How to identify the type of heating equipment & system in a building:

This article explains how to tell what kind of heating system you have installed. We illustrate and describe every type of residential & light commercial building heating system, including boilers, furnaces, steam boilers, and high efficiency units.

We compare hot water heating systems (hydronic heat or hot water boilers), warm air furnaces, and steam systems. We explain AFUE or heating system efficiency ratings and numbers.

The articles at this website describe the basic components of a home heating system, how to find the rated heating capacity of an heating system by examining various data tags and components, how to recognize common heating system operating or safety defects, and how to save money on home heating costs.

How to determine what type of heating equipment or is installed: boilers vs furnaces, hydronic, steam, hot air (or forced warm air), etc.

If your heating system is not working properly,

see NO HEAT - BOILER

or NO HEAT - FURNACE.

Don't confuse the type of heating system you have installed since their means of making and distributing heat, their controls, and their equipment are mostly different. We illustrate the basic types of residential heating systems just below.

There are of course more sophisticated versions of furnaces and boilers such as high efficiency furnaces or boilers and condensing boilers.

Those systems too are described at this website - see article links listed at the ARTICLE INDEX the bottom of this article or just search InspectAPedia using the search box at page top or bottom.

Each of the following basic types of heating system is illustrated and described in this article:

• A "heating boiler"
  
   (also called hydronic heating) heats the building using hot water. A hot water heating boiler is shown in our photo at left and in a sketch provided later in this article.
  
  See BOILERS, HEATING - home
  or
  
  See BOILER OPERATING STEPS for both gas and oil fired hot water heating boiler sequence of operations and key parts.
• A steam heating boiler
  
   actually boils water and sends steam through building heating pipes, steam radiators or convectors to deliver heat.
  
  See STEAM HEATING SYSTEMS & CONTROLS - topic home, for details
• A "furnace" 
  
  heats a building using hot air or "warm air".
  
  See FURNACES, HEATING - home
• Heat pumps 
  
  use the same equipment that serves for cooling or air conditioning, but in a reverse operating direction the heat pump extracts heat from outside air and sends it into the building.
  
  See HEAT PUMPS, DIAGNOSIS, REPAIR - home

Above: A fan coil heater hung from a garage ceiling. This heater type is discussed at FAN COIL & FAN CONVECTOR HEATERS & HYDRONIC COILS and may use electricity as a heat source or it may obtain heat from piping from a hydronic (hot water) heating boiler.

Also see OVERHEAD & GARAGE HEATERS - electric & other fuels

• Hybrid or mixed heating systems:
  
  Some heating systems combine both hot water and hot air to heat a building, such as water to air systems which use a heating boiler (oil, gas, or electric) to heat water which circulates through (and inside of) a heat exchanger (that looks like a car radiator).

  The heat exchanger in a water to air heating system is then placed inside of an air handler or blower compartment where a blower fan circulates building air from return ducts to a plenum where air is blown across the heat exchanger and then the warmed air is delivered to the occupied space through additional warm air ducts or radiators.
  
  See FAN COIL & FAN CONVECTOR HEATERS & HYDRONIC COILS
  

Details and sketches of different types of heating systems are provided below.

Types Heating System Fuels: oil, gas, electricity, solar, etc

Heating furnaces, boilers, and steam boilers may make use of different energy sources. Your heating system may use

• Gas heating fuel (LP or bottled gas or piped-in natural gas)
  
  See GAS PIPING, VALVES, CONTROLS
• Oil heating fuel (typically No. 2 home heating oil or a kerosene and oil mix),
  
  See HEATING OIL TYPES & PROPERTIES - home
  also
  
  see OIL TANKS and OIL TANK PIPING & PIPING DEFECT
• Electric heating systems may use electric baseboards along walls of rooms or an electric furnace to heat forced warm air, or an electric boiler to circulate hot water through baseboards or radiators.
  
