www.heatingandventilating.net
SPONSORED BY
HEAT INT AT T INT
TERFACE UNITS FACE UNITS HIUs and retirement living
With an aging population that wants to remain young at heart for as long as possible, retirement living has become one of the fastest growing development sectors in the UK. Usually combining an independent apartment with community facilities and a warden and/or nursing teams on call, such schemes offer a manageable and safe home for retirees’ twilight years. One of the benefits of downsizing for residents is lower heating costs and HIUs (heat interface units) are an ideal way for the developer to minimise the cost of heating and hot water for residents while ensuring a safe, controllable and compact installation that can also help reduce build costs.
D
Unlike traditional c entralised systems, instal lation of HIUs in each retirement living apartment avoids the need for a hot water tank or domestic hot water distribution and circulation system. Not only does this provide a safer method of generating hot water but it also improves the space efficiency of the apartment with the small HIU unit replacing the bulky traditional cylinder. When a resident switches on their hot water tap, hygienic cold drinking water is delivered to their HIU and instantly brought to the required temperature by a high performance heat exchanger. This means that water is regularly flushing through the systemand avoids the risk of stagnant water in a water tank, which could become a Legionella hazard if it cools to 25 to 45˚C. Heating systems can also be supplied by an HIU system, with either a ‘direct’ or ‘indirect’ heating principal. With either system, the apartment can benefit from a reliable, limitless supply of heating.
As older people, those in poor health or those with compromised respiratory systems are at increased risk of becoming seriously ill from Legionnaires’ Disease, the water hygiene benefits that HIUs offer make them a suitable
ave Lancaster fromheating, cooling & infrastructure specialist, Uponor, explains why heat interface units (HIUs) are the ideal choice for retirement living schemes.
choice for retirement living settings. Of course, traditional centralised systems in retirement living developments are also designed to be safe but, in order to maintain good water hygiene, the hot water temperature in the tank and distribution lines of these systems has to be kept at 55-60˚C. What’s more, these temperatures must be raised still further, using yet more energy, to heat up the system for heating output and/or hot water delivery.
Conversely, HIU units heat water for the heating system or the tap on demand, reducing the energy required, linking energy consumption to individual usage in each apartment and enabling comfort levels to be adjusted to the needs of each occupier.
Moreover, because each apartment has its own HIU, energy and water usage costs can also be individuallymetered for each home, enabling residents t o manage their bills more effectively .
The lower energy demand associated with HIUs helps to drive down the carbon emissions fromdevelopments with HIU-based heating and hot water systems. It also means that such installations are suitable for use with the lower outputs of renewable energy sources, adding to the environmental benefits of the system.
The safety, cost and controllability benefits of HIU systems for the occupier are clear, but do they stack up as an advantageous choice for the developer too? Clearly there are duty of care benefits to installing a system that is Legionella safe for residents, but there are also some compelling cost and operational benefits for the developer/operator too. Simple to install, safe and space efficient, HIUs enable the developer to speed up the building services installation and increase the usable space in each apartment without increasing the footprint.
In addition to lower capex costs at build, the HIU units also require less maintenance, with no annual gas service requirements and lower servicing costs.
ECONOPLATE BV SERIES Prov
NOPLATE BV AT
viding compact response to DHW demand for pubs, restaurants, sports pavilions and all comme ciarcial buildings of similar size.
oviding av
• Specifiers with a wide choice of siz es and outputs • • •
Hybrid unit takes up less space
• Stored volumes can be 300, 500, 800 or 1,000 litres •
Could typically cut capital cost by £2K or more Supplies domestic hot water direct on demand
• Peak output over one hour can be 4,851 litres •
• Sophisticated control options
Five heat output capacities Recov
TA A Fo ormation o or to receive re ve a technical guide overy time as little as sixminutes • Multiple units can be installed in parallel
THE CONSULTANTS’ & CONTRACTORS’ CHOICE. For further inffo
www.stokvisboilers.com e a technical guide tel: 0208 783 3050 or email:
inffonfo@stokvisboilers.com
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 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64
