I saw a television show in which a person set the boiler in their apartment to a certain temperature. Is it some kind of cooking appliance? Or perhaps a furnace or space heater?Thanks!
Just wanted to add, that some modern boilers do NOT have a tank of water that is heated. A boiler is like a furnace yes. We have a boiler in our kitchen. You turn it on, it fires up and heats the water AS it runs through the pipes when you shower or turn a hot tap on. We do not have a water tank as we have what is called a combi boiler. When we want heat, we press the switch on the boiler and that then heats the water IN the radiators than hang on the walls in each room. A boiler and a radiator are two separate things!
For boiler substitute Central Heating Boiler the system in the Uk is ..a cast iron boiler which heats the water (it does not boil just gets the water hot) which is then pumped around the house to radiators, the size of which is determined by the size of the room and it`s N value the boiler also heats the domestic hot water,which is stored in a cylinder this system is more economical than a warm-air ducted system in that one only needs one heat source for both purposes, that and radiators don`t blow all the germs in the house all over the place !!
The furnace system is used in the UK, although it is mostly found in houses built in the 1960s - even then these systems are often replaced by the hot water systems seen in the link. I'm not sure why they are not widely used, I suppose that it is because they are not widely known, so are expensive to repair or replace. Source - live in a house that still has the vents or a furnace sytem but now has a hot water heating system.
In a place that uses a radiator for heating the hot water comes from the boiler. You can also have a double boiler which is a cooking pot.The bottom has water which you boil and the second part sits on top with what you are cooking. In US most houses use Hot air Furnace large buildings use Steam heat In some areas the hot water system for baths and washing is combined with the heat for the rooms. One large boiler instead of a furnace and a hot water heater.
Your term would be a furnace, which is probably the closest equivalent to our term of boiler. The furnaces that you refer too, which is I think a condensing furnace, it used here, its just not our most popular type of furnace or boiler. With that type you would have a separate water tank and heating system, and I assume because this takes up more room, a lot of our houses have an all in one system. Additionally we have our hot water systems Incorporated into the boiler system because it means it will heat up quicker so hot water is there as you want it, you don't have to wait for the tank to heat. So in terms of families all wanting a bath or shower after one another, you can do that. You don't need to wait for the hot water tank to re-heat. Additionally they re a little quieter than the separate system, but that could just be because they re newer, so again, because our houses are smaller, we would hear the noise more. I think radiators are radiators in both countries right. But in america you guys tend to have ducts in your homes? Rather than rads? I think its all to do with the age of the houses too, alot of our house were built without central heating, which was added after, where as some at least, of your homes were built with the central heating incorporated into the structure. In Britain, if you said a furnace, we would think of something a lot bigger, industrial plants have furnaces, homes have boilers!
