All 47's were originally fitted with steam heat boilers (normaly a Spanner Mk1 or 2).
These were removed in the early 80's and only 1 or 2 have since been re-fitted. Some 47's (47/4's, 47/7's and 47/8's being an the types) were modified to replace the aux DC generator with an alternator which supported ETH (electric train heating) which is a 1000V ish Dc feed for coach ancillaries.
They boilers are required to be inspected but, do not have the same requirements as a steam loco as they are considerably lower pressure (they generally get inspected to the same standard as the air receivers i.e. boro scope inspection of the internals).
We are currently trying to obtain a steam heat boiler but, it wont be a Spanner unit, its more likely to be an ex factory diesel heat unit.
If you look at the pic of 145 you will note some hand holds on the side (they are plated over on 292), these were to allow access to the water fill point for the steam heat setup (the filler has been plated over).
Its interesting to note that some of the early express diesels (falcon is an example) had a water scoop fitted to re-plenish the boilers.....needless to say these were quickly removed due to the large spray created and the impact on the traction motors!
Also, when removed, some loco types (not 47's as they have a ver centrally mounted 33 ton Sulzer engine) suffered traction issues due to the large change in weight......so if you look say in a class 31 (has an EE V12 similar to that used in the 37 with a few changes) , you will find a boiler and water tank shaped lump of concrete!