Whole System Approach Part 3

Welcome to you one and all, on to part 3 and the final part of Whole System Approach process.

Last time we discussed heat loss, radiator, and emitter sizing and how this is not a straightforward subject. We must take a lot of factors into account on a very individual basis to get the end specification accurate and correct.

This time we continue the journey with a (very) brief look at pipe sizing and factors we must consider followed by a more in depth look at the hardware and technology we use to knit the system together and give us the best opportunity to tailor the most efficient and reliable solution possible for our end customer. 

Pipe sizing is a hard subject to convey to a reader who knows nothing about it. But in short it is the process of determining how large the inside diameter (or bore) of the pipework needs to be for enough water to transported around the system. So before doing this we have to look at how many radiators we have, the size of these radiators and volume of water they hold, as well as the size of the boiler and hot water cylinder (if there is one), and how far this water needs to be pumped. We also must factor in the resistance that is inflicted upon the water on its travels. For example, water will travel through a straight pipe with a large bore (22mm+) with much more ease then pipe with much smaller bore (10mm or 8mm). If we then add a fitting such as an elbow or tee, this will increase the resistance again, as will the addition of the boiler and radiators. So, all these components will give us a total resistance. From this we identify what we call the ‘index’ circuit which in short, is circuit in the system which produces the highest resistance to the water. This will usually be the furthest radiator in terms of pipe length from the boiler as it will also usually have the most fittings on this length too. 

Once these components are identified we can the select the correct sized pump and pipework to meet the highest demand of the system in the index circuit. We now know that the rest of the system, which has a lower resistance, will function fine.

‘Why don’t we just run large pipes everywhere and not have to go through all of this?’ I hear you ask. Well there are several reasons.

1. Cost – the larger the pipe, the more expensive it is as well as the fittings.

2. Time – The larger the pipe, the longer is takes to fit, particularly in tight situations.

3. Heat Loss – The larger the surface area of the pipe, the larger the amount of heat wastage in unnecessary areas of the system. 

4. Increased unnecessary heat input – If you increase the volume of water in the system, the boiler must heat more water and use more gas.

5. Slower radiator heat up – Again if you increase the volume of water in the system via larger pipework, you slow the velocity of the water going round the system, so the radiators will take slightly longer to heat.

In summary, over sizing the pipework is just as detrimental to your pocket as under sizing. So as boring as it is to explain, I hope you see the importance of getting it accurate.

And finally, on to the fun stuff… HARDWARE and TECH!!!!

Most people will confess to being technophobes, and I am no different. I hate computers and phones; I am not great with them despite being of a generation of is generally seen as tech savvy. I have to pass my gadgets to my girlfriend, sister, dad and even friends to fix them when I do not know what is going on. However, this does not mean I do not believe in technology. Computers, mobile phones, and other technology products are essential to our everyday lives and will be the saving grace when it comes to saving our planet, believe me. The tech and hardware we use on our heating systems is no different, it ultimately knits our systems together and when set up correctly will make the difference to your new system running as low as 70% efficient or as high as 95%+ efficient. You will notice this in your bills and energy usage that is for sure.

First of all, lets look at the hardware. 

Boiler

One word – ATAG. We love these boilers. They have an incredible blend of build quality, efficiency, and reliability. In our expert opinion they are top end. Many boiler manufacturers including the more well-known manufacturers are using lots of plastic parts still which do not like to be repeatedly heated and cooled before failure. ATAG use all stainless steel and brass components which aids reliability and they boast the highest of efficiency figures amongst the entire range in the market. It is also extremely easy to pair them with all third-party controls such as Nest, Hive Tado etc. They are incredibly easy to service and repair which is much more then can be said for most other manufacturers. They also come with a bullet proof 10-year guarantee. Win win. They are up there with the priciest of boilers but you absolutely get what you pay for with them.

Dirt Removal and de-aeration

This time…. 3 letters…. IMI. We stumbled across IMI whilst really digging into the depths of our education and looking to get the absolute best products possible. Through listening and communicating with some of the very best and sought-after engineers in our industry, our cross hairs pointed straight to IMI. They are industry leaders in just about anything Hydronic. 