  See ELECTRIC HEAT - home
• Geothermal heat source (ground water)
  
  See GEOTHERMAL HEATING SYSTEMS
• Solar home heating systems and solar hot water systems as well as solar pool heaters usually use roof-mounted panels of tubing through which water or a water-antifreeze mix is circulated. The panel of tubing is heated by sunlight; heated water may in turn be used in hot water heating system, in a water-to-air system, or in a hot water supply system.
  
  See SOLAR HEATING SYSTEM DESIGNS
• Or a combination of these systems may be used at your property.

Types of Heat Distribution Methods in buildings: air, hot water, radiant heating

Before we go on to illustrate the types of equipment that actually produce the heat to be used in a building we list the basic methods of heat distribution within a building

• Air heat distribution by air ducts:
  
  for warm air or hot air heating systems, a modern air duct system includes one or more return ducts that bring cool air from the occupied space back tothe furnace, and one or more supply ducts and registers that deliver warm air to the occuped space. Air heat, also referred to as warm air heat, forced warm air heat, gravity warm air heat, or hot air heat, is provided by a heater referred to as a furnace.
  
  Most buildings use conventionally sized ducts and a blower unit to move air through the heating system. Some buildings may use smaller high-velocity air ducts and supply registers. These are explained in detail
  
  at DUCT SYSTEM DESIGN SIZE & DEFECTS.
• Hot water heat distribution
  
   is made by hot water baseboards, convectors, radiators, or radiant heating. Cool water returns from the radiating devices to the boiler where it is heated and then circulated (by convection or by one or more circulator pumps) back to the radiating devices. Hot water heating systems are also called hydronic heating systems and with few exceptions the hot water heater is referred to as a boiler.
  
  See BASEBOARD HEAT REPAIR
  
  Additional levels of heat distribution control to different building areas may be obtained by individual heat piping loops and individual circulator pumps or zone valves that control each heating loop. These are explained in detail
  
  at RADIATORS
• Radiant heating 
  
  distributes heat to the occupied space using electric or hydronic in-floor or in-ceiling radiant heating panels or tubing. The heat source for radiant heat may be electric, a gas or oil fired boiler, or solar or even geothermal.
  
  See RADIANT HEAT.
• Water to air heating systems 
  
  use hot water to heat coils through which building air is heated; some water to air systems heat just part of a building while other building areas are heated by hot water baseboards or radiators.
  
  See FAN COIL & FAN CONVECTOR HEATERS & HYDRONIC COILS

Air heating systems blow warm air into the room to warm the room and its occupants. Hot water heating systems radiate warmth into the room by both radiant heating from hot radiators or baseboards and by warming air that circulates through the radiator, convector, or baseboard by convection.

Radiant heating systems warm room surfaces and occupants without directly warming the room air itself.

Heating System Types: Boilers, Steam Boilers, Furnaces, Mixed Systems

Warm Air or hot air heating Furnaces

Warm Air Heating Systems - Furnaces Operating Parts & Methods

If the heat in your building is provided by warm air that flows out of ceiling, wall, or floor air supply registers into the occupied space, or if your heating system uses a water-to-air heating system then the air which warms the living space is probably being delivered through large or small diameter ducts, registers, air filters, and a furnace blower, and the air is being heated by a gas, oil, or electric furnace, or perhaps by a heat pump or a geo-thermal system.

Modern warm air heat furnaces use "forced air" - that is, a blower that circulates building air from return air registers through the heating furnace and pushes it into the occupied space through ductwork and supply registers.

In modern furnaces the heating air flow direction may be "upflow" (cool air enters at the bottom of the furnace and warm air exits at the top, or "downflow" (cool air enters at the top and flows out of the furnace side or bottom such as in our sketch at left).

Older warm air heating systems used gravity (warm air rises by convection) to deliver heat to the occupied space without a blower fan. See AGE of HEATERS, BOILERS, FURNACES for an illustration of a gravity furnace.

