ABSTRACT
This chapter explains the most commonly encountered installations for providing hot water within new and existing houses. Hot water installations in houses should provide a sufficient quantity of hot water at an appropriate temperature to ensure the safety, comfort and convenience of the occupiers. The Building Regulations require that hot water systems are designed and installed so that they operate in an energy efficient manner. Until the late Victorian period most of the hot water supplied for bathing and washing would have been heated by fire. In the 20th century, as the use of electricity spread, immersion heaters became commonplace, placed within say a hot water cylinder, and this had obvious advantages in the summer months when a fire was not required. Modern versions of geysers are usually referred to by the more prosaic term local water heater. These can be sited over the sanitary appliance they supply and can be powered by gas or electricity.
