Gas boilers heat the homes of well over three-quarters of UK homes, but whilst we all take the heat and hot water they provide for granted, most of us don’t have a clue how these machines actually work.
Sure, this isn’t exactly something that matters that much on a daily basis, but given the importance of your boiler to safety and comfort it can be useful to at least understand the basics of how the system operates.
At the very least, it will add a little something to your knowledge.
We provide expert Glasgow boiler servicesto customers across Central Scotland and are pretty well-versed on every single component of boiler systems. Who better then to walk you through the basics of your home heating system.
What are the basic components of gas boilers?
The inside of a gas boiler is far less complicated than most people imagine.
In general there are just 5 key components that combine to create the boiler system in your property.
Firstly, the gas burner. Without this, you can’t burn gas (surprise surprise) and can’t generate heat, so it’s a pretty important part of your boiler system. Any problem with the burner and you will need to contact a professional gas safe engineer as soon as possible.
Secondly, the heat exchanger. This is the piece of equipment that turns heat from a solid into a fluid that can be sent flowing round your home to heat your radiators and hot water.
Any by-products that are produced by your boiler, mainly carbon monoxide, will be removed from the property via a thin exhaust pipe.
The boiler will also come fitted with a control system that allows you to change settings, set times for operation, and generally manage the entire system from one central location.
Do Gas boilers require a water tank?
If you already have a gas boiler but not a water tank you probably already know the answer to this one.
Some gas boilers do have a hot water tank but not all. Modern combi boilers heat water on demand, offering improved convenience and saving space. However, if you live in a larger sized property and your hot water requirements are larger than the average home a water tank will probably be needed.
How is heat generated?
Once your boiler is turned on, the burner will spring into action, igniting a slow stream of fas that in turn heats the water via the heat exchanger that we mentioned earlier.
When this occurs, and how long the boiler remains in action for will depend on the settings you apply using the control panel on the unit itself.
What about oil boilers?
If you have an oil boiler, it will work in a slightly different way to a gas one, although both are fuelled by combustion.
Oil boilers operate by taking oil from a storage tank, usually in the garden, and it delivered by truck, rather than being fed into your home through the mains gas system.
Lawyers don’t always have the best reputation but the vast majority entered the profession with a desire to do good and see justice served.
Over the years there have been a number of incredibly influential lawyers who have worked tirelessly to change the world for the better including several who were instrumental in the development of human rights laws. These laws protect each and every one of us from terrible experiences and ensure we have access to the basic levels of human decency that we take for granted on a daily basis.
Read on to discover more about the incredible men and women who have had a fundamental impact on the world of human rights as we know it today. Whether you are looking to one day become a human rights lawyer yourself, or are simply interested in finding out more about some pretty impressive people, this blog is packed with interesting stories and information about 5 of the best human rights lawyers to ever walk the Earth.
Adam Wagner is a human rights lawyer that has worked at pretty much every level of human rights law that you could possibly imagine, all the way up to the Supreme Court and the European Court of Human Rights.
Wagner is renowned for his work in protecting human rights and has repeatedly been successful in helping his clients take action against the police or other authority groups and had taken part in six separate major public inquiries.
In 2019, Wagner represented a group called the Campaign Against Anti Semitism as part of a formal investigation into discrimination against Jewish people within the Labour Party.
When his is not active in the courtroom, Wagner spends his time lecturing on human rights as a visiting professor and working with his own charity RightsInfo to spread knowledge of human rights law as far and wide as possible.
Julian Falconer
Julian Falconer runs his own law firm in his native Canada and have represented clients a number of well-known human rights cases. In fact, Falconer is particularly well-known for his representation of Maher Arar who was tortured after being deported to Syria as the case saw the largest settlement given in a human rights case in Canada to a single plaintiff. Falconer is passionate about issues such as child welfare, right to education, and indigenous people’s rights.
Hilary Stauffer
Perhaps the most well travelled human rights lawyer on this list, Hilary Stauffer works all over the globe and have previously worked in Europe, America, Africa, and Asia.
During her career Stauffer has worker in a variety of roles involving human rights, including as a diplomat, NGO executive, and in advising law firms.
Kimberly Motley
Former Beauty queen, Kimberly Motley is one of the most well-known human rights lawyers in the world thanks to the incredible work she has done in Afghanistan. She was the lawyer who represented Robert Langdon, an Australian soldier detained in one of the most notorious prisons in the country and her arguments led to a presidential pardon being granted, and Langdon being released.
Motley has been a trailblazer her entire career and was the very first foreign lawyer to work in Afghanistan.
Fatou Bensouda
The former chief prosecutor at the International Criminal Court, Fatou Bensouda is now the Gambian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom and is one of the most influential human rights lawyers to ever have lived.
As chief prosecutor at the ICC Bensouda worked to investigate war crimes that were committed by US forces, and allies, in Afghanistan and violated the human rights of captive soldiers. This led to the US banning her from ever visiting the country but reinforced her status as a lawyer devoted to protecting the fundamental rights of each and ever human on the planet.
This commitment hasn’t gone unnoticed either, and in 2009, Bensouda received the ICJ International Jurists award for her work across the globe before receiving the World Peace Through Law award in 2011.
More recently in 2017, Bensouda was names in Time Magazine as one of the 100 most influential humans on earth, whilst she still worked at the ICC.