For a detailed guide to inspecting and maintaining warm air heating systems or furnaces,

see FURNACES, HEATING

and FURNACE CONTROLS & SWITCHES

and FURNACE OPERATION DETAILS

Sketch of a typical warm air heating system (above left) is provided courtesy of Carson Dunlop Associates Associates.

Hot Water "hydronic" Heating Boilers

If the heat in your building is provided by warm or hot metal radiators, heating baseboards containing finned copper tubing, or wall convectors that look like a radiator but contain finned copper tubing, or if heat is provided by flexible rubber, plastic, or metal tubing run in building floors or ceilings, then the warm or hot water circulating in those devices is probably being delivered by piping circulating water heated by a heating boiler, or possibly by a steam boiler or a heat pump or geo-thermal system.

Modern hydronic heating systems use one or more circulator pumps to move hot water from the boiler through radiators or baseboards that deliver heat to the occupied space. Cooler water returns to the boiler for re-heating.

Older hot water heating systems may have omitted the circulator pump(s), relying simply on gravity (warm water rises in the pipes by convection) to move hot water through the building.

See BOILERS, HEATING

and RADIANT HEAT FLOOR MISTAKES.

A sketch of a typical hydronic heating system is shown at left. (Hot water radiators or baseboards are not shown in this sketch.)

What is a Hydronic or "hot water" Heating System?

What are we looking at when we're talking about oil-fired hot water heat? It's helpful to form a simple working definition that helps understand the system. An oil-fired forced hot water or "hydronic" heating system is a collection of components which heats a building by heating and then circulating hot water through heat-radiating devices located in the occupied space.

A "heating boiler" is a steel, copper, or cast iron "box" of hot water, connected to a loop of pipe (and radiators or baseboards) which runs around through the living area.

The same physical water stays in the boiler and is circulated by a pump so that heat is delivered to the living area. Burning oil makes hot gases which are used to heat the water before being exhausted outside.

Pumps move fluids through the system. Safety controls of various types are installed at various points protect against a number of potential hazards.

How does a "hot water" Heating Boiler Work?

We discuss how heating boilers work in step-by-step detail

at BOILER OPERATION DETAILS

What's the difference between a hydronic (hot water) boiler and a steam boiler?

A "steam boiler" delivers heat to the occupied space in the form of steam: the boiler literally "boils" water and sends steam rising up through steam riser pipes (steam, hotter and less dense than air, rises by convection in the piping system) and through steam radiators in the occupied space.

If your heating radiators have valves which hiss and let air escape as heat is coming on your heat is probably being delivered in pipes which circulate steam from the steam boiler up through radiators in the occupied space.

At the steam boiler controls monitor the boiler pressure (less than 0.5 psi in most residential steam boilers), the boiler water level, and the burner operation (gas or oil).

Additional heating controls unique to steam heat include the air vent or "steam vent" found on each radiator (see sketch at left) allows steam to enter and air to escape from the radiator.

For a detailed guide to inspecting, diagnosing, maintaining & repairing steam heat systems

see STEAM HEATING SYSTEMS.

Hybrid or Mixed Heating Systems: Water to Air combination systems & Dual Hot Water & Warm Air Heating Systems

Mixed heating systems typically convert hot water to warm air heat by using a heating boiler to produce the hot water and a fan coil unit that blows room air across that hot water as it circulates through the coil.

Mixed heating systems are used both in individual residential homes, often as backup heat or to make use of air ducts and blowers, or they may be used in a large apartment building or office building to permit installation of a large commercial boiler to provide heat to multiple rooms where both heating and cooling will be provided by the same in-room unit.

The fan coil heating unit shown at left is in a New York City apartment. This unit also provides cooling in summer months.

This mixed heating system has had its cover removed and the floor below opened during a mold remediation project: the unit's A/C component had leaked condensate into the floor structure.

The heating boiler for the apartment building serves all of the units.

Finally, water to air heat is often used to provide concentrated or spot heat to areas of a building that is otherwise heated with hot water radiators or baseboards.

