Heating, help

Bryando

The house I may move to has a coal fire and water tank. No Gas. I am 100% at a loss to this system!

Coal fire on, provides hot water? Fire off and tank needs to be switched on to produce hot water? Will the tank switch on when low in hot water? As I don't want it on 24/7 a day wasting electricity.

This all may sound daft, but I rather get the grip of this before I move and end up in panic mode as Electricity is sky high.

Thanks

Premier_2

I would ask either the seller or the landlord as appropriate for instructions on how to get the best results from the system

macman

I would imagine your house has a coal fire for space heating and an electric immersion heater for the hot water? The latter would either be switched manually or via a timeswitch. A thermostat should control the temperature
I can't imagine many houses still depend on coal to heat the hot water. If so the landlord would not have many takers...

Bryando

Yes electric immersion. I presume no raditors in the house, so need to rely on coal fire to heat house? Just a 1 bed bunglow. Lovely location I must add.

macman

Slightly puzzled-if you are possibly renting this house and have seen it, why do you have no idea about the heating/hot water system? If not, the landlord should be able to tell you.
The only other alternative are electric heaters to provide room heating, maybe storage heaters or electric radiators?

tanith

Usually with an immersion heater it has a timer which you set to provide hot water when you need it... you will learn by trial and error how long you need it to be on per day to fulfill your needs... when our heating was broken we needed the immersion on for an hour morning and night to give us enough hot water for 3 adults..

Owain_Moneysaver

What sort of coal fire? The more 'advanced' ones have a back boiler which can do hot water and radiators (up to a point).

Bryando

The place does have raditors, just checked pictures. It is a mutual exchange I am doing. The person in the house says the coal fire never on as far to warm.

Asking questions of her is like , well..... I take it when the imersser is on it will pump hot water around raditors? Probably 2 switches for hot water, or hot water and heating.

macman

Far too warm-in Glasgow?
No, an electric immersion heater just heats your hot water, it doesn't have a pump and doesn't heat radiators. Sorry, but from the very vague info you have given it's impossible to say what sort of space heating there is. Could be wet central heating, oil filled electric radiators, storage heaters etc...If you have pictures please link to them on here and then we might be able to help you.

Robert2009

If it is anything like what I was brought up with the coal fire heats the water in a large hot water tank which by gravity and convection slowly travels round the radiators and heats the house.
At night the fire goes out and in the morning you clean out the ashes then put newspaper and kindling in the grate and light it. When this is burning you add coal and as the coal is burnt you add more coal.
You should also make sure you have a spark guard as sometimes sparks shoot out and land on the linoleum in front of the fire. Never have a carpet in front of the fire though you can use a rug but it is removed when cleaning and lighting the fire.

If you want timed and automatic heating you can't, unless you employ someone to look after the fire.

Hot water is produced by the coal burning, in the summer to get hot water you use an immersion as burning coal in the fire also heats the hot water which then travels round the radiators heating the house even although in Glasgow in the summer the temperature can reach as high as 80 deg F.

The immersion in these situations does not normally have something as sophisticated as a time clock. a simple on/off switch, situated in the most unlikely place, is normally used.

Has it reached the stage that no one any more knows how to heat a house with an open coal fire?

Also the coal is normally kept in a bunker outside but if you live in a tenement the coalman sometimes carries it up 3 flights of stairs to your coal bunker in the lobby just inside your front door.

We're all doomed.