Reduce your carbon footprint with renewable technologies
Many phrases are being used for energy efficient, low carbon producing equipment but one of the most recognised is likely to be "Renewable Energy Technology". This Technology is based on utilising energy from inexhaustible sources such as wind, the sun, sea or replaceable sources such as waste products and crops.
A whole new market has sprung up around all these types of technologies and the range of products are varied. Here is a brief explanation of some of the typical renewable technologies available:
Solar Heating
By heating your hot water using the sun`s radiation, thermal collectors installed on a south-east to south-west facing roof aspect can provide a significant amount of hot water during the summer months. liquid which circulates through the panel is heated by the sun and then passes through a coil in the water cylinder to indirectly heat up the water in the cylinder. A twin coil cylinder is required to enable the second coil to provide heat from an alternative source when solar is insufficient and this is typically larger than a standard cylinder.
There are a number of installation options including surface-mounted for pitched or flat roofs and an in-roof flush-mounted style are but two.
As with any of the technologies outlined you must ensure that a qualified professional installer undertakes the work.
Should you require any further information then please phone 01603 860101 or use our contact form.
Biomass Heating
This uses organic material direct from plants, trees or indirectly from commercial, domestic or agricultural products to generate heat. This form of heating can be used in the commercial sector but typically are used in domestic applications usually to burn wood pellets, chips or logs.
Some smaller systems are self contained enabling the Biomass Boiler to be directly filled from its internal hopper but larger systems require a remotely sited hopper to enable a suitable amount of biofuel to be stored and fed to the boiler.
In both instances a regular supply of biofuel is required and usually requires some manual intervention to keep the hoppers full and to keep the boilers clean.
As with any of the technologies outlined you must ensure that a qualified professional installer undertakes the work.
Should you require any further information then please phone 01603 860101 or use our contact form.
Ground Source Heat Pumps
GSHP`s utilise heat generated naturally by the sun and stored in the soil, groundwater and in some instances from the geothermal bedrock. They do require electricity to run but they are very efficient and can convert any power used into 4 to 5 times as much heat energy for every unit of electricity used.
The heat can be extracted from the soil through a loop of pipework buried under the surface laid out in a horizontal plane. Typically for groundwater or geothermal bedrock boreholes which are drilled vertically to suitable depths would be needed.
The GSHP system would then connect ideally to a thermal store of water which would then be able to feed underfloor heating or suitably sized radiators. In some instances it can heat domestic hot water, generally with the aid of some other form of boost heat.
These systems are designed specifically for each application and can only be retrofitted in certain circumstances.
Some GSHP`s can be used in the commercial sector to provide heated or cooled air through room mounted indoor units using a refrigeration circuit. It is also possible to increase efficiencies further by heat recovering energy from one room needing to be cooled into another needing to be heated.
As with any of the technologies outlined you must ensure that a qualified professional installer undertakes the work.
Should you require any further information then please phone 01603 860101 or use our contact form.
Air Source Heat Pumps
These are similar in process to the ground source heat pumps detailed above but take their energy from the outside air thus eliminating the need to bury anything under the ground. They are slightly less efficient than the ground source version but still offer good energy performances in the region of 2.5 to 3.5 times as much heat energy output for every unit of electricity used.
This heat extracted from the outside air can either be transferred into hot water for underfloor heating, radiators or boosted for domestic hot water.
Climate control systems can provide heated or cooled air through room mounted indoor units using a refrigeration circuit. Again like the GSHP`s this would mainly be in the commercial environment and can offer further efficiencies when heat recovery is utilised, although some products are suitable in the domestic situation in locations such as conservatories.
These systems have to be designed specifically for each application and as with any of the technologies outlined you must ensure that a qualified professional installer undertakes the work.
Should you require any further information then please phone 01603 860101 or use our contact form.
Heat Recovery Ventilation
Ventilation is a necessary requirement for some new builds and refurbishments as it brings in revitalising fresh air and removes the unwanted stale internal air. The problem with this process with a traditional ventilation system is that you often need to "temper" the incoming air to raise its temperature by means of electric heat or low pressure hot water coils. You then find when extracting the stale air the heat generated in the room which you are trying to keep in gets removed outside with it. Conversely in the summer you may be spending money to cool down the internal spaces only to find that your traditional ventilation system is bring in more hot ambient fresh air.
A solution to this is to install a Heat Recovery Ventilation system which can recover any energy, either hot or cold, from the outgoing extracted air and transfer it to the incoming fresh air. This then tempers the fresh air accordingly without mixing the two air streams. Certain equipment can recover and re-use up to 70% of the outgoing energy therefore reducing the heating or cooling load to the room thus reducing running costs.
These systems have to be designed specifically for each application and usually can be retrofitted but as with any of the technologies outlined you must ensure that a qualified professional installer undertakes the work.
Should you require any further information then please phone 01603 860101 or use our contact form.
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