An example of "spot heat", illustrated in our fan convector article cited below is the provision of heat for a garage work area using an overhead water to air fan convector unit.

For a detailed guide to inspecting, diagnosing, maintaining & repairing mixed, hybrid, water to air heating systems

see FAN COIL & FAN CONVECTOR HEATERS & HYDRONIC COILS

Definition of Water to Air Heat Exchanger Heating Systems

Some heating systems combine both hot water and hot air to heat a building, such as water to air systems which use a heating boiler (oil, gas, or electric) to heat water which circulates through (and inside of) a heat exchanger (that looks like a car radiator).

The heat exchanger in a water to air heating system is then placed inside of an air handler or blower compartment where a blower fan circulates building air from return ducts to a plenum where air is blown across the heat exchanger and then the warmed air is delivered to the occupied space through additional warm air ducts or radiators .Water-to-air heating systems will use both a separate water heating boiler and a blower or air handler system.

Comparing large vs. small Warm Air Heating Duct Systems: direct air vs. water-to-air heating designs

If the heat in your building is provided by warm air that flows out of ceiling, wall, or floor air supply registers into the occupied space, or if your heating system uses a water-to-air heating system then the air which warms the living space is probably being delivered through large or small diameter ducts, registers, air filters, and a furnace blower, and the air is being heated by a gas, oil, or electric furnace, or perhaps by a heat pump or a geo-thermal system.

But in a direct warm air heating system the air being circulated through the building ductwork is itself directly heated by a heat exchanger located inside of the furnace.

Building air enters the furnace air intake, flows through the heat exchanger interior, enters the warm air plenum, and flows from the plenum into the building air duct system.

In a water to air heating system, a heating boiler (oil, gas, electric, solar, other) heats water that is then circulated through a heating coil (it looks a lot like a car radiator). Building air is warmed by being blown across the heating coil. The air heating coil can be quite distant from the heating boiler, connected to it by hot water piping.

Definition of Dual Water and Air Heating Systems

Some buildings are heated by a combination of separate hot water systems (circulating hot water through radiating devices like baseboards or radiators in some areas) and hot air systems (circulating warm air through ductwork into the occupied space in other areas).

These buildings will have both a hot air furnace and a completely separate hot water heating boiler installed. In this case these are completely separate heating systems and usually each serves different building areas.

How does a Gas fired boiler- PTAC unit work?

Our reader asked:

We have a gas fired boiler which sends heat through the ptac unit - what is the mechanics of how it works? (Oct 23, 2014) Bob

Definition & Explanationof PTAC systems for air conditioning and heating

For other readers, the definition of PTAC "Packaged Terminal Air Conditioner" for which PTAC is an abbreviation that can be misleading since PTAC systems also are used to provide heat.

PTAC units are individual, self-contained heating or cooling systems or heat pumps typically used in large multi-occupant buildings such as hotels, hospitals, apartments, and condominiums. PTACs may also be installed to bring heating or cooling to an add-on or addition to a single family home, particularly where an A/C or heat pump s needed for the addition for which extending the building's existing heating or cooling system is not feasible.

For Bob's PTAC system we are seeing a combination system: a gas fired hot water (hydronic) heating boiler, probably already installed to heat the primary building areas, includes an additional hot water heating loop or zone whose piping, instead of running through hot water baseboards or radiators, sends hot water through a heat-exchanging coil inside of a small packaged air handler or blower unit.

Such heaters (or air conditioners in similar designs) may be built into a wall, wall-mounted, ceiling-mounted, or may be suspenced as a ceiling-hung fan convector unit.

Details are at FAN COIL & FAN CONVECTOR HEATERS & HYDRONIC COILS

What if my heating system is not like the ones on this page?

Our reader asked:

I have read over your page, yet none of these systems are like the one we have, we have a hot water boiler that stands alone, next to it is a cupboard that house's copper pipes, it has two different setting for summer and winter, in the summer we switch it so it just proved hot water.