Dirt removal and air separation are 2 of the biggest factors to get on top of when maintaining system efficiency, cleanliness and ultimately reliability. Upon lots of research, dirt creation within heating systems can account for somewhere the region of 80% of breakdown call outs. There are a variety of reasons for dirt creation itself but one of the biggest factors is air ingress and a less then satisfactory amount of air removal. Air ingress is usually due to poor system design and installation which we very much understand and often find ourselves correcting. Most systems are also not adequately designed, installed, and equipped to remove enough air, again, which we find ourselves often correcting on jobs.

On top of using correct design and installation, we also combine this with the absolute best dirt and air separation products. IMI’s Zeparo range is unrivalled in our experience. The magnetic filters are made of high-grade brass, combine a magnet, and remove even the smallest particles of debris down to .05mm (which is tiny). We have tested them against other market products and the IMI filter fits the bill.

We also use the Zeparo de-air filter and TOP automatic air vents. What is the difference????? A standard automatic air vent will separate and remove larger bubbles from a system, which is a good start and a must on any system for preventing air locks on high and horizontal lengths of pipework. The Zeparo de-air filter removes microbubbles which are too small for a standard automatic air vent to collect. These microbubbles can cause huge issues in a system such as pump cavitation as well as aiding the corrosion process. We install the de-air filters, as close as possible to the hottest part of the system i.e immediately as the hot water leaves the boiler. We do this because the heat causes all air bubbles, including the microbubbles, to expand and become larger. This then gives the de-air filter the greatest chance of removing the maximum amount of air possible from the system water.

We fit both of these products as standard on all of our installations. Not many other engineers or companies will match this. But through using these products in conjunction with each other, we have gained significant reductions in system noise and increased water flow/system efficiency.

And as if that wasn’t enough, we also fit inline strainers to every new system we install. Some would say it is over kill but these are just a fine mesh which can be cleaned yearly on a service like the magnetic filter. It gives another level of protection to the system for improved reliability and maintaining system efficiency. Again, not many will go to these lengths.

And Tech - Smart Thermostats and Controls

I have already written a blog post regarding smart thermostats which I would encourage you to read as it goes into more depth then I will here. But again, we have delved into a lot of technical publications, consulted with many engineers, and spent an enormous amount of time investigating these because there is a lot of mis information out there and customers are misinformed. In short, a smart thermostat will be able to talk in detail to your boiler (if the boiler has the capability, all ATAG boilers do) and accurately adjust the temperatures they operate at in order to utilise the most efficient programme at that time. 

Manufacturers such as Tado, Nest and Honeywell all produce fantastic products. Manufacturers also produce their own which are usually better suited as their products are all designed in conjunction. ATAG, Veissman and Vaillant all provide their own highly effective products which work outstandingly well.

A common misconception is that Hive is a smart thermostat. Unfortunately, it is not classed a smart thermostat despite many engineers and companies believing it is. A Hive does not have the capability of altering boiler temperatures. It is purely an on/off switch which is the most basic of operations a thermostat can be.

Don’t get me wrong, not every installation will always be smart thermostat compatible, but the vast majority of our installations will utilise the smart technology. Every single combination boiler installation uses smart thermostat technology without question with us. Combination boilers lend themselves very nicely to this particularly in conjunction with an external weather compensation sensor. We tend to favour Nest and ATAG’s own One Zone thermostat. We find these are very user friendly and give fantastic results.

The Finer Details

When I say ‘Finer Details’, I mean the extra mile we go to. For those of you in to cycling and the enormous success of British Cyclists over the last decade. The mastermind behind the success, Sir Dave Brailsford, used the ethos of ‘marginal gains’. If you can improve many small areas by just 1% or 2%, this adds up to a huge gain when you bring the final package together. I am a keen cyclist, and we apply this to our work in case you had not already noticed.

