Thermal Stores, Heat Banks and Accumulators – Definitions

Accumulator
A large, heavily insulated tank of water with multiple connections, which absorbs the heating power of a boiler/boilers or other sources such as solar panels or heat pumps, for use in central heating and hot water production; typically used with solid fuel batch firing boilers.

Heat Bank
An Accumulator tank with a pump and an external plate heat exchanger for instant hot water production.

Thermal Stores
A large tank with multiple connections for various heat sources, specially configured for the application in question and having a coil or series of coils within for instantaneous hot water production.

Accumulator tanks and thermal stores are the perfect way to integrate multiple heating sources, especially solid fuel.  There are a large number on the market, offering configurations for every system design.  We offer a full design and installation service for tank based systems.