What type of heating system do I have (see pic) and how do I use it most economically ?

decsdad

It’s all in the title really, we are moving into a new house with a fairly large heating system which I don’t know anything about (asked the seller how it worked and he showed me the on/off switch!)
Obviously we are keen to use it in a cost effective way and have read about zones/hive trvs etc but first I think we just need to understand what type of system it is !

TIA

Mstty

Quick Google suggests Ideal IMAX W45 Condensing boiler.

Is this your first gas boiler?

https://www.heatgeek.com/condensing-boilers-efficiency/

Edit how many people will repeat the same words it's a condensing boiler 😜

lohr500

A quick Google on Ideal Imax tells me it is a commercial condensing gas boiler. So at least you are not burdened with some form of expensive electric heating system 👍

I can't make out the details on the two large white  cylindrical storage vessels on the right hand side of the photo. They look like hot water tanks with immersion heaters fitted at their bases. 
Ideally you should use the gas boiler to heat the hot water as this will be less expensive than electricity unless you can access a very competitive off peak electric vehicle or Economy 7 tariff.

Is it a very large property , or with a swimming pool, as the set up does appear to be on a commercial scale.

decsdad

No, had combi previously

decsdad

Thanks, yeah its a big house with poor if any insulation so we are trying to get an idea of how to use the heating.  Do the tanks hold hot water for heating the house or fo the taps ?  I imagine as the insulation is poor there’s no point having the heating on all the time and turned off by a thermostat…..id have thought just turn it on when required….

molerat

The tanks are for hot water. Likely serve different parts of the property. You may be able to turn one off if it only supplies a part of the house where you don't need hot water.

BUFF

looks like a condensing system boiler +2 unvented indirect cylinders.

gefnew

And they hold 300 litres each which is a lot of water to heat.

Ectophile

Have you just bought a former hotel?  That's one massive hot water system you have there.

markin

All the pipes want lagging.

Set the Hot water timer for 2 hrs a day, And the heating only when you are home, and be ready to wear jumpers and coats.

Take daily meter reading for a week to get an idea of the usage, And to see if you can lower them.

Probable a good idea to brick half that window up and double glaze whats left.

jbuchanangb

To add to the tank descriptions. The pipe with the blue collar is where the cold water goes in. The white box with a wire is for an immersion heater to heat the tank by electricity, which basically you do not want to do, so trace the wires back to their switches and switch them off. Left of those white boxes are two pipes. One brings hot water from the boiler which goes into a coil of pipes inside the tank to transfer heat into the water in the tank. The other pipe takes now much cooler water back to the boiler to be heated up again. One of each of those pairs of pipes has a white box on it. This an electrically controlled valve which opens and shuts according to the timings for which you have programmed the hot water to operate. Near to the top of each huge tank is another white box, like the one at the bottom. This is probably the connection point for a second immersion heater. In properties with Economy 7 electricity it is common for there to be 2 immersion heaters, one at the bottom operated using off-peak electricity, and another at the top for emergency topping up with peak rate electricity. As this does not apply in your case they are not connected.

As this is a huge amount of hot water, it has been suggested that you find out which bathrooms etc are served by each tank, and if you can decide that you do not need to heat one of the tanks, you may be able to manually set the controlling electrical valve to OFF, so that the tank is not heated.