The inertia tank is an essential element in heating systems, whether they are pellet boilers, wood boilers, heat pumps, energy fireplaces, wood-fired boilers or oil-gas boilers as the company καυστήρες Μπότης explain us.
They offer very high fuel economy , due to the fact that the boiler does not need to operate during the time that the circulation of hot water is done by the water stored in the inertia tank.
What is the inertia tank and what the use of it
Inertia tanks are essentially tanks (extra space) for storing water (hot or cold).
What do I gain with the inertia tank?
- more efficient operation of the heating system
- bigger economy
- can last for many years
- most stable heating provision
Where and how do we achieve this?
In air conditioning systems, the inertia tank is added to increase the mass of water circulating in the air conditioning network, so that the cooler or heat pump does not start and stop with great frequency, but at shorter intervals.
The coolers and heat pumps have a built-in restart safety and from the moment they stop operating, they do not restart unless the minimum restart time required by the manufacturer has passed.
By adding the container, the cooler each time starts, cools or heats the entire mass of the container and when put out, the container returns this energy to the system, so no restart is required until the energy stored in the buffer is absorbed.
In wood boiler (or fireplace) installations, the inertia tank absorbs the excess energy given off by the fireplace or wood boiler in relation to the losses of the house and returns it when we stop supplying wood to the wood boiler.
In this way, the installation is protected from overheating of the water. No open expansion tank is required when installing the inertia tank. The installation of an inertia tank is very important in a wood-fired boiler installation, both to improve the efficiency of the system, and for the safety of the users.
In solar assistance installations, the inertia tank absorbs the excess energy that the collectors deliver in relation to the needs of the house and returns it when the sunshine stops.
Apart from the benefits that are the same as in the case of the wood boiler, an additional feature of the solar assistance is that its implementation requires the existence of a container, while a wood boiler can be connected directly to the bodies with the appropriate locking devices and open expansion tank.
Here, too, the goal is to improve system performance, and user security.
In installations with multiple energy sources (eg fireplace, boiler, solar assistance), the inertia tank is the common recipient of the energy produced, regardless of the source from which the energy is received.
Thus, the heating network of the house is independent from the respective source and we are not bothered by the difference in temperatures achieved by each source. The installation of the tank is mandatory if the circuit of the house is underfloor and there is a source of solid fuel energy.
When choosing an inertia tank, it is important to pay attention to:
The weight of the container. The inertia tank is a metal construction, of a specific shape and volume.
The higher the weight, the thicker the sheet metal of the container. The quality of the welds that must be done automatically at the manufacturing plant.
The strong insulation it should have. This means minimizing heat loss throughout the year. Maintaining the stored thermal load for long periods of time. Easy transport to the boiler room, through a narrow corridor or door, due to the removable insulation.
It should also have:
- Large cross-sections in the inertia tank. In practice this means a small drop in pressure due to friction, during the flow of water entering and leaving the inertia tank. Less pumping stress, cheaper operation, less power consumption, higher system efficiency.
- Resistance to pressure. The inertia tank must withstand high operating pressure, making the product safe even if other locking devices fail.
- Positions for installation of temperature sensors. The existence of these positions ensures the optimal monitoring of the thermal stratification, inside the inertia tank.
Many benefits for combining multiple energy sources specifications. Construction according to the European Standard EN 12897.
Storage of heating hot water (radiator or underfloor heating) or domestic hot water
The inertia tank is connected in series with the boiler (whether it is an oil, gas boiler, pellet-biomass boiler, wood boiler, heat pump) or with solar panels.
This is a container with very good thermal insulation, in order to maintain the high temperature of the water for a long time.
The purpose of the inertia tank is to store hot water when it is produced during the operation of any type of boiler, heat pump, or solar collector and to provide us with hot water when the boiler or heat pump stops operating or when the sun goes down and the solar panel now stops producing hot water.
For example, if a heat pump or boiler operates from 6 to 10 at night, during these 4 hours it produces hot water of high temperature, which is transferred through the circulator to the radiators or to the underfloor heating system, thus offering its heating space.
During the operation of the boiler or heat pump, hot water is stored in the inertia tank. When the boiler or heat pump stops operating, the circulator starts transferring the hot water stored in the inertia tank to the radiators or underfloor heating system, thus providing free heating for many more hours.
In this way we achieve energy savings, and therefore money, since we use the hot water of the inertia tank and the boiler or heat pump does not need to be running continuously to have hot water in the radiators or in the floor system. .
The same applies to domestic hot water if the inertia tank is connected to solar panels or the inertia tank is of the TIT type “tank in tank” or inertia tank with stainless steel heat exchanger. Also when it comes to heating generated by electricity (heat pump, resistors, electric boiler) the inertia tank can store energy taking advantage of the hours with the low price of PPC’s night tariff.
Cold water storage
Inertia tanks operate in the same way as above for cold water storage (instead of hot) with the only difference that instead of being connected to solar panels or a boiler, it is connected to water coolers. And here we achieve energy and money savings due to the fact that although the motor of the refrigeration machine has stopped working, the pump continues and transfers cold water from the inertia tank.
Inertia tanks have many “import-export” (1 ″ & 1½ “), so they can be connected to many types of heat sources (wood boilers, pellet burners, heat pumps, oil or gas boilers, cracking boilers, electric ion boilers, electric boilers , solar panels), offering not only economical heating but also free hot water.