Energy efficiency
EC technology and the next generation of fan convectors
David Higham discusses the benefits of introducing EC motor technology in heating products to businesses looking to reduce their building’s energy consumption
equipment account- ing for more than 40 per cent of a commercial building’s energy con- sumption, businesses are now more than ever under scrutiny to be ‘greener’. Consequently this involves considering and imple- menting energy efficient solutions as part of their business strategies. New legislation, coming into
effect from 1 January 2015, will require that fans rated above 125W, used in all heating products, must achieve minimum efficiency levels. This will mean that heating prod- ucts, such as fan convectors, will have to use electrically commutated (EC) fans. Smith’s Fan Convectors has partnered with high efficiency fan and motor products specialist, ebm-papst UK.
What is EC technology? Electronically commutated (EC) fan technology provides the most effi- cient, quiet and controllable solu- tion for heating any commercial property. It combines the best of both AC (alternating current) and DC (direct current) technologies so the fan in a fan assisted product runs on a DC voltage internally, but connects to an AC mains supply. DC fans are already manufac- tured to produce lower power consumption; when they are required in an AC application, the power has to be converted from AC to DC, using a separate DC power supply. With an EC fan, it has been purposely built to inte- grate the AC to DC converter and motor commutation within the motor body.
The control methods for EC fans are much simpler than AC fans. In fan convectors, the AC fan speed
is controlled by voltage reduction and, quite often tapped transformers, which essentially reduces the efficiency of the fan. EC fans use a low voltage refer- ence signal to pro- vide a command to the commutation to change the speed; the control signal can be 0- 10V analogue or a pulse width modulation (PWM) signal. The fan efficiency is maintained from a high speed down to a low speed.
The EC microprocessor-based commutation also provides fea- tures such as alarm outputs, speed monitoring, simple speed control and a reduced soft starting current.
The benefits of EC technology? There are a number of benefits that makes the combination of fan convectors and EC fan technology an attractive proposition to busi- nesses looking to reduce their building’s energy consumption: • The EC fan in fan assisted heat- ing products is proven to be sig- nificantly more efficient than with an AC fan; often up to 80 per cent • Although the initial cost of an EC fan is comparatively higher, the payback period can be relatively short, as low as two years, to provide the end user with long term energy cost savings • The refined EC technology has an integrated, infinitely variable speed control
• The EC fan has the same acoustic properties as an AC fan when incorporated into a fan con- vector, even when programmed at
A Smith’s Environmental Products fan convector
a low rotational speed because the impeller and scroll of both fans are the same
• EC fans have a direct drive for a maintenance free operation • In most cases, EC fans are directly interchangeable with their inefficient predecessors, allowing for simple replacement with mini- mal disruption
• The increased efficiency pro- vides lower running temperature and therefore, an increased life expectancy, delivering further cost savings over the life of the fan convector
A partnership
Fan convectors have been used successfully with AC fans for many years, introducing EC fan technol- ogy reduces running costs, sound levels and offers more flexible control options. A hydronic fan convector distributes heat evenly throughout a room using forced convection. It contains a fan and a heat exchanger (aluminium fins with copper pipes) connected to a standard two-pipe central heating system. Hot water, heated by the boiler, is passed through the heat exchanger and the heat from the hot water is transferred to the
aluminium fins. Cooler air is drawn in by the EC fan and heat- ed as it passes over the heat exchanger before being expelled gently back into the room. There are many advantages for businesses considering fan convectors as their heating solution; not only can they assist in reducing business costs and carbon footprint, especially when partnered with an EC fan, they offer great flexibility to be posi- tioned on the ceiling, in the floor or at a high level which funda- mentally alleviates the pressure for more floor space in the premises. Although formal legislation is only now being introduced, many facilities and applications built during the past 15 years have already incorporated EC fans in their HVAC products; it is primari- ly the older buildings that are being encouraged to upgrade to high efficiency EC fans in order to save on running costs, as well as reduce specific fan powers and Carbon footprint.
Since 1991, Smith’s has manu- factured an extensive portfolio of domestic and light commercial fan convectors. All are supported by a free five-year parts and labour guarantee. Typical applications range from domestic to light com- mercial in conjunction with stan- dard and renewable heating sys- tems. Smith’s supply to new house builders, kitchen retailers, social housing providers, places of worship, educational institutions and commercial landlords via national and independent builders and plumbers merchants. // The author is the CEO at Smith’s Environmental Products //
Optimimum cooling and efficiency in datacentres
an essential part of modern life, storing critical information for businesses and individuals alike. Keeping this plant cool without spending a for- tune on energy bills is a challenge, with datacentre downtime the potentially catastrophic effect of
22 | September 2014 | HVR
overheating equipment, says Jason Davis, from ECEX.
He says: “Keeping datacentres at the right temperature and humidity is a difficult but essential task; if either factor is too high (or low) operational failure becomes a real risk. With datacentres at the
core of nearly all UK businesses, system downtime is not an issue that those responsible for this equipment want to face.
Apart from the downtime risk, cooling towers that aren’t that ‘cool’ also pose a health risk to people working within their
proximity by providing the ideal environment for Legionella bacte- ria. The primary method for reduc- ing the chance of Legionnaire’s disease is water temperature con- trol, so, apart from limiting break- down issues, ensuring a datacentre is kept suitably chilled .
Continued on page 23 Daily news update at
www.heatingandventilating.net
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60