Though the design, installation, and maintenance of heating systems are considered somewhat trivial, this couldn't be further from the truth. Analyses show that, even today, most British properties feature highly inefficient and ineffective heating systems that result in irregularities, high energy consumption, and a myriad of safety issues.
One of the primary ways to increase efficiency in a heating system is by installing a low-loss header, which decreases the primary circuit return temperature through hydraulic separation and ensures efficient and proper flow of water between primary and secondary circuits in the system.
If you want to know how a low-loss header works and whether it is right for you or not, this article contains everything you need to know!
Low-loss Headers Provide Hydraulic Separation
Low-loss headers, also known as common headers or hydraulic separators, are devices that are installed between the primary and secondary circuits of a system. Low-loss headers come in both horizontal and vertical designs and consist of one or multiple chambers that regulate the flow of water between different circuits.
Beyond creating a far more efficient flow between the primary and secondary circuit, a low-loss header is often fitted with an air and dirt separator that helps purify the water from grime and impurities. Acting as the central regulator of water flow between the entire system makes the low-loss header an excellent place to install filters.
The Advantages of Low-loss Headers
Does your heating system waste energy? Are the variable flow rates between different circuits causing irregularities? Wondering if a vertical low-loss header is right for your existing systems? This section goes over all the key advantages of low-loss headers!
- Low-loss Headers Increase Water Flow and Availability
Most modern heating systems operate using multiple circuits. There's the primary hot water circuit that's connected directly to the boiler system, and there are secondary circuits that are connected to radiators, faucets, underfloor heating pipes, and much more.
In many instances, the central circuit can't provide sufficient water quantity or flow intensity to ensure these systems work properly. This has many downsides. Low flow velocity in underfloor heating systems, for example, results in uneven, unreliable, and inefficient heating.
Low-loss headers can ensure a constant flow rate from the primary circuit reducing and eliminating irregular flows. Not only that, but they can also increase and decrease the flow rates depending on the needs of the auxiliary heating systems.
- Low-loss Headers Improve Water Quality
Since their primary task is regulating water flows throughout the system, a significant volume of water naturally flows through low-loss headers, making them ideal locations for filtering out impurities such as dirt and trace metals.
High-quality low-loss headers are fitted with a dirt-separation device and a sophisticated filtration system that improves the water quality. This is important for the health of the building's residents, maintains the system's efficiency, and minimizes the need for maintenance.
- Low-loss Headers Enhance the Stability and Efficiency of the Heating System
Modern heating systems are incredibly interconnected, and while this offers many advantages, it also comes with downsides.
A heating circuit in the system might require operating at relatively low temperatures providing more than sufficient heating in the late spring, meanwhile, a secondary pump connected to the kitchen or the bathroom might require transferring water at much higher temperatures. The system's boilers have to exert themselves and produce additional hot water just to ensure the temperature losses that happen between these two systems are accounted for.
With a low-loss header, the system can provide proper and sufficient hot water to each auxiliary system independently and prevent the mixing of the flow of water between them, sufficiently increasing both stability and efficiency and reducing the system's overall energy consumption and wear and tear.
Should You Install a Low-loss Header in Your Heating System?
Low-loss headers offer many key advantages that make them a great choice for residential and commercial properties alike. If your answer is yes to any of the questions below, then you can be sure that a low-loss header can significantly improve your heating system:
- Are You Looking to Make Your Heating System More Efficient?
The hydraulic separation low-loss headers provide is key to increasing the efficiency of heating systems and minimizing energy loss. The low-loss header regulates the flow of water and pressure between different circuits of the heating system, allowing each circuit to operate at its own optimal pace, pressure, and heat.
What this means in practice is that the flow of water between the central heating system and auxiliary circuits becomes far more efficient, preventing any flow irregularities and ensuring all systems operate at full efficiency at their desired temperatures, flow rates, and pressures without impacting other circuits in the system.
- Want to Increase the Water Quality of Your Heating System and Reduce Maintenance Needs?
Are you the owner of a residential property that relies on its heating system for both heat and water needs, including drinking, cooking, showering, and more? The quality of the water has a significant impact on the resident's quality of life. From high metal contents in the water damaging hair to dirt and rust both impacting the taste and health of food, keeping the water pure and free from debris and impurities is essential.
Beyond its impact on the residents' health and well-being, dirt and grime has a substantial impact on the health of your heating system. From impeding the primary flow of water and clogging pipes to the buildup to limescale reducing maximum flow rate, and air and dirt build-up making heating more inefficient.
By installing a low-loss header with in-built air and dirt separation, you can substantially increase the quality of water in your system while reducing maintenance costs, increasing the longevity of your system, and improving efficiency. Air and dirt separators are considered integral to many larger boiler systems, and installing them in a low-less header is a perfect way to integrate them into your system!
- Are You Experiencing Instability in Your Heating System?
Are you designing, managing, or repairing a heating system for a large property or an entire office building? Your system might suffer from a variable flow rate, with uneven or unreliable heating throughout sections of the building, especially during increased use. This problem is especially prevalent on properties that use underfloor heating and other auxiliary systems that require separate flow rates and characteristics.
This is primarily due to the water flow in the system not being properly regulated, with water from multiple heat sources intermingling throughout the system. Installing low-loss headers improves and regulates water flow through the primary and secondary circuits.
Installing a Low Loss Header in a Heating System FAQ
Is a Buffer Tank Better Than a Low-loss Header?
Though they might seem to serve similar functions at first, a buffer tank and a low-loss header fulfill different functions in a heating system, and it is entirely possible for a system to have both a buffer tank and a low-loss header.
A buffer tank, as its name suggests, provides a safety buffer to the heating system. It is largely a hot water cylinder that stores hot water and releases it to meet the heating system's peak demands.
A low-loss header, on the other hand, regulates the secondary and primary water flows throughout the system, ensuring sufficient circulation in all auxiliary systems and preventing irregular and inefficient water flow between different circuits.