How a boiler works really depends on the kind of boiler you have.
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But the primary purpose of all boilers is to transfer heat to water. Basically, boilers work by heating water or producing steam that is then used to heat a home.
But, of course, that's a barebones explanation of how boilers work. The inner workings of a boiler gets more complicated once you start looking at the different kinds of boilers.
We'll explain how different kinds of boilers operate. But first, let's take a closer look at the operation process that all boilers share.
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Now that you know the general boiler process, let's look at the different kinds of boilers and how they operate slightly different from each other.
Boilers are classified according to a lot of different factors, including their:
Pressure and temperature
Fuel type
Form of heating (hot water vs steam)
Heating method (firetube vs watertube)
Draft method
Size/capacity
Ability to provide heat only vs. heat and hot water
Efficiency (whether it can recover wasted heat or not)
But for simplicity's sake we'll take a look at the most common classifications: fuel type, form of heating and the boiler's ability to provide heat only vs heat and hot water.
As we mentioned above, a boiler has to first create heat (during what's called the 'combustion process') before it can transfer heat to water. But different boilers use different fuel sources to create that heat.
To create heat, a boiler uses one of 3 different fuel sources:
Gas
Oil
Electricity
When it receives the call for heat from your thermostat, a gas boiler uses either a pilot light or an electric start to ignite gas and oxygen inside a 'combustion chamber'. The combustion chamber is a safe, secured chamber where the gas is burned to produce heat. That burning gas heats up the 'heat exchanger''a web of copper piping that transfers its heat to water.
Gas boilers are the most common form of boilers and are usually cheaper to install and operate than oil boilers.
Oil boilers perform the same way as gas boilers: oil burns inside the combustion chamber and heats up the heat exchanger, which in turn heats water.
However, the main difference between oil and gas boilers is that an oil boiler requires an oil storage tank. The oil must be delivered to the home and stored in the tank until it's needed. Oil boilers aren't as eco-friendly as gas burners but they can sometimes be more efficient, depending on the model.
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While oil and gas prices fluctuate, oil boilers are generally more expensive to operate than gas boilers.
Electric boilers are generally used in homes where natural gas is not available. An electric boiler creates heat in a slightly different way than their oil or gas counterparts. Instead of burning fuel, they use electrical power to heat elements. Those hot elements then transfer heat directly to water.
While electric boilers burn 'cleaner', they're not as efficient and are more expensive to operate than oil or gas boilers.
Gas, oil and electric boilers can heat your home in one of 2 ways:
Hot water
Steam
Hot water boilers don't actually 'boil' water. They heat water to 140-180 degrees Fahrenheit. An electrical pump is needed to push that hot water throughout the home.
Steam boilers, on the other hand, heat water past the boiling point to produce steam. The steam is then distributed throughout the home via radiators or radiant floor systems.
Since it takes more energy to boil water than to simply heat it, steam boilers are usually less efficient. However, heating water to steam increases the pressure inside the system, which means steam boilers don't require the additional energy uptake of a circulating pump.
While traditional boilers are designed to only provide central heating, some boilers are designed to also function as a hot water heater.
Boilers that are designed to provide heating and hot water are either:
Tankless coil systems
Indirect systems
Tankless coil systems use the boiler's heat exchanger to heat water on demand. That means, any time you turn on a hot water faucet, water will run over that hot heat exchanger, heat up and be delivered to you.
This water heating method is super efficient in the winter months since it's 'piggybacking' off of the heat created by the boiler to warm your home. On the other hand, it becomes an 'energy guzzler' during the warm summer months because the boiler isn't being used for heat anymore but is still forced to turn on anytime hot water is needed.
Indirect systems also use the heat exchanger to heat water but the hot water is stored in a tank. The water is kept hot in the storage tank and only used when it's needed. This is usually a more efficient form of water heating because it doesn't require the boiler to turn on and off every time you need hot water.
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Boilers operate by heating water within a vessel using gas, oil, or coal. This heated water, either turned into steam or kept in liquid form depending on the type of boiler you have, is then sent through a system of radiators placed throughout a home in order to provide indoor heating.
Steam boilers function by creating a combustion reaction by electrical ignition between air and fuel. This causes tubes within the boiler that are immersed in water to heat up. The heat raises the water temperature to about 212°F, the highest temperature at which water can still exist in liquid form at this pressure. This causes the water which the tubes are submerged in to turn into steam. The steam travels from the boiler through piping to the radiators throughout the building to provide indoor heating. After the steam in the pipes and radiators has cooled, it becomes liquid water and flows through the pipes back to the boiler water heating chamber and repeats the cycle.
A hot water boiler uses oil or gas fuel, depending on the system type, to produce heat energy. This energy heats the boiler water to a high enough temperature to power your radiators to heat your home.
Gas boilers work by releasing the fuel through a gas valve into a sealed combustion chamber in the boiler through small jets. With an electrical ignition, the gas is combusted to create heat. This heat is absorbed by a connected pipe carrying cold water. The water is heated to about 180°F and transferred to the radiators through your home to maintain the heated indoor climate you desire.
Oil fueled boilers work similarly to gas fuelled boilers. They keep a home warm by heating water and transferring it through a system of pipes and radiators that distribute the heat through your home. The significant difference between them is that these systems combust oil instead of gas to provide heating.
The process an oil burner follows starts when the cooled water returns from heating the radiators in your home. This cooled water in the boiler reduces the boiler water temperature until it triggers a temperature sensor which initiates an electric charge that turns the oil burner on. Once triggered, the system uses high pressure to spray small droplets of oil into the fire chamber. These tiny drops of oil vaporize with ease and are highly combustible. A spark is ignited from a high voltage ignition system, causing the sprayed oil droplets to combust and which allows the oil boiler to sufficiently prepare the water that will be used to heat your home.