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About Buffer Vessels
Buffer vessels store heated water for instant demand in heating systems (underfloor heating, radiators).
Buffer vessels, also known as buffer tanks, play a crucial role in modern heating systems. Unlike hot water cylinders that provide domestic hot water for taps and showers, buffer vessels store heated water solely for space heating purposes.
- Temperature stabilisation: Prevents temperature fluctuations in the heating system
- Short cycling prevention: Stops the heat source from turning on and off too frequently
- Energy storage: Stores excess heat energy for later use
- System balancing: Balances supply and demand in the heating circuit
- Heat source integration: Allows multiple heat sources to work together
Buffer vessels are particularly important in systems with:
- Heat pumps (which require consistent operation)
- Renewable energy sources (solar thermal, biomass)
- Underfloor heating (which needs stable flow temperatures)
- Multiple heating zones with different demands
Our range of Buffer Vessels are designed to store heated non-potable for water for instant demand to another system, such as underfloor heating or radiator systems. It can also combine heat sources from controlled and non-controlled heat sources such as combining a pressurised unvented cylinder with a wood burner system.
As with all of our cylinders, we can manufacture buffer units to a wide variety of specifications, such as vented or pressurised systems, multiple heat input and output coils and materials of copper or stainless steel. We can also manufacture our buffer tanks with many different connection sizes and positions to perfectly match your system requirements.
We also manufacture a range of Aquinox Heat Pump Buffer Vessels for use in smaller domestic applications for expanding an existing system to make it suitable for a heat pump system.
What is a Buffer Vessel?
The primary purpose of a buffer vessel is to transfer heat from one or several heat sources, and store it for future use in a modern heating system. Buffer vessels manage the temperature and volume of water within an HVAC system.
These heat sources include a heat pump (air source heat or ground source heat), biomass boilers, and solar. These are considered “controllable” heat sources. While an open vented buffer tank can utilise “uncontrollable” heat sources, such as solid fuel boiler systems (pellet biomass, wood burning stoves).
Sizes
Our range of buffer cylinders comes in a variety of sizes, and can be customised for your needs.
| Material | Sizes |
|---|---|
| Copper | 40 – 1,150 litres |
| Stainless Steel | 50 – 2,000 litres |
Example Size Dimensions
| Size | Steel Case Size | Volume |
|---|---|---|
| 760x375mm | 820x450mm | 80 litre |
| 950x375mm | 1010x450mm | 100 litre |
Example System Diagram
This example system diagram demonstrates a large industrial application such as a farm or factory.
The buffer vessel is open-vent and is heated via the wood burner, solar panels and heat pump which can then be circulated around the radiator and underfloor heating circuit.
The unvented cylinder is pressurised, however, by using a coil, the hot water inside the buffer vessel can be used to heat the cylinder. This hot water can then be provided at high pressure to taps and showers.
