Water Heater

water heater

[′wȯd·ər ‚hēd·ər]

(mechanical engineering)

A tank for heating and storing hot water for domestic use.

McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific & Technical Terms, 6E, Copyright © 2003 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

water heater

A device for heating water for domestic use, usually supplied at a temperature in the range between 120°F and 140°F (approx. 50°C and 60°C).

McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Architecture and Construction. Copyright © 2003 by McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

The following article is from The Great Soviet Encyclopedia (1979). It might be outdated or ideologically biased.

Water Heater

 

a heat exchanger for heating water by means of steam, hot water, hot gases, or electric current. Water heaters are used in hot-water supply and heating systems, for heating boiler feed water, and for domestic use. Water heaters of the surface type, in which heat is transferred to the water to be heated through the surface of metal tubes that are heated by steam or water, are the most widely used. Contact water heaters, in which the water to be heated comes in direct contact with the steam or hot gases, are less frequently used. Water heaters that are installed in boiler units for heating water by the heat of waste gases are called feed-water economizers. Geysers, coil pipes or hot-water boxes mounted in stoves, and water boilers are all types of domestic water heaters that operate on gas or solid fuel. Geysers are the most commonly used domestic water heaters. They may be of the capacitive or circulating types and may operate on gas, solid fuel, liquid fuel, or electric current. The heating power of geysers is up to 35 kilowatts (30,000 kilocalories per hour).

The Great Soviet Encyclopedia, 3rd Edition (1970-1979). © 2010 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.