Solar Thermal

60 years ago, the concept of circulating high temperature water from a boiler through radiators fitted in each room was still new. Since then, it has become the standard way of heating most buildings in the UK. The consequence is that more than 99% of the buildings in the UK are now dependent for their heating on a central boiler which uses a fossil-fuel.

Yet we all know that these fuels are running out and becoming increasingly more expensive. Government figures record that 4 million UK households were already in “fuel poverty” in 2009.

Despite this, we continue to fit new buildings with heating systems that are dependent on high temperature fossil-fuel boilers.

“What is the alternative?”

The recent big change has been the development of a new generation of high-performance Underfloor Heating products, for both retrofit and new build, which are able to provide very comfortable and effective heating while using water which is only 35-45_C. Along with this, a new generation of solar thermal cylinders has been developed that can more effectively store and use the energy collected from solar thermal even on a winter’s day.

These two developments - low temperature underfloor heating combined with a clever storage and control system - mean that over 40% of the building’s heat load can be satisfied by energy collected from the sun.

Lower bills, faster payback and less reliance on fossil fuels.