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The foundation for better energy efficiency


As the journey to Net Zero continues apace, the need to upgrade ageing and inefficient heating and hot water circulator pumps has never been greater. David Williamson, sales and marketing director from Wilo UK discusses how innovation and intelligent insights offered by these products is changing the landscape with building energy strategies


T


he ideal scenario would be to knock down inefficient buildings and construct new ones in their place. This would be a near-


guaranteed way to bring energy usage down, given that innovative building design techniques and materials can be used to make them more economical. In reality this is not feasible. The Climate Group has projected that 80% of buildings that will be standing in 2050 have already been built. Clearly, the best pathway to reduce carbon emissions and energy consumption lies within upgrading legacy building services. And, one relatively easy win is to swap out inefficient heating and hot water circulator pumps. But choosing a circulator pump can be a minefield


for specifiers. To make the right choice, it is vital to understand what modern pumps are capable of.


The retrofit opportunity Comparing these pumps to newer equivalents is


For many ‘light commercial’ buildings, unless there has been an active building management strategy in place, the probability is that the heating and hot water circulator pumps in these premises will be ‘of an age’. If the pump hasn’t broken down either, it might be that they are the original pumps installed during the building’s construction, running on inefficient AC motors, working at fixed speeds, and operating in silo to other building services.


like comparing apples to oranges. Whether it’s in efficiency, performance, functionality, ease of use, installation or maintenance, old pumps are worlds away from their modern counterparts. One of the biggest changes in pumps is the advent of ‘smart’ technology, and this has been made possible with the breakthrough of electronically commutated (EC) motor technology. Switching from a circulator pump with an AC motor to one with an


EC motor provides an immediate 30% reduction in energy use. Many of these newer pumps also have variable speed drives on board too. So, alongside the EC technology, and when coupled together with controls, pumps can become much ‘smarter’ in operation. They work at lower speeds while still performing their necessary function, meaning energy savings can be increased to approximately 60%. Some pumps, like the Wilo-Stratos MAXO or the


Wilo-Stratos PICO, can also ‘learn’ the operational characteristics of a heating or cooling system. They do this by using Wilo’s Dynamic Adapt Plus or Multi- Flow Adaptation technology. The former allows the pump to continuously adjust and maintain peak performance as system dynamics change, while the latter facilitates communication between the main pump and any secondary pumps within a system. With both, the circulator pump can be configured to adapt in real-time to demands and work holistically with other building services.


Intelligent insights for building energy strategies


Pumps should no longer be seen just as a vehicle of moving water around a building. Along with immediate energy savings through smarter, automated operation, pumps can also be used to help define an ongoing energy usage strategy. Performance data, alerts, warnings and


notifications can all ensure systems are well maintained and operating to their highest efficiency at all times. Data such as heat flow, cooling flow, volume flow is all available from modern pumps, helping to provide valuable insight into a building’s energy needs. The combination of this data with other smart


systems can provide insight into usage patterns and even factor in weather conditions. The result is better- regulated indoor climate control that keeps power consumption to a minimum. On a commercial level, this connectivity can allow multi-occupancy buildings to be better managed in


32 April 2023


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