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Press Cuttings - Local Authority Building & Maintenance, Nov 04 Sun godOver the years the requirement to ventilate, cool and heat homes has spawned numerous systems from panel heaters to trickle vents I LABM looks at a system that can achieve all these requirements in one go, and is powered by the sun. Harnessing the sun's energy remains amongst the most environmentally friendly ways to produce power. Whilst solar power has had its fair share of false starts, the latest technology is enabling the creation of systems that can deliver sustainable solutions to many different types of buildings. One such system provides home heating/cooling, ventilation and hot water, simply by harnessing the sun's energy and manipulating it through a ventilation network. Suitable for single dwellings, the Sunwarm System from Nuaire has recently been recognised with the Queens Award for Enterprise and Innovation 2004. Jonathan Cole visited the South Wales based company to find out more. LABM: How does the Sunwarm System work? Solar panels are mounted on the roof where the heat generated from the sun is captured and then circulated round the house using a ventilation system. When this heating is not needed in the home it is diverted automatically to the hot water system storage tank. The first stage of the process is harnessing solar energy. The solar collectors are positioned on the outside of a building's roof, generally facing the South, South-west or South-east. Within the solar collectors, a unique absorber material is used to soak up the heat from the sun. Air is circulated through the solar panel. During this process the air is heated for entry into the ventilation system. When the heated air has been collected from the solar panels it is drawn into the air handling system located in the loft area. The system works by using two fan units based in the loft space. This enables home heating/cooling to be carried out simultaneously alongside hot water heating. The heated air is distributed through insulated ductwork around the building and/or to a hot water tank. Ceiling mounted supply air diffusers supply heated/cooled air either centrally, or both centrally and to bedrooms simultaneously. LABM: To what extent can Sunwarm heat the house? Even on a cold winter day, when the sun is at its lowest the air temperature can be raised from an average outside air temperature of 6°C to 30°C plus. LABM: How does the system heat the hot water? When heating of rooms is not required energy captured by the solar panels is used to heat the building's hot water, ensuring that none of the solar energy is wasted. LABM: How does it cool the house? During the summer months Sunwarm uses its ventilation system to draw air from the North facing side of the building for cooling and ventilating the property. On warm summer nights the ventilating air is passed through the solar panels which, having radiated their heat to a clear sky, are cooler than the outside air so thus cooling the ventilating air. LABM: When can it be used? The solar panels capture the sun's energy 365 days of the year. At night when there is no solar energy generated Sunwarm can still utilise the warm loft air (which during the heating season is an average 21 degrees higher than the outside temperature). The ventilating air is therefore always higher than outside air temperature. LABM: What are the financial costs? The cost varies depending on the options chosen. A typical system installed in a new home costs up to £2,500. It will usually have achieved full return on investment in 6-8 years. This supply cost will include the Sunwarm Air Collectors, Air Handling system, air to water heat exchanger, supply air diffuser, user control, data logger, all associated sensors and sensor cables and the hot water tank. Installation will usually be carried out by the onsite contractors. The cost can be reduced via grants with £500 available for house owners and a 50% contribution for Social Housing providers in England and Wales. In Scotland, grants can be up to 100% of the installed cost. LABM: Are there any financial and energy savings? Sunwarm has the ability to save around 50% of the energy and carbon emissions for heating a home and its hot water in an energy efficient 3/4 bedroom property. Per year the Sunwarm system replaces around 4200kWh of power (oil, gas, electricity) and gives over nine times the energy and carbon emission savings of photovoltaic systems and 4-5 times that of solar hot water systems. LABM: Are there any health benefits associated with the system? The ventilation part of the Sunwarm system can help deal with both indoor pollutants such as cigarette smoke, dust mite deposits and carbon monoxide, through to external pollutants such as pollens, traffic fumes and noise. At the same time it will eliminate condensation dampness in properties. Many asthma sufferers have communicated improvements in their symptoms following installation of this type of ventilation. [ Back to Index ] |