In the winter when we put it to provide heat it does great on the heating side but alas we don't get any hot water.

It seem that boiler sends all the heat to the heating system and none to keep the water hot. Its been like this 6 years and no one seems to know how to fix it, the house is ten years old and the first two owners sold within two years of purchase.

I would dearly love to figure out why we can't have heating and hot water. (Nov 11, 2012) HH said:

Suggestions from MechFIX - Hot Water Cogeneration System or a Combination Boiler

There a several things this could be. It sounds like it is a hot water cogeneration or combination boiler.

There is one boiler, through which your heating water is circulated.

This water is then either used to heat the house and/or used to heat your domestic hot water, usually in an on-demand way via a water-to-water heat exchanger (unless you still have a hot water tank with the heater loop running through it).

Typically these systems have two circulation pumps on the heater loop, a small one for the domestic hot water heat exchanger and a large one for the house system.

These systems also rely on valves being set properly such that flow is allowed to go where it is required, which is adjusted by season.

And finally, these systems sometimes work as modulating boilers, meaning they run somewhere between full on and off as required to keep a steady heat.

So the issues could be that your domestic hot water heat exchanger circulation pump is not working and so this section is getting very little heat when the house is using most of the capacity, the valves are being closed off or not correctly balanced to ensure sufficient flow to the heat exchanger, or the modulated boiler temperature is staying too low to keep your domestic hot water heat output high enough, which may be correctable by throttling down the house heat valve or by electronic control settings

Make sure your heating inspection is complete: how to Inspect any Heating System using Physical Location of Components

This approach broadens the scope of the heating system inspection and it may aid in heating system defect recognition or problem diagnosis, for example by observing that a heating boiler is located in a small, air-tight room (possible combustion air problems), or that the furnace is quite close to the oil storage tank.

Below we give the basics of heating system inspection using the physical location "map" of components to assure completeness. See full details of heating system inspection procedures provided

at HEATING SYSTEM INSPECT DIAGNOSE REPAIR

• Heating components: Identify the heating system components in each building area.


• Heating fuel & fuel delivery: At the heating boiler or furnace, identify the fuel source and follow fuel supply piping to its source (an oil tank, LP gas tank, or gas meter, or electricity for example).


• Heat distribution: At the boiler or furnace, identify the heat distribution method and follow the delivery of heat (warm air or hot water) leaving the furnace or boiler, and returning to it. Failure to consider this whole path logically risks failing to notice potential problems such as return air taken at a furnace itself or the absence of adequate return air.


• Heating controls: At the boiler or furnace identify each of the controls and safety devices and observe their condition. Those devices that are intended for normal operation by the home owner are usually also operated and tested by the inspector. Other devices such as temperature/pressure relief valves are not normally operated but are visually inspected for evidence of a problem.

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Reader Q&A - also see RECOMMENDED ARTICLES & FAQs

Identify the Boiler Type: Hot Water vs Steam

Need to drain water from a hydronic heating boiler vs steam boiler?

I have a 20 year old Utica Oil Burner w/ a tankless coil and up until last Sunday it was running fine.

Every October when the temperature outside drops I drain out all the water that's inside the system so the baseboard heaters don't clank when I put on the heat. Normally it's about 16 to 20 gallons or so.

After draining it, I cranked the heat up just to see if every room was heating up & it worked fine. Yesterday my wife calls me to tell me that the heater in our bedroom was leaking water.

When I went home I noticed that the water that I drained out filled right back up again within a day. I drained it again and this time it was even more water & the burner would start until at least 15 gallons were drained.

I drained it to an even lower level than Sunday night & when I turned on the burner this morning it wouldn't fire up.

I checked the water level & it filled back up again! Is it possible that there's a leak inside where the coils are? I can't seem to figure it out & I'm dumping a lot of water every day. (Oct 21, 2014) Will

Sketch above: keyh parts of a typical hydronic or hot water heating boiler.

