Our thanks first to Graham, manager of the Gordon Smith branch at Temple Park Crescent in Edinburgh, for inviting and entertaining us at Ecobuild this year. It was a great exhibition, with a huge range of products on show: some new, some improved, and a couple that we think could change the heating industry.
A different kind of heat pump
The first is what we would call the next generation of heat pump. It has been around in Portugal for a while, but is new to the UK. It works much like an air source heat pump, boiling a refrigerant — but using a large aluminium panel, which can be mounted outside or even in a conservatory, so there are plenty of installation options. The refrigerant, boiled in the panel, becomes a gas, passes through a compressor to raise its temperature, and then through a heat exchanger, from which the heat goes to space heating and domestic hot water. The process runs continuously, and is reported to produce heat down to −15°C; the manufacturer quotes a COP of 4.5 to 7.
It was on the Green Works stand, and is being developed by Thermogroup UK. We do not think it is quite there yet — it will take a few other manufacturers to pull it apart and improve it — but there is real potential in linking it with solar thermal or wood heating, or building it into conventional systems. An exciting technology, and one we would hope to be involved with once it reaches the shelves.
A radiator with a fan in it
The second was by Myson: the iVector range, a next generation of radiator. These are good-looking radiators — chrome, stainless steel or white — with fan convectors built in, so the room heats far more quickly. The advantages are considerable:
- The room heats up much faster.
- Even with the boiler off, the radiators keep blowing out the remaining heat, so more of it is used.
- A much smaller radiator can be fitted, since it gives roughly three times the heat of a conventional one.
- Because the heat is used more efficiently, the boiler can be up to three times smaller — saving on capital cost and on the fuel burned, whether gas, oil or wood.
The potential savings for homes and businesses are large. A grant for changing over to radiators like these would not be a bad idea.
And that is it, apart from saying that it was good to meet the Eco Angus team, whose pellet and log boilers we look forward to supplying and installing across Scotland.
