Modern lifestyle hugely depends on hot water, and should be therefore available in large amounts. If you are not an expert in plumbing, a boiler, and a water heater are probably the same heating devices to you. The criteria used in grouping equipment in plumbing is dependent on whether the equipment can perform a particular function and cannot do another. Technically, you can determine whether it is a boiler or a water heater by looking at what the appliance does and does not do. Although the same reason of heating water underlies the use of both the boiler and the water heater, heating is differently done in both equipment and for various aims. Once you understand this, you can now apply the proper code requirements. Moreover, you will save on time and finances, which you may have otherwise used to repair the equipment once it spoils. It for these reasons that this work will explore more about boilers and water heaters.
Kicking off with a water heater, it is barely a piece of equipment, which performs the function specified by its name; that is heating water. The heated water is then explicitly used for cleaning, washing, and cooking. Cold water from the supply pipe is taken up and warmed by the water heater. Heated water is then availed in taps throughout the home. They are mainly used to warm potable water.
Water heaters are categorized into two; tanked and tankless water heaters. Heat is indirectly applied to the water taken up in the tanked water heater. This is often accomplished by using an electric heating rod or a gas burner installed in the tank. The moment the required temperature has been reached, heating is brought to an end. The heated water remains in the tank until its usage. On the other hand, there is no storage of hot water in a tankless water heater. Instead, water is heated instantly. There will be continuous heating of running water if the tankless water heater remains on.
A boiler necessarily boils water. This implies that in the boiler, water is converted into steam. Heat is efficiently transported by steam. Steam contains heat in a better fashion to air. Moreover, it is a less expensive way of transferring heat since it is simple to pump steam all over the home. The boiler boils the water, and the resultant steam is principally used for heating reasons. It is not likely that the steam is convenient for domestic use.
In the end, the primary difference between the two is that the purpose of a water heater is to warm potable water, whereas a boiler provides heat to a home using steam and radiant heat techniques.