We use Perfect pump valves. These pump valves are full bore and allow for the least restriction when water flows through your central heating pump. Most common pump valves you can buy will be advertised as a 22mm or 28mm size. BUT…. when you look inside them, the bore will shrink to less then 15mm. The inlet to a pump is usually around 22mm, so when you go from a 22mm bore pipe, to a 15mm bore pump valve and then back to a 22mm inlet of a circulating pump it can and does create issues. It is noisy, creates uneven pressure zones and pump cavitation. This is not healthy for good circulation and most certainly is detrimental to the life of your pump. We use the Perfect pump valves which maintain a full 22mm bore from pipework to pump inlet. This maintains even water flow and pressure to the pump which in turn massively reduces noisy operation, maintains reliability, and prolongs pump life.

We bend as much pipe as practically possible. Earlier in this blog when I wrote about the resistance of pipework, I mentioned the resistance which fittings impose on the overall resistance in a system. There is a considerable difference in using a solder 90 degree fitting and a hand bent 90 degree piece of pipe. The resistance offered by the hand bent pipe is half that of a soldered fitting. This in turn reduces system noise and increases the flow efficiency of the water. It also decreases the number of soldered joints on a system, thus there is less to leak further down the line. It is not always possible to bend pipework, but we can substantially decrease the number of soldered joints which will increase flow and reliability.

Balancing of a system is a hugely underestimated and massively misunderstood part of heating installation and design. Most customers and engineers use balancing as a method of encouraging certain radiators to get hot because they fail to work as expected. If you are having to do this, it is because you have a deeper issue within your system which needs rectifying. There are many causes it could be but in general, it is down to poor installation design or debris in the system somewhere. But that is for another blog post. The correct use of balancing is ensuring that the flow around a system is regulated at each point where necessary for heat transfer to be kept at it’s most efficient. Blown your mind again? Sorry. 

If the water in your system flows too quickly or too slowly, your boiler will cycle (come on and off) regularly. We do not want this. We want your boiler to be able to come on at nice, low steady rate so that it can work as efficiently as possible. This does not just apply to the boiler though. We want our radiators and hot water cylinders to heat our rooms and hot water efficiently. If the water is too slow then too much heat gets removed from the water and we do not get enough heat transfer to the target. Too fast and not enough heat is removed from the water leading to a poor efficiency and the boiler cycling as described. 

Once again, cue IMI. We use IMI Eclipse Balancing thermostatic radiator valves and their beautiful STAD balancing valve. The Eclipse valves enable us to accurately adjust the amount of water flowing through each individual radiator based on calculations (this differs for each radiator) and the STAD balancing valves essentially allow us to do the same for hot water cylinder coils and indeed on the return pipework to the boiler. Using these products allows us to accurately balance heating systems for the perfect flow and allow the boiler to work within it’s desired and most efficient range.

This has been a been a very wordy blog post I know, and it just about wraps up our Whole System Approach. Our ethos does go deeper then what I have described in these last blog posts, but I am hoping that as readers, you are getting the idea of where we have headed with our work. I hope it conveys that we a company do go that extra mile to provide a top product which is value for money for our customers. I have never hidden the fact that this does come at a cost. Our technical knowledge and expertise coupled with amazing products does produces incredible results. We are not a company that will necessarily produce a quick boiler change price just for the sake of being competitive and flooding ourselves with work. We strongly believe that undermines our industry and what we are supposed to be doing as an industry to slow global warming, particularly when we can make a huge difference. I completely understand every customer has a different budget and working in this way does in fact also mean that we price ourselves out of a huge part of the market. We cannot compete with an engineer who is out there fitting an unreliable £300 boiler with a short guarantee, questionable magnetic filter (if they choose to fit one), low end thermostat and prices their labour according to their lower level of expertise, care, and knowledge. However, we can guarantee, that if we had that same installation, we would produce a solution that in the long run would be more reliable, require less maintenance, use less energy, produce more comfort, be a lot better for our planet and over the lifetime from installation to end of life, would be far cheaper. Bold statement I know, but we are completely confident in that. We are busier than ever working to that ethos and thus far, no less then 100% satisfaction at our results.

Until next time……..