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Starting with a simple piece on boilers, developing into condensing boilers and then lots of stuff on radiators, insulation, heat recovery etc - this is where I look into the facts about making gas and oil fired heating cost and energy effective - entire page dedicated to Novitherm radiator panels (because I like them!). |
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This is where I dedicate an entire page to a remarkable development in electric systems - long wave radiant heating that is mounted on the ceiling and cuts the energy required to heat a given space by as much as 60% over traditional convector type systems (if you have a Church, Village Hall or high bay space to heat follow this link) |
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Recent price hikes have made electric heating around 17% cheaper than gas - amazing but true. Here is where I look at ultra low energy panel heaters, look into the myths surrounding night storage heating and electric boilers and also get into some very sexy stuff like wireless remote controls for temperature and time management that offer fantastic energy and cost savings |
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Some useful information on offices (temperature, humidity and ventilation), schools and fresh air in schools, 1. How hot should you have your office? Now here is a contentious issue, especially if you are a "hot-house flower", because the temperature that each individual likes to work at is always going to be slightly different to the next person. I have been into offices and nearly passed out due to the excessive heat but the occupant happily tells me that they are feeling the cold - how can that be? There are Regulations that govern this sort of thing so here is what the Government tells us. The Workplace (Health, Safety & Welfare) Reg's 1992 states that "during working hours, the temperatures in all workplaces inside buildings shall be reasonable" - so that's perfectly clear then - our thanks go to the Home Office for that little gem! Of course the next question is what exactly is reasonable! Essentially there are three elements that determine whether your working environment feels comfortable, namely, temperature, humidity and ventilation. The minimum temperature specified in Approved Codes of Practice is 16oC. There is NO specified upper limit, however it is widely recognised that excessive temperatures have an adverse effect on staff and so it is suggested that temperatures above 26oC are avoided. But the range is wide and you need to take into account the susceptibility of different people to extremes of temperature. Managers must consider age, gender (yes that old nugget!) and state of health of each individual. And of course sex is important - the analyses tell us that in general women feel the cold more readily than men. This is not a criticism nor am I casting aspersions - this is a simple fact, backed up by evidence from almost every survey I have ever carried out in a building with a mixed population (that is women and men!). The good news is that dealing with problems is often a case of common sense approaches such as:
Humidity - is the amount of water held in air (expressed as % Relative Humidity or RH). The ideal RH of air for comfort is 55-65% although in offices 40-70% is considered acceptable. Ventilation - there must be a reasonable amount of free air movement, especially if you are looking to achieve thermal comfort because air movement distributes fresh air or warmth throughout a space/building or has a cooling effect. It has been shown that workplaces exhibiting a constant temperature, constant humidity or insufficient ventilation can make people feel uncomfortable and unwell due to the static conditions. Air velocities should be 0.1-0.15m/sec and up to 0.25m/sec in summer. 2. Schools - another contentious area - but there are regulations governing the temperatures that schools are heated to and if you have any concerns then you should get a thermometer - we can supply them free of charge courtesy of the Carbon Trust. The Education (School Premises) Regulations 1999 dictate that heating has to be at 21oC in sick rooms, 18oC in classrooms used for teaching, private study or examinations and 15oC in areas like the gym where physical activities take place. Now I have been in many schools over the past few years carrying out surveys for local government and almost without exception they have been severely overheated. But perhaps even more significant - where they were correctly heated there were complaints from staff in particular that they were cold - expectations are all wrong - we have to get away from this idea that we can be in shirt-sleeves all year round - WE LIVE IN THE UK FOR GOODNESS SAKE! IT GETS COLD!!!!! DRESS APPROPRIATELY PLEASE! 3. Did you know that there are also strict rules dictating the amount of fresh air kids should be getting in school? All occupied areas should be controllable at a minimum rate of 3L of fresh air per second for each of the maximum numbers of persons an area will accommodate - so for example, if you have a classroom with 30 kids and a teacher then you should be able to provide 334 cubic metres of fresh air to that classroom every hour!! MINIMUM!!!!!!!!! Think about it - and then think about your school, your classroom - your lack of fresh air! Contact Stewart to discuss the options for providing fresh air - there are lots of them out there and many require no energy input whatsoever - for example, the WindCatcher system - pictured below which we designed, specified, procured and installed for McEwens of Perth to ventilate their "at home" store. We also specified and installed AlfaStrip heating since it does not heat the air directly the building can be ventilated and heated at the same time without huge heat loss!
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