4 Major Varieties of Water Heating Elements

Posted by Ravish Kumar on June 17th, 2017

There are various types of water heaters available today for domestic and commercial use. Whether we talk about industrial heaters or domestic heaters, they all compulsorily consist of a part called water heating element. This component is responsible for heating water in any kind of water heater. The construction of these components allows the current to flow through them, which consequently heats the element, which in turn heats the water.

There are four major varieties of water heating elements used in different types of water heaters. The same are discussed below:

Tankless Element

This is a special type of element which heats the water on demand. It eliminates the need to store large quantities of water and there is also no worry regarding the continuous heating of water. These components make use of heat exchanger technology for heating water. They use electricity only when the heating function is to be performed. This provides a cost effective and energy efficient way of getting hot water.

Storage Heaters

This kind of water heater is basically a big kettle. There is an element at the bottom of this heater, which is regulated by a thermostat. This does not provide hot water instantly as it requires time to heat freshly filled water in the tank. However, the element life is relatively longer here as it is not required to be heated at substantially high temperatures.

Heat Pumps

A heat pump element uses just the reverse process followed by your refrigerator at home for heating water. In this process, there is no direct use of electricity for making the water hot. While a refrigerator extracts the heat from the compartment and diffuses it in the surrounding area, a heat pump water heater obtains heat from the surrounding area and forcefully inserts it into an insulated water tank. The repetition of this process again and again ultimately, raises the temperature of water. This process of water heating is also quite energy efficient.

Indirect Heater Elements

Such components generally constitute a part of an integrated water and space heating system. In this kind of model, the heat generated from the boiler or furnace of a home heating system is harnessed for water heating. This is achieved with the aid of a heat exchanging element, which enters a separate water tank. Inside the water tank, when the hot fluid from the furnace/boiler passes through the heat exchanging element, the water in the tank absorbs that heat and gradually its temperature rises. This model may prove most energy efficient only if the boiler is of high efficiency and the water tank is properly insulated.

The majority of industrial heaters suppliers in India use one of the above four elements in their heaters. No matter whether the application area is domestic or commercial, the above models work well if implemented properly.