Firstly thanks to Graham (Gordon Smith manager of the Temple Park Crescent, Edinburgh branch) for inviting and entertaining me at Ecobuild this year.
It was a great exhibition with a massive range of products on show. There were some interesting new products, improved existing products and a couple of products which I think are very cool and will hopefully have massive changes to the heating industry.
Firstly was what I call the next generation heat pump, it has been around in Portugal for a while but new to the UK. It is very similar to an air source heat pump, boiling a refrigerant using a large aluminium panel which could be housed outside or even in a conservatory (lots of options for installation). The refrigerant, after being boiled in the aluminium panel, is now a gas which passes through a compressor to increase the temperature. It is then passed through a heat exchange, this can then be used for space heating and domestic hot water. This process happens continually and is reported to be able to produce heat down to –15°C. The manufacturer also boasts about a COP rating of 4.5 – 7. This product was on the Green Works stand and is being developed by www.thermogroupuk.com. I do not think this product is completely there yet, it will take a few other manufacturers to rip it apart and improve it. A possibility in the future is to link this product with solar thermal, wood burning industry or incorporated into conventional heating systems. Overall this is a very exciting technology which we would hope to become involved in as soon as it hits the shelves.
The second interesting product was made by MYSON (www.myson.co.uk), their iVECTOR range which is the next generation in radiators. These are really good looking radiators, chrome, stainless steel or white with fan convectors built in. The fan enables rooms to be heated much quicker by blowing heat across the room. This next generation radiator has massive advantages:
- The room heats up much quicker
- Even when the boiler is switched off the radiators keep blowing the remaining heat out, utilising more heat
- It enables a much smaller radiator to be installed, as the radiator produces approximately 3 times more heat than a conventional radiator
- The radiator uses the heat created more efficiently enabling boilers to be up to 3 times smaller, helping on the capital cost as well as the fuel burnt e.g. gas, oil, wood etc.
As you can see the potential savings for home and business is massive. Maybe the government should look at giving a grant for changing over to these radiators. Just think of the reduced carbon.
And that’s it apart from saying it was nice to meet the Eco Angus team and I look forward to working with you in the future, supplying and installing your range of pellet and log boilers across Scotland, see our site for details.
Till next time.