FEATURES
A plumber’s perspective
Johan van den Berg, Burgess Plumbing’s Business
Development Manager, though also a plumber who regularly
installs heat pumps and solar water heaters, says his
experience has led him to present customers with all the
information, encourage them to do their own research and
to make their own informed decisions – rather than try lead
them in any direction.
“Once they’ve decided, I then give my input on what would
be the best solution for their actual site, their needs and
requirements. One of the most basic misunderstandings
when people hear of a 3kW heat pump, is that it’s the same
as a traditional geyser: in fact, this refers to the output
rather than electricity consumption.” A 3kW heat pump can
comfortably heat 250ℓ water. When it comes to choice of
equipment, Van den Berg says he typically recommends local
manufacturer MTech Industrial’s Enerflo brand, which delivers
high temperature hot water for the same energy; and in the
high-end commercial space, Stiebel-Eltron.
Altmann says, “We´re able to deliver complete solutions for
domestic hot water heating, space heating, space cooling and
pool heating from one device. We have already completed
several installations in South Africa with heat pump systems
in combination with a thermal solar solution and achieved
fantastic COPs with our products. We´re also able to integrate
the heat pump system into a building automation, so the
client has the possibility to control and monitor its heat pump
centrally. Of course the client can also connect the heat pump
to the WiFi and use his smart phone or tablet as a remote
August 2019 Volume 25 I Number 6
control. In service cases he also can grant our technicians
access to his heat pump via the internet, so that we can
deliver immediate support and check the system online.”
In the residential market, the major demand is to retrofit
existing geysers with heat pumps, disabling the geyser’s
element. The geyser simply becomes a water tank, although
with Enerflo the element remains enabled and can in need to
activated by a remote.
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“A 3kW heat
pump can
comfortably
heat 250ℓ
water.”
Van den Berg attributes heat pumps not being more
commonplace, to the same sort of negative perceptions as
bedevilled solar heaters before it: substandard products were
imported and often shoddily installed by unqualified crews,
resulting in defective performance and disillusion.
The solar heating market was hijacked by government,
or Eskom, and this left a bad taste among responsible
homeowners who opted to go ‘green’. “For instance, the
scaling of systems was not done as per SANS requirements.”
He has been called out to service substandard systems sold
for premium prices, whereas the company or resident could
have bought a premium product for the same price.
The pumps require regular service in the same manner as
does a car: without it, the COP will steadily worsen and the
system ultimately fail – like a car. A basic service requires
descaling of the heat exchanger, cleaning out the condenser
to ensure no build up of residue and checking the condition
of the heat pump’s components, levels of gas and inspecting
the pipe insulation. PA
www.plumbingafrica.co.za