Heating and hot water preparation system for residentail buildings

Residential buildings supplied from local boiler houses are often faced with relatively high costs due to consumption. Due to the fact that the demand for Domestic hot water is so large and variable, this constitutes a big problem, and generates the main costs that the community will be forced to pay.

In the era of new, innovative and energy efficient solutions, there is a desire to minimise heat transmission losses, and to use renewable sources deriving virtually free energy. Since the demand for DHW is constant practically the whole year round, one should use the energy we can derive constantly, which is available in a given location. This may be solar energy, which despite its varying intensity throughout the year, can be freely used even in winter by using solar collectors. They are still very popular, and allow one to cover up to 40-80% of the demand depending on the month, in a cheap way with relatively low investment volume. This allows one to significantly reduce the costs of DHW preparation, and at the same time apply subsidised, ecological DHW tank solutions, which are essential for any collector installation, and constitute other important elements. DHW demand differs throughout the year, but it can be assumed that peak water consumption is in the evening.

How do solar panels work?

Solar collectors collect solar energy during the day, when the sun is shining, therefore it is necessary to have heated water storage, which will allow you to use it quickly when needed. The capacity of such tanks depends on the number of inhabitants, and hence the amount of water consumed by them during the day. Insulation of such a tank as well as the filling method are important in order for the tank to maintain the recommended water temperature as long as possible. If it is not possible to use solar collectors due to not being able to mount them on the roof of a building, DHW should be prepared using the most efficient possible heat exchangers. It is just as important when selecting the heat source, that it achieves high efficiency even with the varying demand for energy. The best solution here is a gas condensing boiler.

What you need to know before you invest in Solar Energy

Solar collectors are a very tempting, environmentally friendly and effective solution, but only when their execution and technology allow for the maximum utilisation of solar radiation.

The basic features a collector should have are; the greatest possible absorption and minimum reflection. For this purposes, a glass with anti-reflective coating is used, under which the absorber is located. The absorber should occupy the largest amount of surface possible, for example, through the winding arrangement. Under it there is a mineral wool insulation which protects the collector from excessive heat losses to the surface on which it is mounted, e.g. to the roof pane. This is extremely important, since the amount of energy that will be transferred to DHW systems also depends on it. During the summer there is a lower demand for heating, and collectors can draw the most amount of energy, therefore they are used mainly for the purposes of DHW. In the transition periods, as well as in the winter during sunny weather, collectors can also be used for the purposes of heating a building, supporting the main heat source by up to 20-50%.

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