We are often asked about how to choose the right type of water heater - for example, in a 2 bedroom apartment. The requirements generally vary because of the amount of occupants and their lifestyle.
However, we need to look at something fairly typical, so perhaps an assumption of one bath and two showers, along with a couple of wash hand basins and a kitchen sink would be appropriate.
There are guidelines from a British Standards document that suggest that a direct cylinder size should be up to 210L, but I’m not sure that this takes account of modern lifestyles that don’t generally include filling up baths on a regular basis: surely nearly all of us tend to take daily showers rather than a morning bath?
For that reason, I think a sensible choice would be somewhere around 120 or 150L for a couple in a 2 bedroom flat..
The next decision will depend upon whether you have a gas boiler or other source of heating already in place that could provide the heat for the water in the cylinder. If this is the case, you would choose an indirect boiler/cylinder. (These have a hollow copper coil within the cylinder that serves as an element by means of hot water being pumped through this coil)
If you don’t have another heat source then you will require a direct boiler or cylinder. These do all the heating of the water themselves using elements, otherwise known as immersion heaters.
To help further with this selection process, we’ve produced a couple of useful Advice Centre articles:
What Size Hot Water Cylinder do I need?
Do I need a Direct or Indirect Cylinder?
Along with the Joule Cyclone range of heaters, we also stock Heatrae Sadia, Santon, Zip, Kingspan and a few others, so please call one of our water heating experts on 01934 253600 for further advice or to place your order.