Slimfit Cylinder

SlimFit Cylinders are a modernised version of conventional Direct/Indirect Vented Copper Cylinders, allowing for a wider variety of sizes to fit in narrower spaces.

Although we had been manufacturing smaller-diameter cylinders for many years, the 2010 update of Part L of the Building Regulations brought with it the requirement for Cylinders to be supplied with thicker insulation. The main aim of the Part L update was to greatly reduce the amount of day-to-day heat loss from hot water cylinders, helping to reduce gas/oil use and subsequently, reduce CO₂ emissions. Another key benefit we introduced to help towards this was a multi-bore high recovery coil, designed to heat the unit faster than a traditional coil. With the addition of an aqua control thermostat, the heat source could run for less time, preventing the burning of considerable amounts of fuel each year.

Inevitably though, thicker insulation results in a larger diameter and with the restrictions that some airing cupboards impose, we believed that it would often be preferable for the increase in the overall physical size of the unit to be taken up in height, rather than in diameter. This prompted us to design a new slimline cylinder specification – taller, thinner cylinders, with thicker insulation, that retain the minimum volume that the household needs, while not being any wider than their old cylinder.

We even pushed this concept to the extreme by offering what we call the “SlimFit Ultra” – an ultra slim (370mm total diameter) cylinder, with a volume of 130 litres.

Additionally, SlimFit Cylinders can come as an unvented unit manufactured from thicker copper or from stainless steel.