Importance

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Abstract

A liquid heating system, for example a central heating system, including a heat store in the form of a stack of bricks heated to a relatively high temperature by electric heating elements embedded in the bricks and energized by off-peak electricity is thermally connected to a vessel containing the liquid to be heated by a controllable heat pipe. The heat pipe includes an evaporator zone in thermal contact with the heat store and a condenser zone in thermal contact with the vessel, which could be a water tank. The zones are joined by at least one duct to form a hermetically sealed unit containing a small quantity of a volatile liquid which, in use, is a totally evaporated in the evaporator zone so that the rate of heat transfer to the condenser zone from the evaporator zone is determined by the return flow rate of condensed volatile liquid to the evaporator zone. A return flow control device responsive to the pressure within the condenser zone is provided for controlling the return flow rate of the condensed volatile liquid to the evaporator zone.

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First Claim