How does the 'boiler' work to heat the house?

Question

I have the timer set to come on 3 times a day. Is the gas supposed to come on in between these times? (I dont wanna make the house explode!) I have never seen a boiler before I came to England. Help?

Answer 1

Certainly you have boiled water in a teapot, a boiler is much the same.

First it has a fuel/heat source which in your case is gas.

The boiler has electrionics that open the gas valve to allow gas to the burners for a period of time. During that short period of time there is a ignitor that sparks and lights the gas much like on your stove. When the temperature in the house matches what the thermostat is set at the gas shuts off. (no real need to worry about the gas blowing up your house)

Back to the teapot, you have put water in the teapot, there is water in your boiler, normally this water level is controled by a float which turns on the water when the level gets low and shuts off when the water gets to a normal level.

If the water is too low the boiler will not start up as a safety feature to keep the boiler from burning up, like the teapot would do if you put it on the stove without water.

After the water in the boiler starts boiling and getting hotter it creates steam. You see this steam in your teapot coming out the spout.

This steam is sent throught a series of pipes to the heaters throughout the house.

These heaters are normally cast iron and heavy, the steam enters the top of these heaters and cools back down to water which a pipe at the bottom of the heater sends the water back into the boiler, so normally unless you have valve packing leaking or joints leaking you need very little make-up water from your well or city.

An additional note, this is a fairly quiet system, the only way sometimes to tell it is on is feeling the heater.

In the Spring or Summer when the boiler is off and cool, drian the boiler and refill a couple of times to get the sludge out of the bottom to increase the effiency of it.

Answer 2

Hi. A boiler is filled with water, and fire, fueled by gas or oil or sometimes other combustibles heat the water and turn it to steam. The steam travels thought the pipes of the house to floor heaters or old radiators. These heat up and warm the room.
The stream cools down and returns to a water and flows back to the boiler to be heated again to steam next time the house needs it.
It is very hard to blow a boiler because it is a closed system. I mean that unless you have a really big dump of a house, the water cannot escape the pipes or the boiler, and it will not really evaporate into the air enough in a year to do damage.
For me, in the summer I drain all the water oUT of my boiler and refill it with clean water to keep rust from building up in the system.
b ut I suggest that the Gas Company will help you to get on a maintenance schedule and they will come out and do this for you
So the only way to blow a boiler is to run out of water!

Answer 3

This Site Might Help You.

RE:
How does the 'boiler' work to heat the house?
I have the timer set to come on 3 times a day. Is the gas supposed to come on in between these times? (I dont wanna make the house explode!) I have never seen a boiler before I came to England. Help?

Answer 4

Well have I got news for you Mister. We all have boilers here, in Michigan. It's a type of heat that's not needed in extreme temperatures.
The gas comes on and heats the water in the boiler, it goes into the expansion tank and to the radiators vie the circulation pump. You have to "Bleed" your radiators occasionally by loosening the butterfly flange on the top of the heater and with a pail under it, loosen it while the water comes out, once the air, the steam comes you simply close the valve and go to the next one.
You've got heat. Keep it clean, the area and you shouldn't have to worry, don't mess with something you don't know about, call someone if for repairs and don't fix what's not broken.

Answer 5

How Does A Boiler Work

Answer 6

http://home.howstuffworks.com/how-to-troubleshoot-a-hot-water-and-steam-distribution-system.htm