Reply:

Will I'm confused. It is not normal nor normally necessary, nor recommended, to regularly drain water out of a hot water heating system, nor is that the best way to avoid "clanking noises" that are attributed usually thermal expansion.

Hot water heat systems use an automatic water feeder to keep proper water pressure in the system.

Yes a leak in a tankless coil can add water to a boiler as house water pressure (inside the tankless coil) is typically higher than boiler cold pressure (12 psi)

You would indeed need to regularly flush the low water cutoff (and water feeder) on a steam boiler or on some hydronic boilers that have added this safety control.

Will - service tech says I need to flush the float chamber monthly

Hey the company that I get the fuel from has a person that comes out & does a maintenance for the burner when I need it & he told me that I need to flush the float chamber monthly & if I can't see the float line then it has to drain until I can otherwise the pipes or the heaters start clanking.

Not making this up. I was also told that the Low Water Level Control may be faulty, that's why there's a lot of water in the system. I may need to trouble shoot that along with the coil. Anyway, what is the best way to check if there's a leak in the coil or if the Low Water Control is bad? By the way, thank you for your input.

...

This is Will again (the guy w/ the Utica Oil burner) and since the last time I commented in this forum I have changed the Low Water Level Control, replaced the shutoff valve under the low water control, replaced the Beckett burner motor (found a nice one on ebay for $200.00), replaced the oil filter and replaced the old wiring to all controls, thermostats and the power into the burner motor.

It lights up like new, everything works great but I'm still having the issue of the system filling up w/ water.

Even when I shut off the main there is water still coming out from the new shutoff valve under the LWL Control.

Not a lot but it's still trickling through. Any suggestions? Should I just call a plumber in at this point? Thanks for any suggestions you may have.

Moderator reply: LWCO means you may have a steam boiler

Sketch above, courtesy of Carson Dunlop Associates, illustrates the general function of a steam heating boiler.

Will: if your heating boiler has a low water cutoff and automatic water feeder - controls normally found on steam boilers but occasionally on hot water heating boilers, the LWCO may indeed require periodic flushing.

My advice is to call in an experienced heating service technician not only to fix that upstairs leak (possibly a plumber can do that ) but also to review your heating system with you so that we both understand what kind of heat you have installed.

For a quick clarification see these two articles:

• BOILERS, HEATING  - hydronic or hot water heating boilers
• STEAM HEATING SYSTEMS & CONTROLS - home

...

My forced warm air heat furnace won't keep running

My warm air gas powered with electric ignition won’t stay on.

It starts and regardless of the thermostat setting it turns off in a couple of minutes. I changed the circuit breaker associated with it in troubleshooting this issue. That’s not the problem. Any useful advice would be very welcome. - On 2020-02-05 by Shelly

Diagnostic suggestions by (mod) - safety warnings about this heater

Shelly

There are several safety devices that might keep turning off a gas-fired heater, pretty much ALL of them important Life-Safety features. Here are some examples of what your service tech may check:

- spillage at the exhaust flue -

- excessive plenum temperature

- flame sensor doesn't sense proper gas flame

- blower fan is not turning on

Do you hear the blower fan run?

Watch the fan limit switch dial as the heater warms up - if it is reaching the FAN OFF HIGH LIMIT then we know the problem is with a blocked heat exchanger, dirty filter, blocked ductwork etc.

Watch out: any of these conditions may be unsafe, risking fire or fatal carbon monoxide hazards. Be sure that you have working CO and smoke detectors properly installed and working, and get help from a trained heating service technician.

Our heater vents through a chimney that ends half way up the building and blows white smoke

My building uses a gas boiler and hot water baseboards for heating. We have a chimney that ends half way the height of the building on the side of the building (not on top).

The chimney is constantly blowing white smoke which enters through my daughter's room window. My question is what is in that white smoke and is it harmful to the health (gas boiler/baseboard water type of heating system). On 2018-01-08 by Stacey

by (mod) - your system and building sound unsafe

Stacey,

Watch out: This does not sound like a safe heating system to me: the chimney normally extends well above the roof line, and actual smoke from a gas flue can indicate a combustion air, burner, or chimney problem that is unsafe, producing dangerous carbon monoxide gas.

