Why use a
Solar thermal store?
Alternative energy fuel sources
are typically low grade, inherently unpredictable and are often
available in plentiful supply but not when the heat energy is
needed!
A thermal store provides the means to
harness the energy when it is available for later conversion
into both hot water AND heating.
Being open vented, they provide a
simple and inherently safe way to produce high-performance mains
pressure hot water. So the householder can enjoy the comfort and
luxury of a mains pressure system produced from alternative
energy sources.
The alternative energy feeds into
the thermal store which is also the water that circulates around
the heating system.
This means that the energy
available from solar panels or a wood burning stove, for
example, can be used to provide energy into the heating circuit
to decrease the use of fossil fuel based boilers, and hence
reduce household running costs.
It is very problematic and
inherently unsafe to connect wood burning stoves or other
uncontrolled heat sources to an unvented cylinder, and not
easily possible to combine alternative energy heat sources to
provide energy to the heating circuit, hence the unique
advantages of a thermal store.
A Thermal Store at the heart of an alternative
energy system
The Torrent MultiFuelStore is the
ideal product to use as the heart of an alternative energy
system as it will take energy input not only from a conventional
boiler but also from a wide variety of alternative energy
sources, including but not limited to:
• solar panels
• wood burning stoves and other
uncontrolled heat sources
• ground or air source heat pumps
• electricity from renewable or
low carbon sources
If the system is configured
appropriately the heat from the alternative energy source will
be available for both hot water AND heating. This is only
possible with a thermal store such as the Torrent and is not
possible with an unvented cylinder where you will only get an
alternative energy contribution to the hot water.
A Thermal store with In-built upgrade potential
The Torrent range comes with a
full array of tappings as standard so that, for example, a wood
burning stove or solar panels can be added as an upgrade to the
property at a later stage and the hot water cylinder will be
ready to work with it.
Environmental credentials
throughout
The Torrent range is insulated to
a very high standard with our revolutionary Envirofoam
insulation which has an Ozone Depletion potential (ODP) of zero
and an industry leading low Global Warming Potential of 0.7. The
insulation
incorporates Polyol which is
derived from Rapeseed oil - a fully renewable resource. The 350
and 450 models are supplied in a blue flexible jacket and
currently use Rockwool insulation which is a high performance
insulation and also
HCFC free.
The Torrent thermal store range is
manufactured from copper,
a fully recyclable resource, and
made at one of our nationwide network of super depot
manufacturing units local to the customer, meaning we are not
shipping a heavy cylinder full of fresh air half way around the
country! We think this makes perfect environmental sense and
makes the Torrent the lowest carbon-footprint alternative energy
cylinder available in the UK. They are also fully recyclable at
the end of their extensive working life. In addition, where a
copper cylinder is being replaced as part of the installation of
a Torrent we are willing to take it back and provide a credit
for the scrap copper which will then be recycled.
Legionella protection by design
Because the Torrent is a thermal
store and the domestic hot water is heated via a heat exchanger
(no stored domestic hot water) it has the added advantage of not
needing any additional heating for legionella protection, which
in a conventional or unvented cylinder would have to be provided
by carbon-intensive electricity, which undermines the
environmental benefits of an alternative energy installation, as
well as significantly increasing the running costs!
Thermal stores are simple to install
As each product in the Torrent
range is open vented there is no requirement for an unvented
pressure and temperature relief discharge and the installer does
not need to be specially qualified to fit it.
Thermal stores are compliant with Building Regulations
The Torrent range is Building
Regulations Part L1 compliant for both new build and
refurbishment projects. It is also fully compliant with the Hot
Water Association (HWA) Performance Specification for Thermal
Stores. |