State PRV30 NORS G

The State water heater is a strange beast. It is a simple and obvious idea used widely in many countries but rarely in the UK in my experience. It is a hot water cylinder with a gas burner fitted in the bottom to heat the water inside it, and the flue being a tube up through the centre of the cylinder to a flue connection in the top. Often fitted in larger houses and bungalows with warm air heating and paired with a Brink warm air boiler.

The whole thing is very ‘retro’, the PRV30 being open flued with a permanent pilot light, just like boilers from the 1970s and 1980s. Current versions have automatic ignition and no wasteful permanent pilot flame.

Unlike modern MegaFLO cylinders and similar, the PRV30 is low pressure and uses a cold water cistern in the loft. 

There is a large magnesium anode in the cylinder which can be removed for inspection during servicing and periodic replacement if eroded. The hexagon head is partially recessed so a socket style spanner is needed to engage it and remove it.  25mm a/f if I remember correctly. 

State are an American company which according to their website, was founded in 1946 in Nashville, Tennessee. By 1996 they had 2,900 employees and manufactured 10,000 water heaters per day. They appear to have been imported into the UK by Lochnivar Ltd of Banbury and distributed by Johnson and Starley.