Andrews Solar water heating Water heaters Electric water heaters News 251111

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ANDREWS’ Solar Water Heating For New Brixham Fish Market

At Brixham in Devon, a brand new multi-million pound Fish Market has been built to replace the existing 30 year old building, as part of a wider £120 million regeneration of the port area. In line with Torbay Council’s sustainable energy policy, domestic hot water is being provided by an Andrews Water Heaters’ solar thermal water heating system in order to minimise fuel usage and reduce carbon footprint.

The new Brixham Fish Market is now a state-of-the-art establishment with all the latest services available, including internet bidding. Facilities include accommodation for the fish wholesalers, a modern grading and display area, cold store and improvements to the port area where the fishing vessels land their catches.

Both trawlers and day boats operate out of Brixham, catching an extremely wide variety of species which are sold not only locally, but across the UK and also abroad. Solar water heating was a logical component of the design process, given Brixham’s location in Torbay, which is known as the English Riviera, receiving more hours of sunshine each year than anywhere else in the United Kingdom.

The equipment supplied by Andrews Water Heaters comprises a SOLARflo water heating system with nine glazed flat plate collectors, a 900 litre unvented cylinder, three FASTflo water heaters and an ST66 buffer tank.

Space Engineering Services of Bristol provided the initial design, utilising Wolseley Pipe Center’s market supply chain via their Exeter branch and Andrews Water Heaters’ technical expertise. The design was tailored to provide matched equipment from a single source. Final installation was undertaken by Space Engineering Services with Andrews Water Heaters’ engineers providing onsite technical support and commissioning services.

The nine solar panels are located on the roof of Phase 2A as this is an easily accessible roof and large enough to easily accommodate them; it is also oriented closest to south. The panels are mounted in a landscape format in a double bank and protected from the attentions of the local seagull population by a metal cage. These solar collectors, provide 90.8% transmission efficiency, 95% absorption efficiency and a low emission loss of only 5%.

The internal Plant is located in the ground floor plantroom of Phase 2C and serves the office areas of the development, where the system provides domestic hot water for eleven wash hand basins, nine sinks and five showers. The 900 litre solar pre-heat cylinder and other equipment in the solar package were installed adjacent to the FASTflo water heaters and buffer tank. In addition to the glazed flat plate solar collectors and non-corrosive, stainless steel solar cylinder, the complete SOLARflo package also includes solar controls, pump station, expansion vessels, first fill of heat transfer fluid and collector mounting accessories. SOLARflo glazed flat plate collectors are Solar Key Mark Approved and, in common with the stainless steel unvented cylinders and evacuated tubes in the Andrews range, carry a 10 year guarantee.

The FASTflo model WH56 water heaters supplied each have a maximum flow rate of 32 litres per minute through a temperature rise of 25ºC. The FASTflo range of continuous flow, wall-hung, balanced flue water heaters is ideal for commercial or large domestic applications where an endless supply of hot water is required. Unlike old instantaneous type water heaters, this design measures the incoming water flow and temperature then modulates the burner up or down to meet the desired hot water demand with plus or minus one degree accuracy and no stand-by heat losses. This technology ensures a continuous flow of hot water that is extremely safe to operate and automatic ignition ensures that no fuel costs are incurred when the units are not in use. Accurate temperature settings from 37oC to 80oC are available and the constant flow of hot water reduces the risk of colonisation by harmful legionella bacteria. The units are operated via a remote controller, designed especially for this range of heaters, which is capable of operating one unit or up to six connected in series, allowing external adjustment of the required flow temperature and providing a wide range of operation and fault diagnosis information.

Available in two sizes for internal or external use, FASTflo water heaters are suitable for use with natural gas or propane, vented or unvented systems and, as in this installation, for use with buffer tanks. Flue systems are available to suit most applications. For even greater energy efficiency, the FASTflo range now has a newly introduced model in a condensing option, known as FASTflo Plus.

Matched equipment from a single source, together with the availability of technical advice throughout the installation, is a particular benefit of the Andrews Water Heaters’ product range and after sales service. Andrews Water Heaters is part of Baxi Commercial Division which also incorporates Potterton Commercial and Baxi-SenerTec UK.