Emerging technology in energy saving products
Trade Shows
These are the best way to find out about new technology and new products that are continually emerging into the market place.
As I travel around to the various energy saving shows and read up on technology advancement I see a lot of new products so I thought I’d tell you about a few I’ve seen recently. They are worth considering.
Here are a few interesting general developments in emerging technologies or performance enhancements for existing ones.
Olympia
Panasonic had a big stand at a show in Olympia the other week. Interesting to see this global giant offering fully integrated systems with solar heating, twin coil tanks, mechanical ventilation heat recovery and air source heat pumps. With a COP of up to 4.6. If the UK low-carbon heating market takes off when the RHI is put in place I reckon they are set to do well.
Most air-source heat pumps have an external heat capture unit which includes a fan. Whilst not ‘noisy’ they do produce some sound. I am sure there will be places where this is considered intrusive. A Portuguese designed ‘Thermodynamic’ system recently introduced into the UK (see PGS solar) does away with the fan and has flat plates. You need a fairly large area if you want to heat the house but they can be mounted on a roof (flat or sloping) and gain the heat through natural convection. If they are mounted so the sun shines on them they may gain from solar radiation too.
Gas Saver
Zenex produces ‘Gas-saver’ devices for fitting to boilers which recover waste heat from the flue gases. So, if you have an older non-condensing boiler which is bomb-proof and you don’t see the need to replace, you can get condensing boiler efficiency by adding the Gas-saver. It appears that it may also help where you have a condensing boiler in a system that for some reason you cannot adjust so the boiler does condense and maintain comfort (radiators too small, for example).
LED
LED lighting is coming on apace! The neatest solution I have seen recently is direct replacements for T8 and T5 fluorescent tubes. It is still early days for LED lighting technology. However the ability to produce packaged LEDs to fit almost any existing fitting should mean the market place opens up faster. We will then get more choice and more competition so bringing prices down. Even now, the right LED replacement can give paybacks of under 3 years.
You can rest assured our team of consultants are always out and about learning. They keep up top date with the technological advances of renewable technology. This means you can always know that you are getting advice from the best and latest products available.
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