In my OPINION you should before going to sleep tonight,

1. Be sure there are working CO (Carbon monoxide) and smoke detectors in your daughter's bedroom as well as at other appropriate locations in your home

2. Keep the window shut

3. Notify the building operator of what sounds like a dangerous condition - orally and in writing, and notify others who may be affected

What are the right settings on the 2-dial Camstat used on my Lennox G8 Furnace?

I have a Lennox G8 and the limit switch I think it’s a camstat and it has 2 dials one on top says fan off and the bottom says Diff I need to know what the factory settings are. Thank you On 2017-12-28 by Mike

by (mod) - refernce to furnace fan limit control

Mike,

See details at

FAN LIMIT CONTROL SETTINGS

Our extensive rticle series beginning with

FAN LIMIT SWITCH gives complete details about furnace controls and

can also be found by searching for that title using the on Page search box above, will give you the typical fan limit switch settings.

However you definitely want to pick up a copy of the installation and operation manual for your specific furnace to see what the factory settings should be.

What's the difference between a water heater and a boiler?

I am still confused: when we are talking about (Water heater and Boiler) - two different names,

But what is the difference between these two? On 2016-03-10 by Rahman

Explanation of the difference between a water heater and a "hot water boiler" by (mod) -

Both

A "water heater" is a system used to produce domestic hot water for washing and bathing. In some countries the device that makes domestic hot water might also be called a geyser or a calorifier.

Details are at WATER HEATERS - home

In some buildings the water heater may be an "instant" or demand unit or a tankless coil or TANKLESS WATER HEATER 

A "boiler" is a building heating system (keeping the rooms and occupants warm) using hot water and radiators or baseboards or other heat-radiating devices.

Hot water heated by a building heating boiler circulates through pipes and passes through heat-emitting devices such as radiators or baseboards that in turn warm the building interior occupied space, keeping people warm.

Complete details begin at BOILERS, HEATING - home

Both devices produce hot water.

A water heater that produces hot water for use in washing or bathing (domestic hot water) delivers hot water to sinks, showers, tubs, etc. from the water heating devicve.

A hot water boiler that heats water to circulate through a building to warm building occupants also heats water but that water is in a closed system: the hot water circulates through radiators and returns to the boiler to be re-heated.

Speaking loosely, some folks call a water heater a "boiler" but that's rather confusing - we avoid that usage.

Where can I find information on a pilot for a Briant gas boiler 234-4PW, series D. ser 16B 46339.

I have a Bryant gas boiler, hot water heat. the model is 234-4PW, series D. ser 16B 46339. I am trying to find a place where i can get a pilot assembly. (Nov 5, 2014) Dave D said

Reply:

Dave

Just contact Bryant - www.bryant.com -- with the model and serial number of hour boiler (as below) and they can tell you what OEM part or replacement part will be proper for your Bryant gas fired boiler.

Or find the manual for your Bryant boiler

at BRYANT HVAC AGE MANUALS & PARTS GUIDES -

On that page you'll find this manual

BRYANT Gas-Fired WATER or STEAM BOILER 234-D,E I MANUAL [PDF] (1973)

that describes your boiler.

More contact information is at MANUALS & PARTS GUIDES - HVAC

...

Continue reading at DIAGNOSE & FIX HEATING PROBLEMS-BOILER or select a topic from the closely-related articles below, or see the complete ARTICLE INDEX.

Or see these

Recommended Articles

• DIAGNOSE & FIX HEATING PROBLEMS-FURNACE
• DIAGNOSTIC GUIDE A/C or HEAT PUMP

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HEATING SYSTEM TYPES at InspectApedia.com - online encyclopedia of building & environmental inspection, testing, diagnosis, repair, & problem prevention advice.

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