Combi boiler hot water only works when heating is on

Well if you have a combi boiler that only works when heating is on, then you need to think about it. But before that you need to know about combi boilers and how they work.

What are combi boilers?

Combination boiler or combi boilers come being one of the most common types of boilers used in UK for a reason. Unlike the system and conventional units, the combination boilers are designed to be an all in one unit which produces hot water for taps and central heating in order to cut down the use of storage tanks or cylinders, thus occupying the least space required to house the boiler. Additionally on a comparison, the installations are much easier and faster than any other boiler unit.

The combi boilers operates by using the water from the main supply that results in stronger water pressure and ensures that you would never be lacking on hot water again. The modern highly efficient units come, being a stainless steel condensing boiler with an inbuilt heat exchanger that operates in order to serve the customers with hot water immediately.

There are two main reasons behind the combi boilers great and powerful efficiency i.e. these units have high operating efficiency and low internal water volume. This means when in summer days you don’t need space heating you are only paying to heat water which is domestically required.

Now that you are clear about what a combi boiler is, you need to learn about how it works.

How combi boiler works?

Combi boilers are designed to be manufactured with two independent heat exchangers, one of which carries a pipe to the radiators while the other one carries a pipe to the hot water supply. As soon as you turn the hot tap on, your boiler fires up to heat water and a valve gets opened to let the water flow through the network of pipes.

A combi boiler will usually require to pause from heating the central heating water for your radiators while it’s heating the hot water for your tap, because they are often not build to supply enough heat to both the points at the same time. For this reason, you might hear your boiler switching on and off when you run a hot water tap even if they’re already lit to power the central heating.

You might be wondering about the reason behind your combi boiler hot water working but only when the heating is on.

Combi boiler hot water only works when heating is on

If your central heating system works perfectly yet there is no hot water it means that your hot water works but only when your system is working and you need to clearly look upon it. In this case it could clearly be an issue with the diverter valve that might be faulty or be stuck in the central heating position.

What is a diverter valve?

A diverter valve is a valve that opens and closes to allow the hot water to travel either to the radiators or to the domestic hot water systems. A diverter is required in order to direct the water flow out of either the taps or the showerheads. The diverter valve is a mechanism found in the combi boiler system that is meant to control the flow of water through your home’s radiators.

You might be wondering where the diverter valve on a combi boiler is. The diverter is the part of the tub spout. The diverter handle simply pulls straight up to send all the water from the tub spout to the radiators or the shower heads.