www.swimmingpoolnews.co.uk
SolarHeating JUN 2010 SPN
79
FALLING BEHIND ON
SOLAR HEATING
IT SEEMS THAT AN OVER DEPENDENCE ON FOSSIL FUEL SYSTEMS HAS LEFT THE UK POOL MARKET LAGGING BEHIND MOST OF EUROPE WHEN IT COMES TO SOLAR HEATING. COMPANIES ARE PROVIDING MORE AND MORE TECHNOLOGY EFFICIENT AND ENVIRONMENTALLY BRILLIANT PRODUCTS. SO WHY IS IT TAKING SO LONG TO MAKE THE SWITCH?
T
here’s no doubt about it. The UK pool market has fallen behind by not offering solar heating as an option in pool quotations for domestic or commercial swimming pools.
We are now putting pools into ecologically built properties such as Huf Haus or leisure complexes and hotels that have been built or upgraded with ecological sustainability as a benchmark.
Other markets, whose climates are every bit as challenging as our own, seem to have grasped the fact that solar energy is now a sensible option for a number of pool situations. But in the UK we continue to fall behind. Perhaps cheaper fossil fuels have slowed up the process of change – but it has to come. And it’s not too late.
Indoor pools can even benefit from a system previously used extensively in Scandinavia but latterly available in the UK through SolarVenti UK Ltd; this being passive solar air heaters which heat air rather than liquid. Taking external air the system then warms it and drives it into the pool hall providing a free-to- run form of warm air space heating, powered only by the sun. Because the air’s moisture content is normally very low when the sun shines, the system also provides a powerful dehumidifying effect, displacing internal moist air with warmed dry fresh air, whilst providing significant ventilation at the same time. SolarVenti’sTechnical Manager Dave Goodwin makes an interesting observation: “There are many dozens of installations using this technology throughout Scandinavia and a
small but increasing number in France, Spain, Germany and Portugal. As ever, here in the UK, we seem to be way behind in adopting free to run technologies that can reduce the pressure on our wallets!”
In northern Europe swimming pools are normally in operation at a time of year that takes full advantage of the sun’s radiation when it is at its strongest, making pools of all shapes and sizes, both indoor and outdoor, the ideal solar heating application. Paramount Pools have been selling Poolsolar EPDM solar heating since 1981 and have seen extensive growth in recent years due to pool owners wishing to reduce energy costs and address environmental issues. EPDM is an elastomeric compound that is manufactured from Ethylene Propylene Diene
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