in most residential and commercial structures is the boiler. Along with room heaters and hot-air blowers, boilers are among the key appliances that help us fight cold in winter. Boilers produce heat energy by boiling water. This boiled water is then either utilized as warm water around the house or taken to radiators that help warm water the building.
Like boilers, a radiator is key to maintaining temperature in winter. It is made up of a series of metal tubes or fins that receive hot water from the boiler and use its heat to transfer the warmth into a room.
Boiler works
A boiler is a water tank that has the ability and the apparatus attached to heat water. The water in the boiler is usually heated using one of the various kinds of fuels, including gas, oil, and wood. Modern boilers can also be powered by electricity and even solar energy. Once the water is brought to temperature, it is routed around the house for use in daily activities like washing, bathing, and cleaning during the winter season and to warm rooms through radiators. Boilers come in several sizes and specifications that can suit a building’s hot water and heating needs. One of the most common types of boilers is the gas boiler.
These boilers are powered by natural gas and are generally considered one of the most efficient types of boilers available in the market. Other types of boilers include oil boilers that burn oil to generate heat, electric boilers, and solar-powered boilers.
Boilers typically heat water in one of two ways. The first type is a fire-tube boiler, wherein hot steam and gasses produced by the heating move through conducting tubes placed in the boiler’s water tank. The movement of gasses heats the water in the tank that is subsequently passed through the heating system.
The other type of boiler is the water tube boiler. Instead of gasses moving through tubes, water in the tank moves through tubes heated by hot gasses produced by the burning of fuel in a heating chamber.
Boiler pressure too high
It is a known fact that once water is boiled, it produces steam that generates pressure inside a container. This was the very principle that led to the realization of the steam engine and eventually the internal combustion engine. Steam can be utilised in a variety of ways, and has the force to power turbines.
That is if the force it can produce is controlled the right way. Boilers are complex instruments that need the right calibration to work properly. They are also potentially dangerous ones, as its working mechanism involves fire, hot water, and hot gases. The huge amount of pressure produced as a result of burning and gases is usually controlled by a pressure–release valve. This device allows the pressurized fluid to leave the system safely and prevents a dangerous build-up of pressure.
However, there could be times when your boiler may face difficulty in regulating the pressure. This is an extremely dangerous situation to be in as if not addressed, this problem could cause serious problems for the boiler itself, the building and its occupants. If not regulated, the high pressure generated by steam can cause the boiler to explode and cause extensive damage.
The fault usually lies with the pressure valve but could be due to some other reason as well. It is best to switch off your boiler and call a boiler repair and maintenance expert. A seasoned expert will undertake a detailed assessment of the system to detect faults and blockages and ensure replacing broken or faulty components with quality parts to ensure that the boiler not only performs at par but does so in the safest way as well.